WNBA’s Sophie Cunningham Follows Hailey Van Lith’s Lead, Slips Into Bikini

Days after soon-to-be WNBA draftee Hailey Van Lith was announced as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model, current WNBA star Sophie Cunningham joined the women’s hoopers’ swimsuit party. 

But unlike Van Lith, Sophie Cunningham’s party won’t be contained to the pages of SI. Hers is taking place on Instagram. Which means, instead of racing through Letters to the Editor and sniffing pages full of cologne ads (assuming they still put those in magazines) just to find some bikini content, you can simply let your thumbs go scrolling through your iPhone.

On Thursday, Cunningham hit the beach in a two-piece swimsuit near California’s Hotel del Coronado resort and encouraged her 275,000 IG followers to "work hard, beach harder."

Noted. 

There are certainly worse ways to slide into a weekend. 

SIGN UP for The Daily OutKick. New Look, Same Attitude.

Sophie Cunningham Joined The Indiana Fever In The Off-Season

Cunningham appears to be soaking up as much beach time as possible before heading to training camp later this month, when she’ll be teammates with another WNBA player who draws quite a bit of attention on social media – and everywhere else – Caitlin Clark. 

Phoenix Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham said some of the chartered planes the league uses are too small. Watch a video of her comments. (Credit: Getty Images)

Last month, Cunningham told media members in Indianapolis - where she wisely swapped a swimsuit for a t-shirt - that she planned to stick up for her new teammate, Caitlin, once the season tipped off: "Anything she needs from me, I’m gonna be here. But again, I think that just the competitor that I am, I'm fierce, I'm sassy, I stick up for my teammates, stick up for myself. Sometimes, I think that it's okay to be feisty and to be yourself."

No argument here.

Cunningham’s bikini content dump and Van Lith's SI Swimsuit Issue announcement just days apart, come at a time when women’s college basketball and the WNBA’s ratings are a hot topic. 

The women’s game's ratings are yet to challenge the men’s, but the ladies' beach content is unrivaled. 

We can all agree that we'd much prefer to see Van Lith and Cunningham in the sand than we would LeBron and the boys on a banana boat.

Follow along on X: @OhioAF