Indiana Fever basketball star Sophie Cunningham has wowed her fans by going topless in a newly-released set of photos for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
The 29-year-old was announced as a debutant for the Swimsuit edition last month and now the full gallery of photos has been revealed.
In the images – shot by Katherine Goguen on Captiva Island in Florida – Cunningham can be seen writhing around in the sand, even shedding her bikini at one stage for some remarkably candid shots.
The snaps were taken just off the coast of Fort Myers and Cunningham is one of the magazine’s ‘featured athletes’, demonstrating her meteoric rise to become of the WNBA’s biggest stars.
This season, she is once again a teammate of Caitlin Clark in Indiana, but off the court that she is making plenty of waves too.
On Instagram, Cunningham posted a series of photos from the shoot, even teasing a further SI collaboration with the caption: ‘Year 1 with @si_swimsuit AHHHH!’
Sophie Cunningham lies on the beach in Florida for her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photoshoot
Cunningham was first revealed as a model for the magazine last month with this image
Plenty of fans dove straight into the comments, with golf legend Nelly Korda simply noting: ‘Okkkkk’ with two fire emojis.
Another of the Fever basketball team in Lexie Hull also reacted, writing ‘Oh em geeeeee’ alongside the photos.
Cunningham is continuing to build her brand off the court, also hosting a podcast and becoming a TV analyst in recent months.
It was perhaps surprising to see Cunningham approve the topless images, after she previously made a joke about her body type.
Cunningham has been a fashion icon in the league, often turning heads with her ‘tunnel fits’
After fellow WNBA star Angel Reese was chosen as the face of a new Victoria’s Secret campaign, Cunningham said on her podcast: ‘Oh my god, I texted my agents right away and I was like pleaaase… this has been a dream of mine since second grade. I’ve always wanted to be a Victoria’s Secret Angel.
‘I think it would be so fun to walk in that fashion show. But Angel really did kill it. She looked stunning, she looked beautiful.’
However, she then cast doubt on her chances of fulfilling that dream when she added: ‘I don’t really have the boobs. They’re gonna need a big push-up bra for me.’
