than treating his daughter differently because of her success.
“Our group in Section 105, which is all family, if you screw up, they’ll let you know,” Jim told Inside Columbia. “They’re not going to sugarcoat it.”
That direct approach meant Cunningham could expect accountability from the people closest to her, even as her profile in basketball continued to rise.
Her mother, Paula Cunningham, also came from an athletic background, competing in track and field. Paula has remained publicly supportive of her daughter as Sophie’s career has progressed.
That support was evident following a physical moment during a 2025 game against the Connecticut Sun. Paula took to social media afterward and criticized Hartley, describing her as “plain mean” and saying she “plays out of control.”
A sister who shared the same competitive drive
Sophie was not the only Cunningham daughter to find her way to Missouri basketball.
Her older sister, Lindsey Cunningham, played four seasons at Missouri before later becoming a graduate student manager with the women’s basketball program.
Long before either sister reached that level, however, their competitiveness was already evident in childhood.
Sophie has recalled how games between the sisters could become intense enough to end in arguments and tears.
“One hour in the driveway always ended up with slamming doors and crying and fighting,” Cunningham said. Despite those battles, the sisters rarely stayed apart for long.
“But then we only had each other,” she continued. “So, five minutes later, we’d get bored and be like, ‘You want to go back out there and play?’”
Those driveway battles reflected a household where competition was familiar and sports were shared across the family.
Missouri connections run throughout the family
The family’s athletic ties extend beyond Cunningham’s immediate household.
Paula’s sister, Stacey Primus, played basketball at Missouri, while Jim’s father and brother represented the university in football. Combined with Jim’s own football career, Lindsey’s basketball experience and Sophie’s eventual success, Missouri became a recurring part of the family’s sporting story.
Cunningham went on to become one of Missouri’s celebrated athletes before reaching the WNBA, but her family’s connection to the people who followed her journey has remained important.
Paula told Inside Columbia that even people who do not personally know the family have embraced Sophie and Lindsey.
“There are a lot of folks who don’t even know us, but they sort of claim (Sophie and Lindsey) as their own, which is perfectly fine,” she said. “It has really brought a lot of people together.”
Behind Sophie Cunningham’s fearless approach on the court is a family shaped by competition, straightforward feedback and generations of athletic experience.
From Jim and Paula to Lindsey and their extended family, the environment Cunningham grew up in placed sports, effort and accountability at the center — qualities that have remained part of her journey from Missouri to the WNBA.
