The Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham has shown a lot of resilience with all that she has had to go through recently.

Not only has she stood firm in her efforts to stand up for women in women's sports, but she has also faced backlash for it. 

As my colleague Rusty Weiss reported, she said that with the greater visibility came some unwanted attention. She even has to deal with people stalking her. She told podcaster Theo Von that she had about 20 stalkers that the FBI was watching. That's got to be a very concerning thing. 

But on the subject of WNBA players walking off the court during the national anthem, she hit it out of the park. 

"We have family members who have served. I’m going to show that support, and I’m going to give them love," said Cunningham. "I take a lot of pride in where I come from, and I’m proud to be an American citizen."

We're so used to seeing behavior like the other WNBA players or sports figures being disrespectful. It's so nice to have a player like Cunningham actually proud of being American and wanting to show support for the country. 

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But there was another part of the interview that might have shown why Cunningham has the resilience that she has. It was when the two got serious and started talking about their respective beliefs. Sophie spoke about how she "relied a lot on her faith" and "loved Jesus." She tried to help Von as he professed the challenges that he faced in his relationship with God. 

"I rely a lot on my faith because of what I do for a living," Sophie explained. "You get a lot of hate, you get a lot of praise." She said she thought that, morally, it just helped to keep her "stable." So people's bad opinions weren't going to rock her, she said, because she wasn't "living for their praise." That's a very mature and aware posture when you see so many athletes or famous people who are "living for that praise" and willing to do anything for it. That explains why she won't be shaken in her support of women, even with people attacking her. Not only can faith move mountains, but it can be the rock on which you stand.

Then it was very sweet that she was reaching out to Von to share her understanding, if it could help him. When he spoke about sometimes feeling disconnected, she told him there was "nothing that you can or can't do that's going to separate you from God's love and grace and forgiveness...like that's why Jesus came and died on the cross." She said it was up to him now to read the Bible and work on it. He acknowledged he felt closer when he was praying. He confessed to getting "busy" and she spoke about the importance that you "prioritize the good." While she's reaching out to Von, she's also showing what a great role model looks like to his millions of followers who might be listening as well, and that's a great message to send. 

It's a beautiful and wise way to approach life. I think one of the reasons people like her is that it shines through in how she presents herself, with energy and humor. That's all a winning combination.