Sophie Cunningham said she was baptized for the second time earlier this month and called it one of the better things she has done in her life, a personal milestone that came days after she re-signed with the Indiana Fever on a one-year, $665,000 contract.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Cunningham said she had been baptized as a child, but felt a tug on her heart to do it again as an adult on her own terms. She posted a TikTok video on April 14 showing the baptism at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, Arizona, a nondenominational Evangelical megachurch based in the city. “I’ve always been a faithful person, but I just feel like now it’s my own decision,” she said, adding that the baptism was “one of the better things I’ve done in my life.”
The timing matters because Cunningham’s return to Indiana had already drawn attention for reasons beyond basketball. The eight-season WNBA veteran played the 2025 season with the Fever after six seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, then signed her new deal on April 12 after being cleared to play in February following a knee injury suffered in August 2025, according to The Indianapolis Star. The contract was for one year, and Cunningham said she wanted more years because she loves it in Indiana and wants to put down roots there.
Her remarks about the deal stirred discussion after the signing, but Cunningham said that reaction missed her point. She later clarified on X that she was not mad about the money and that the issue was stability, not salary. On Tuesday, she repeated that she wanted to be “established” in Indiana, saying she is “almost 30 years old” and wants a home where she can bring her dog and donkey to Indianapolis with her.
That leaves the Fever with a veteran guard who says she is healthy, settled in and eager to stay. Cunningham said the offseason was difficult because of the injury and the fact that she had not been in front of teams, even though she was fully cleared and teams had the doctors and the numbers. She also said she received multi-year offers from other teams, but that Indiana felt different because of the people around her and the way the group made her fall in love with basketball again.
For Cunningham, the story on Tuesday was less about contract talk than what she sees as a turning point. She said the baptism felt like her own decision, and the new deal gives her a chance to make Indiana feel like home.