Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington said her social media post about white privilege wasn’t about her flagrant 2-point foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham on Saturday, but about wanting “consistency throughout” the officiating, an issue that has sparked controversy throughout the WNBA season.
Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on her Threads account and tagged Indiana fever shortly after her expulsion from the game. She was whistled for a flagrant 2 foul after her left hand connected with Cunningham’s head and jaw while Cunningham was in the air trying to lay down. The hit knocked Cunningham to the floor, but she quickly got up to face Carrington before Fever teammate Makayla Timpson dragged her away.
“I never claimed that calling a foul was white privilege (that was your assumption),” Carrington posted on Monday on X, in response to a comment by sports analyst Emmanuel Acho, who said the flagrant decision 2 was correct. He also called her post “ignorant” and “asinine.”
“Also, I’m the LAST thing to be ignorant or stupid when it comes to talking about ‘white privilege,’ do your research on that,” Carrington continued. “I actually went to school, one of the best universities, I might add, to educate myself on this very subject. I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon, knowing the historical and social weight it carries, without proper evidence to back it up.”
Carrington, who played four years at Stanford before transferring to Baylor, told reporters before the Sky’s game against the Seattle Storm on Monday night that her announcement was aimed at the league more broadly. She did not address the reason why she labeled the fever in her post.
“I would say I would just like consistency across the board when it comes to things like that,” Carrington said when asked if Cunningham also should have received a technical from the officials for her reaction to the foul.
“Whether it’s a foul I made, whether it’s a reaction, a retaliation, I just wish there was consistency across the board, regardless of the name on the jersey or the color of the skin or the score of the game, the stake, whatever, I’d like there to be consistency when it comes to all of that,” Carrington continued. “I don’t think we’re there yet. It’s something I’ve talked to the league about as well. I think it will eliminate a lot of frustrations that we all have.”
Criticism of officiating has been a growing problem in the WNBA for years, with player complaints prompting the league to form a task force at the end of the 2025 season to examine areas for improvement. But the controversy surrounding the trial continued.
In her pregame comments, Carrington said she spoke with the league about the situation.
“No, I don’t feel encouraged,” Carrington said of those discussions. “But that doesn’t mean you’re going to stop fighting for what I believe is right and that’s just consistency. Everybody would benefit from that. We’re all here to play our hardest and win. There’s never malice in any of these things. So I think it would be fair to be consistent around the world when it comes to things like that.”
The WNBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After Saturday’s game, Cunningham said she thought Carrington’s foul was in response to Cunningham’s 2025 foul and ejection against Sky guard Jacy Sheldon, then playing for the Connecticut Sun. At the time, Sheldon and Carrington weren’t teammates. On Monday, Carrington said her mistake was not intentional.
“Obviously, I’m just coming back from injury, so maybe my timing or my lifting wasn’t where it needs to be, but … it was unfortunate that I came into contact with her the way I did, but it was never intentional,” she said. “Look, it could happen again. That’s just the way I play, I’m always going to do my best and try to stop. I’m not just going to let an open layup happen. But… I never intend to hurt anybody no matter what the outside noise is or whatever the situation is.”
Cunningham has been in the spotlight since breaking an ESPN story last month in which she advocated for the exclusion of trans athletes from women’s sports. She is quoted as saying she wanted to “protect the young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t be against biological men”. Since then, there have been demonstrations and counter-demonstrations outside Fever games, and teammates and opposing players and coaches have been repeatedly asked about the issue.
On Friday, the National Women’s Basketball Association released a statement condemning the “hate, abuse and demonization” of the transgender community, but did not specifically mention Cunningham.