It has been tough. It has been rough. It has been anything but an easy journey for Sophie Cunningham. The road to recovery has been steep. And after going through so much and finding yourself that you’re barely halfway, it puts such a strain in your head. Thoughts of breaking and just overall letting it all go creep in.
“I’m just getting done with rehab. Knee rehab that I should clarify,” Cunningham said with a laugh. “It was rough like I need to go take an hour nap and go lay by the pool.”
Humorous as it is to just imagine slumping anywhere, it’s a reality that Sophie Cunningham has to deal with in rehab especially if her main goal is to bounce back from that knee injury. But it’s not as simple as a walk. It’s more of a grind. And what makes the grind heavier is not seeing how close or how far the finish line is. With no date to her exact recovery date, just keeping your head down and working in getting better is also the same as chipping away at your thoughts without seeing as much as a final output.
But regardless, we’ve already seen Sophie Cunningham’s positivity during dire moments, her drive when she needs to power through, and just pure belief in one’s self even when you can’t see where you’re going. Add this to the already tense talk of her future with the Fever. It’s hard to take it one step at a time when you feel that you’re always one step behind. And we can feel how mentally brutal it is for her.
Sophie Cunningham Jokes Her Way Through Rehab, Sends Hilarious Invite to Caitlin Clark
Even while recovering, Sophie Cunningham is keeping her sense of humor alive — and her social media game sharp. The Indiana Fever guard recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a playful comment aimed at two of her fellow WNBA stars.
“@caitlinclark22 need a couple of caddies? @lexiehulll 😏🍻,” Cunningham wrote.
Her tweet referenced a photo of Caitlin Clark and Lexie Hull out golfing, and fans immediately joined in with jokes about Cunningham showing up with a cooler and flip-flops instead of golf clubs. For an athlete going through the grind of rehab, moments like this offer a small but much-needed mental break.
Recovery is no joke. But cracking one out just to keep yourself going is beyond okay. There is pressure in recovery for athletes who wants to keep their stock high and their game in demand. And keeping your head level through humor and whatnot is a key skill in itself.
Rough. Tough. Mental. You name it, however hard things are, however bleak, one like Sophie Cunningham can power through it. Even if it is one step at a time, one joke at a time.
For more basketball content, click on Hardwood Heroics. Sabel Reyes can be reached through sabelreyes22@gmail.com. Other websites under the Sports Heroics umbrella are Gridiron Heroics and Wisconsin Heroics.
Sabel has been working as a field reporter for People’s Television Network (PTV), mainly about the Philippine Basketball Association since 2016 and has been elevated to Executive Producer for sports in 2022. Aside from being on top of the Philippine sports scene, she is also a running enthusiast. You can also follow her on X at @SabelReyes2 and Instagram at @msabelreyes.
