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Colin Cowherd told Sophie Cunningham she's the WNBA's 'sex symbol'
Sophie Cunningham, after ditching her Show Me Something podcast and co-host West Wilson, has resurfaced with a new podcast called The No Hesitation Show. That same day, Cunningham went on Colin Cowherd’s podcast, as he’s the founder of The Volume, the sports media company that’s distributing Cunningham’s new show.
While Colin Cowherd is usually one of the (relatively) more well-behaved, if oft-wrong, sports media personalities, his interview with Sophie Cunningham certainly got awkward when he decided to tell her that she’s the WNBA’s “sex symbol.”
Colin Cowherd told Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham that she’s viewed as the WNBA’s “sex symbol”
Cunningham appeared in this year’s issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, which fellow WNBA players such as Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Naphessa Collier , Breanna Stewart, Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Sue Bird, DiDi Richards, Te’a Cooper have also been featured in. Cunningham’s photoshoot, however, turned into something of a meme on social media.
“If you’re offended, you can virally smack me, but when you are kind of viewed a little bit as the league’s sex symbol, is that fair?” Cowherd asked before lobbing Cunningham a softball about women being able to be both tough and attractive.
“You lean into it a little bit; you’re an interesting contradiction. You’re tough; you’ll fight anybody; you’ll taunt anybody, but you’ll make sure, coming into the arena, ‘I look good, and I want you to know I look good.’ Tell me how you view that. Are you conflicted?” Cowherd asked.
“For me, the reason why I really lean into that is, first of all, I’ve always been super girly. Since a little girl, I’ve always loved to dress up. I love dresses. I love high heels. I love all of that,” Cunningham said.
“For some reason, our society, if you play basketball, you can’t dress that way, or you can’t be girly. No one’s ever said it, but it’s like, they kind of feel that you can’t be both. Screw all that. Yes, you can. You can be girly, and you can go out and kick someone’s ass.”
“You are kind of viewed as the leagues…ummm” @colincowherd
“Just say it” @sophaller
“Sex symbol”
“That is way better, I thought you were gonna go somewhere completely different” pic.twitter.com/4AknRkHWR2
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) September 11, 2026
Cowherd’s take, as flattering as it may be, is also wrong. If the WNBA *did* have a sex symbol, it’d likely be the player who walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (Angel Reese) or the one who people compare to Cameron Diaz (Cameron Brink). If Cunningham is the WNBA’s anything, she’s the league’s firebrand.
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