Who is Sophie Cunningham? Caitlin Clark's new 'bodyguard' teammate emerging as a WNBA icon

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham spoke to Fox News Digital about her offseason trade to the Indiana Fever and her hopes for the upcoming season. 

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has become the second-most popular WNBA player among many circles of fans in recent days after aggressively protecting teammate Caitlin Clark from players who hit her. 

During a game against the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, Cunningham started a brawl between the two teams after several physical plays against Clark.

Cunningham's persona and popularity skyrocketed in the days that followed, as she is slowly becoming an icon among the WNBA's newer fans. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

June 17, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) in the second half against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

Prior to Tuesday's game, Cunningham had fewer than 400,000 followers on TikTok. 

At the time of publication, she has 1.2 million on TikTok and that number is only growing. 

She has an estimated increase of more than 300,000 followers on Instagram since the game as well, with a total of more than 800,000 at the time of publication. 

Sportico estimates that her increase in followers could be worth over $1 million. 

"It’s unprecedented growth," Addison Abdo, who represents Cunningham as a senior director at sports management agency PRP, told the outlet. "We work with some pretty big athletes that have gone viral for some pretty big things, but this has been something that I haven’t seen before—this type of growth in this short amount of time … was very new territory."

A five-part feature series by Cunningham's alma mater, the University of Missouri, recounted her