Key facts
- Indiana Fever beat the Chicago Sky 90-86 on Saturday at the United Center.
- DiJonai Carrington was ejected in the first quarter after a Flagrant 1 call on Sophie Cunningham was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 on review.
- Carrington posted ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE’ on Threads and tagged the Fever after her ejection, then posted ‘8/23,’ the date of the teams’ next matchup.
- Sporting News reports this was Carrington’s first flagrant foul of the season, making a suspension unlikely under the WNBA’s points system, and that she faces a $1,000 fine.
- Carrington had 8 points in about 4 minutes off the bench before ejection, in only her fifth game back from a left foot sprain.
- Caitlin Clark picked up her eighth technical foul of the season in the third quarter, triggering an automatic one-game suspension for Indiana’s next game.
Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was ejected late in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham. Indiana won the game 90-86 at the United Center. Minutes after leaving the court, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on her Threads account and tagged the Fever, then followed up with “8/23,” the date of the teams’ next meeting.
What happened on the play
Cunningham was on a breakaway layup attempt when Carrington came from behind attempting to block the shot. Carrington’s arm caught Cunningham across the face and neck, and Cunningham fell hard to the court after the shot went in. She got up immediately and went after Carrington before being physically held back, with Sky forward Makayla Timpson among those separating the two. The play was initially called a Flagrant 1 on the floor, then upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after replay review, triggering Carrington’s automatic ejection. The Guardian reported the referee explanation cited windup, impact and follow-through in the contact.
Reaction from players and coaches
Cunningham called the foul intentional, saying “clearly I think it was unnecessary” and suggesting Carrington “has some pent up stuff” toward her, despite the two never having spoken before. She rejected any racial element to the ejection, noting she was ejected for a similar hard foul last season and “deserved” it, adding “there’s no reason even to play that card.” Fever coach Stephanie White, who coached Carrington in Connecticut from 2023-24, said she believed it was a hard, competitive foul but did not think Carrington intentionally struck Cunningham in the neck, while agreeing the ejection was the correct call. Sky coach Tyler Marsh said that watching live he thought Carrington was making a play on the ball and wasn’t sure the foul warranted a Flagrant 2, but said he had not yet reviewed the replay. Marsh said he was unaware of Carrington’s social media post when asked about it postgame and said the team would “handle” it.
Possible discipline and context
Per Sporting News, citing Across the Timeline, Saturday’s Flagrant 2 was Carrington’s first flagrant foul of the season. The WNBA grades flagrant fouls on a points system (Flagrant 1 = 1 point, Flagrant 2 = 2 points), with a one-game suspension triggered at four points, meaning Carrington is not expected to face a suspension from this incident alone. Sporting News reported she will be fined $1,000. Carrington had scored eight points in about four minutes off the bench before her ejection, in just her fifth game with the Sky this season after her season debut was delayed by a left foot sprain. She was expected to be available when Chicago played the Seattle Storm the following Monday.
Wider context of the game
Cunningham has drawn national attention in recent weeks for publicly opposing transgender women’s participation in the WNBA, a stance that has sparked rallies and debate around the league; SB Nation noted a fan holding a trans-rights shirt was shown on the arena screen shortly after Carrington’s foul, and that Carrington received loud cheers from the Chicago crowd as she left the court. Separately in the same game, Fever star Caitlin Clark picked up her eighth technical foul of the season in the third quarter after making contact with a referee while being pushed out of bounds, automatically triggering a one-game suspension for Indiana’s next game. Clark said the contact was unintentional and that she hoped the league would rescind the technical.
Sources
Featured photo: John Mac via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)