RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesDiJonai Carrington posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on her Threads account with the Indiana Fever tagged minutes after she was ejected on a flagrant 2 for a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham in the first quarter of the Chicago Sky's 90-86 loss Saturday afternoon at the United Center.
Carrington later posted "8/23" on X. The teams play again in Chicago that day.
She declined comment after the game. Fever coach Stephanie White and Sky coach Tyler Marsh both said they saw Carrington making a play on the ball, per Alissa Hirsh of the Chicago Sun-Times .
Cunningham said she believed the foul was intentional and that Carrington had put herself in position to be ejected over something that predated her arrival in Chicago, per the Sun-Times.
"I think the league is taking care of that," Cunningham said. "This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There's no reason even to play that card."
Carrington has been at the center of a Fever controversy before.
On Sept. 22, 2024, in Game 1 of a first-round series at Mohegan Sun Arena, Carrington's follow-through on a deflection attempt caught Caitlin Clark in the eye as Clark passed to Aliyah Boston. No foul was called. Clark finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists on 4-of-17 shooting and 2-of-13 from 3-point range, and she played the rest of the game with a black eye. Carrington had 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in a 93-69 Connecticut win.
Two days later, Christine Brennan of USA Today asked Carrington at a media availability whether she had hit Clark in the eye on purpose, then followed up by asking whether she had laughed about it later in the game.
"I don't even know why I would intend to hit anyone in the eye," Carrington said. "That doesn't even make sense to me. I didn't know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball, and I guess I followed through and I hit her. Obviously it's not intentional. That's not even the type of player I am."
Clark said the same day that the contact was accidental.
"It wasn't intentional by any means," Clark said. "You just watched the play, it wasn't intentional."
The WNBA Players Association issued a statement on Sept. 27, 2024, naming Brennan and calling on USA Today to review its ethics standards. The union said the questioning was an attempt to draw a player into a false narrative that would generate racist, homophobic, and misogynistic abuse online, and it said Brennan did not deserve the credentials she had been issued. Brennan defended the questions on the "Good Game with Sarah Spain" podcast, called the approach "Journalism 101," and described the call for her credentials to be pulled as an overreaction.
Before Game 2 of that series, Carrington posted a screenshot of an email she had received containing a racial slur and threats. She had described Fever supporters as the nastiest fan base in the league that August after a stretch of abusive messages on X.
Cunningham said Fever games are nationally televised and that players know it, per the Sun-Times.
"Another day, another dollar," Cunningham explained. "Welcome to my life, boys and girls. I wasn't even upset. I mean, I popped up. I'm not going to let anyone just do that to me. I think everyone knows that. I think that's why she did it because she wants attention. I mean, s---, like, people have started craving attention. Like go get it somewhere else. Go do something good in the world, I don't know."
Cunningham has drawn demonstrations at Fever games since an ESPN article published last month in which she voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports. XX-XY Athletics, which argues that allowing males to compete in girls' and women's sports is unfair and dangerous, has organized rallies outside Fever road games, including in Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Groups supporting and opposing Cunningham's position both gathered outside the United Center on Saturday. The WNBPA said this week that the union will not be used as political pawns in the debate , and the league's task force takes up transgender participation at a meeting next week . Marsh said none of it gave Chicago any more energy than usual, per the Sun-Times.
Saturday's game was moved from Wintrust Arena to the United Center to accommodate a larger crowd.
Carrington had 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting and 1 rebound when the ejection came. Saturday was her fifth appearance of the year. A left foot injury she carried out of last season cost her the first 27 games, and she returned July 30 after a rehab she has put at 10 months.
The 2024 Most Improved Player and All-Defensive First Team selection joined the Sky in April on a one-year contract. She spent her first four seasons in Connecticut and split last year between Dallas and Minnesota.
Chicago is 12-20 and fifth in the Eastern Conference, and Indiana is 20-12 and first. Carrington has played in five of the Sky's 32 games.
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