CHICAGO – The ongoing saga of Sophie Cunningham has another chapter and another layer thanks to a social media post.
The Indiana Fever guard took a shot in the face from Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington during the first quarter Saturday at the United Center — a foul that resulted in a Flagrant 2 foul and Carrington’s ejection, followed by an almost immediate reprimand on her social media account.
“WHITE PRIVILEGE”, read a post from Carrington’s Threads accountwith marked Indiana fever.
Cunningham fired back with her own after the game, saying Carrington’s hard foul was “just trying to get attention.”
After an errant pass from Sky’s Elizabeth Williams, Fever’s Monique Billings collected the loose ball and threw forward to Cunningham. While attempting the shot, Carrington’s left hand connected with Cunningham’s head and jaw, sending her to the floor.
DiJonai Carrington was rated a Flagrant 2 and was ejected from the game after this play. pic.twitter.com/WRapu4lqHX
— ESPN (@espn) August 8, 2026
“We got a good steal, we had good defense, and we just went ahead and got an and-1,” Cunningham said after the game. “From my point of view, I mean, I clearly think it was unnecessary. I’ve never spoken to her and I’ve never argued with her. But I guess there’s some stuff that’s built up. So take off your clothes. That’s fine. I can handle it.”
Fever coach Stephanie White said she didn’t believe Carrington “came out on purpose to put her over the door,” but Cunningham wasn’t so generous.
She believed the foul was motivated by her own flagrant foul on Sky guard Jacy Sheldon and subsequent ejection from a 2025 game between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun, Sheldon’s team at the time—though Sheldon and Carrington did not become teammates until the 2026 season.
“I don’t even know her,” Cunningham said. “She wasn’t even on the team when it was all happening. But I think when people play the Fever, we have national television, a lot of eyes are on us. People just want attention. And she’s just trying to get attention.”
Cunningham immediately jumped out, and teammate Makayla Timpson had to pull her away from Carrington. After a review, the officials upgraded the common foul to a Flagrant 2 and sent Carrington to the locker room. On her way through the tunnel, Carrington grinned and shook her head as Sky fans gave her a standing ovation.
Shortly after Carrington was kicked out, a post appeared on her Threads account. Carrington could not be reached for comment after the game.
“Oh yes, we saw,” Cunningham said. “I think the league is taking care of that. I mean, this has nothing to do with race. I did the same thing last year, and I got kicked out, because I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason to even play that card.”
Cunningham, an eight-year veteran reserve, is in the spotlight as ESPN quoted her in a July 21 story saying he wanted to “protect the young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t be opposed to biological males.”
The ensuing uproar sparked demonstrations and counterdemonstrations outside Fever games, a trend that continued Saturday near the United Center on Chicago’s West Side. In addition, Cunningham was booed by crowds in Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis, and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a “Trans Kids Belong” T-shirt during her team’s game against the Fever on Sunday.
On Friday, the National Basketball Association condemned the “hate, abuse and demonization” of the transgender community in a statement that did not mention Cunningham.
Against the Sky, Cunningham entered the game at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter to a strong but mixed reaction of boos and cheers. After the scuffle with Carrington and the sending off of the Sky keeper, the United Center scoreboard showed a fan wearing a T-shirt supporting transgender rights before quickly moving on to another participant.
This was not the first clash with Carrington-Fever. In the first game of the 2024 playoff series, Carrington inadvertently poked then-Fever rookie Caitlin Clark in the right eye. Debate over Carrington’s motivations dominated the following days, however, even as Clark said it was “in no way intentional” in a press session two days later.
“I don’t even know why I would hit somebody in the eye,” Carrington told reporters at the time. “That doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit it, actually. I was trying to play the ball, and I guess I followed him and I hit it. Obviously it’s never intentional. That’s not even the type of player I am.”
