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Sophie Cunningham says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has consulted her more than once about the WNBA's next commissioner — a conversation Yahoo Sports reports came together through her own agents.
- Cunningham is playing out a one-year, $665,000 contract with Indiana that expires after 2026, putting her on track for unrestricted free agency in 2027.
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Coming back from a torn right MCL, Cunningham is averaging 8.7 points a game this year as the Fever have already locked up a playoff spot in the WNBA's Eastern Conference.
An Unlikely Name on Adam Silver's List
INDIANAPOLIS — Nobody expected Sophie Cunningham's phone to be one that Adam Silver reaches for. The Indiana Fever guard comes off Indiana's bench, holds no title inside the players' union, and isn't among the handful of stars the NBA commissioner typically leans on when league business needs a gut check. And yet Cunningham says Silver sought her out to talk through who should take over as WNBA commissioner once Cathy Engelbert departs, a transition Engelbert set in motion on Sept. 4 when she told the league she plans to retire at the close of 2026, capping more than seven years as the league's first-ever commissioner.
"I have talked to Adam Silver a couple times," Cunningham told reporters this week, speaking during a stretch when the Fever's schedule paused for the FIBA Women's World Cup.
The Real Story Behind the Phone Call
Contrary to the idea that Silver rang her out of the blue, Cunningham has said the introduction actually ran through her own representation — agents who already had ties to Silver — rather than a spontaneous outreach from the commissioner's office. Once the two connected, Cunningham described being struck by how candidly Silver walked her through his own approach to running the NBA, calling it a rare look behind the curtain of how the league's top office operates.
The Kind of Leader Cunningham Is Pushing For
Cunningham has avoided naming a favorite for the job, insisting the decision belongs to Silver's search rather than to her. What she has offered instead is a wish list built around temperament over résumé: a leader who can hold together players, owners and front offices even when their interests collide, while keeping the league's business trending upward. The idea she keeps returning to is a demand that the next commissioner run the league "players-first."
When reporters pressed for specifics on what Silver and Cunningham actually discussed, it was the league office — not Cunningham — that wouldn't go further, declining to characterize the conversations beyond confirming they took place.
Engelbert Still Has a Hand in Picking Her Successor
Describing this as purely Silver's search leaves out a key detail: Engelbert has already handed owners and Silver a list of internal and external candidates, even though Silver retains the final call on who gets the job. Engelbert has also told the Associated Press she'd stay past her planned exit and into 2027 if the league hasn't settled on a replacement by year's end — evidence the timeline still has real flexibility built in.
A One-Year Deal That Solved Nothing Long-Term
Cunningham's own job security tells a different story entirely. Indiana kept her in April with a contract worth $665,000 that covers only the current season, meaning she becomes an unrestricted free agent the moment it expires. That short runway followed a rocky finish to the year before: thirty games into 2025, a torn ligament in her right knee — the MCL — ended her season early, an injury that left some uncertainty hanging over this spring's negotiations. Indiana isn't guaranteed to keep her past 2026; the team will have to make a competitive offer and hope it's enough once other franchises get a look at her.
What She Actually Wanted Wasn't More Money
Cunningham didn't hide her frustration when the shorter deal first became public. On her podcast, "Show Me Something," she described the negotiation as disappointing, which set off online speculation that she felt underpaid. She corrected that read days later. "I'm not mad about the money," she wrote, adding that her real ask had been for more years in Indiana rather than a fully guaranteed single season. With her 30th birthday approaching, she said she wanted stability — a home base she could settle into rather than revisit every offseason.
Her Production Hasn't Wavered
On the court, none of that contract uncertainty shows up in the box score. Cunningham is putting up 8.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists a night this season, a full recovery from last year's knee injury. That steady output has helped Indiana lock up a playoff spot in the WNBA's Eastern Conference, giving her contract situation a bigger spotlight than a bench role would typically draw.
Both Clocks Keep Running
Neither story resolves soon. The league hasn't set a public deadline for naming Engelbert's replacement, and Cunningham's free agency stays theoretical until Indiana's season actually ends. What's left, for now, is an unusual pairing: a role player with enough credibility to shape a conversation about the league's next leader, still waiting to learn whether her own seat in Indiana's locker room survives past this year.
