“Sophie did not grab her and throw her to the ground… She bear-hugged her, took her to the ground. Yes, it was intentional.” – Rachel DeMita
You’re not dreaming. That really was Sophie Cunningham pulling Jacy Sheldon out of midair and into the hardwood like it was a WNBA-themed judo match. No flailing. No flop. Just a full-body message wrapped in a bear hug. In the fourth quarter of a 17-point blowout win, Indiana’s resident firestarter decided she’d had enough. Enough of the elbows. Enough of the eye pokes. Enough of the refs swallowing their whistles. So Sophie handled it. Herself.
Now rewind 20 years.
Sophie Cunningham: The Enforcerpic.twitter.com/aOyGxFk4XH
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) June 18, 2025
Picture a six-year-old in Columbia, Missouri, tying a black belt around her waist—not a basketball jersey, not yet. Just a kid earning a black belt in Taekwondo before she even learned how to diagram a zone defense. And suddenly, Sophie’s recent “foul” doesn’t seem like chaos. It feels more like muscle memory. Because yes, she really is a black belt. And no, this wasn’t her first controlled takedown.
Sophie Cunningham Has A Black Belt In Tae Kwon Do
Long before she was crashing into defenders or challenging entire benches, Sophie was sparring—formally. She earned her black belt in Taekwondo at age six. While other kids were figuring out how to ride a bike, she was breaking boards with her bare feet and learning what it meant to channel aggression with discipline.
Washington Mystics Emily Engstler (21), Indiana Fever Sophie Cunningham (8) and Washington Mystics Sonia Citron (22) fight for a loose ball Saturday, May 3, 2025, during a preseason game between the Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
So when people call her foul on Sheldon “disrespectful,” she probably sees something else: boundaries. Enforcement. A little martial arts-style accountability on hardwood.
Even Rachel DeMita said it best: “What I will say is Sophie did not grab her and throw her to the ground. She didn’t body slam her. She didn’t do anything in my personal opinion. Maybe I’m biased here, but I’m going to give you guys my straight-up honest opinion on this. She bear hugged her, took her to the ground. Yes, it was intentional. It was absolutely intentional.”
Does Sophie Cunningham Come From An Athletic Background?
And this toughness isn’t something Indiana’s No. 8 just stumbled into. In fact, she inherited it.
Her dad, Jim Cunningham was a fullback in the NFL for Washington Redskins. Her mom, Paula? A javelin thrower at the University of Missouri. Her sister, Lindsey? A Mizzou basketball legend, now shaping athletes at Missouri State. And that’s just the core.
Her grandma played basketball and softball. Her grandpa and uncle were footballers. Her aunt hooped. In fact, the Cunningham household seems to be more of a training facility with shared DNA than a normal family. In her words:
“One hour in the driveway always ended up with slamming doors and crying and fighting. But then we only had each other. So, five minutes later, we’d get bored and be like, ‘You want to go back out there and play?’”
That’s not just family bonding. That’s boot camp for how to survive the WNBA.
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