Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington spoke with the media before her team’s game against the Seattle Storm on Monday night.
When Carrington was asked about her flagrant foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, which led to Carrington being ejected, she said, “I’m never gonna let a open layup just be had. You can pull clips from however many seasons of me making that same exact play. It was unfortunate that I made contact with her in the way that I did, but it was never intentional,” per an X post from Chicago State of Mind Sports.
It’s somewhat reassuring to know that Carrington wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt Cunningham on the play.
However, just about nobody thought the foul was intentional. That’s not what has stirred up all the fallout from this exchange. Instead, it’s Carrington’s social media post after being ejected, which read, “WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever,” that needs clarity.
While Carrington addressed this post and the backlash she has received from it on social media Monday morning by saying, “I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege”, she didn’t address or clarify what she was referring to when making the post.
And that’s what everyone is looking for clarity on. Therefore, she provided clarity about the wrong thing on Monday.
Granted, it’s not Carrington’s job to provide clarity without being asked about it, so some of the blame must be put on the reporters present who didn’t seem to ask her to clarify what she meant when making the post.
But the bottom line is that this storyline isn’t going to simmer down until Carrington gets clear about what she was referring to with the “white privilege post”, especially because most believed that she was referring to the assessment of the foul.
The WNBA has stated that it is currently reviewing whether Carrington’s on-court actions and ensuing social media conduct warrant a suspension. The verdict should arrive in the coming days, although it didn’t come soon enough to impact Carrington’s status for the Sky’s game against the Storm.
Many feel like Carrington deserves a suspension for what she said. The WNBA deciding on this consequence could be an important step in moving forward from the incident.
Perhaps Carrington providing clarity on the social media post will help influence the league’s decision, one way or another. It will certainly help the focus get back to basketball, which is what everyone who’s truly a fan of the game is seeking.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
