Chicago Sky player Dijonai Carrington called out the WNBA’s lenient disciplinary actions on its white players after she and the Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham exchanged shoves and words during a game.
During a heated showdown between the two teams, Carrington committed a hard foul on Cunningham, who retaliated by shoving her in the throat before the players were separated by their teammates.
The foul assessed to Carrington was originally determined to be a common foul, but after referees conferred, it was upgraded to a Flagrant 2, resulting in DiJonai being ejected.
Cunningham was not held responsible for her retaliatory actions.
According to WNBA referee Maj Forsberg, Cunningham was not assessed a foul because they deemed “her reaction to the severity of the contact to be acceptable.”
The decision prompted Carrington to post “White Privilege” to Threads with the Indiana Fever tagged.
Her reaction was also reportedly in reference to the league’s decision to overturn Caitlyn Clark’s one-game suspension after receiving her eighth technical foul. After the game the foul was rescinded, making her eligible for the next game despite her season long tyranny of the officials.
Carrington’s sentiments are shared by other players as well as WNBA fans growing tired of the Fever fanbase, as the league allowed them to harass Black players online and at games with very little to no interference. Fever players like Clark and Cunningham also seem to have more free will to express their displeasure with referees and to play physical against opponents without harsh officiating results. Many attribute this selective protection to Clark’s presence in the WNBA, which has seemed to embolden racists.
On Monday, Sophie Cunningham spoke out and slammed Dijonai.
“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary. I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent up stuff. So get your s— off. That’s fine. I can take it… Yeah, it’s intentional,” Cunningham said, per ESPN’s Kareem Copeland on X.
“She has no reason to be doing any of that. So good way to get her kicked out. I don’t even know her. She wasn’t even on the team last year when all that was going on. But I do think when people play the Fever, we’re nationally televised, there’s a lot of eyes on us and people just want attention. And that’s her just trying to get attention.”
As NewsOne reports, Cunningham is the latest chosen MAGA representative as her controversial remarks about trans women in sports have endeared her to a conservative fanbase.
There have also been growing concerns around the lack of Black head coaches as well as the diminishing number of Black players on certain teams—the New York Liberty currently have one on their entire roster—in the WNBA. As many reference the history of the league being built on the talent of Black women, the league has seemingly doubled down on appeasing a fanbase who regularly finds pleasure in disrespecting and diminishing them.
Carrington’s courage to speak out has made her the target of online harassment but, for now, her post remains public.
