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Sophie Cunningham is looking to capitalize on her 15 minutes at the center of the culture wars. According to reports, the 29-year-old guard who has career averages of 7.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game is shopping a “tell-all” book.
While there have been a handful of other basketball players with such low career averages to release books, they were all far more qualified. Dennis Rodman, for example, was a five-time NBA champion, two-time All-Star, and two-time Defensive Player of the Year who played for two of the most iconic NBA teams of all-time: the Bad Boy Pistons and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Bruce Bowen is a similar example as a three-time NBA champion and five-time NBA All-Defensive first teamer with the San Antonio Spurs. There’s also Robert Horry, who, despite having a career average of 7.0 PPG, earned the nickname “Big Shot Rob” due to his habit of coming off the bench to hit clutch playoff shots en route to seven NBA titles with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
Sophie Cunningham is reportedly shopping a “tell-all” book despite a WNBA career that’s seen her average less than 8 points per game
Sophie Cunningham’s most notable career accolade, on the other hand, was being a three-time first-team All-SEC player when she attended the University of Missouri nearly a decade ago. Still, whoever is advising her is clearly suggesting she strike while the iron is hot, as reports indicate she’s shopping a “tell-all” book.
While the report does not indicate what the book would be about, it’s hard to imagine it’d be about making four starts and averaging 5.6 points per game with the 2021 Phoenix Mercury.
“Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham is shopping a book, publishing sources exclusively tell Page Six Hollywood. The 6-foot-1 guard — who has 3.7 million followers on Instagram — could find herself at the center of a bidding war, we hear, with the timely tome.”
Given Cunningham’s recent position in the culture wars — her comments in an ESPN profile about “protecting young women” have sparked a new wave of debate about transgender athletes and the WNBA’s sociopolitics — it’s likely the book would be more about her personality than her profession.
If Cunningham elaborated on her views on transgender youth, it would be worth noting that a study conducted by UCLA’s Williams Institute found that less than one percent (approximately 0.75%) of the current high school population in the United States who identify as transgender participate in high school-level team athletics, and represent less than 0.002% of college athletes in the country. So despite the recent uproar surrounding the subject, it’s a virtually non-existent issue in terms of its actual impact.