Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham got real about her thoughts on the ritual of players giving handshakes to each other after games, disappearing in tradition.
In one of the recent episodes of her podcast “Show Me Something,” Sophie Cunningham and her co-host, West Wilson, got asked by one fan about their thoughts on the disappearance of the handshake tradition among players after each game.
Cunningham initially responded that the recent COVID-19 pandemic ended that tradition. However, her co-host had a deeper insight into it. Wilson, on the other hand, attributed the loss of the tradition to players getting more aggressive towards each other.
Sophie Cunningham then reacted to the input, and added that a lot of players nowadays do not mean the handshake they have been giving.
“If you’re gonna talk s**t, then back it up and then you have nothing to worry about,” she said. “A lot of those people who do that, they can’t back it up. I think shaking hands, it’s cool, but no one means it.”
https://youtu.be/nT6aPjN2qmg
While the transition may have disappeared in the WNBA, other professional sports leagues like the NHL retained a form of handshake tradition in doing fist bumps after each game. Still, the WNBA star mentioned how the players still shake hands or dap up before the tip-off.
Sophie Cunningham Talks About Caitlin Clark’s Fever “Control”
In the same podcast episode, Sophie Cunningham discussed the impact of having a teammate like Caitlin Clark, which her co-host West Wilson described as a generational talent. When asked about whether she believes that talents like Clark and Los Angeles Lakers evertan LeBron James make teams better regardless of the other members, Cunningham agreed, but argued there is something deeper than just their presence.
“But I think the reason behind that is because those types of athletes, they get to come into an organization, they have the green light, and they can do whatever they want,” she said. “That is very rare, to be able to get drafted and control the whole system.”
Wilson followed up by asking if Clark has been making team decisions behind the scenes for the Fever, something Cunningham admitted to.
“Yeah,” Cunningham replied. “As she should!”
Cunningham also added that she believes that talents on the level of Clark should “have a lot to say about the system.”
During the 2025 season, Sophie Cunningham averaged 8.6 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists.
For more sports content:
Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for your NBA and college basketball reading fix. You can reach out to Dan Agulto through email at papadanph@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
