2026
The Swimsuit
debut
Announced in April, published on 13 May
Sports Illustrated named her among the 2026 issue's debutants in April. She was one of three athletes making a first appearance, alongside the WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Her individual feature and the wider coverage followed on 13 May.
The announcement came days after news of her WNBA studio role on USA Network, and while her playing future for the season was still unsettled.
Shot on Captiva Island
Katherine Goguen photographed the feature at South Seas Resort on Captiva Island, Florida, with swimwear credited by the magazine including Cin Cin and Haus of Pinklemonaid. The magazine's own coverage describes a grey, uncooperative day on the island.
What she said about it
She talked the shoot through on the 20 April episode of her podcast, Show Me Something. She described the experience as empowering, and singled out the issue for featuring women of different body types and ethnicities. Sports Illustrated framed the appearance as a bucket-list moment; that framing is the magazine's.
Her 2026, off the court
Inside a few weeks she was announced as a national broadcast contributor and published in the Swimsuit issue, while co-hosting a podcast and playing a WNBA season on a one-year contract with Indiana.
Sources: USA Today — Cunningham makes SI Swimsuit debut (13 May 2026); SI Swimsuit — Cunningham's debut; Show Me Something, episode of 20 April 2026, as transcribed in contemporaneous reporting. Checked 7 September 2026. The magazine's photographs are not reproduced here; see photo credits.