Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was thrown out of Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever after delivering what can only be described as an obnoxious, unnecessary shot to the head of Sophie Cunningham, then immediately took to social media to play the race card.
Late in the first quarter, Cunningham was racing in for a wide-open layup on a fast break when Carrington chased her down from behind. Instead of cleanly contesting the ball, Carrington swung her arm and caught Cunningham square in the head and neck area, sending the Fever forward crashing hard to the floor. The shot went in. Cunningham immediately jumped up and confronted Carrington before teammates and officials intervened.
After a review, officials upgraded the contact to a Flagrant 2 foul. That carries an automatic ejection. Carrington was sent to the locker room.
Minutes later, while still presumably in the locker room, Carrington posted two words on Threads: “WHITE PRIVILEGE,” tagging the Indiana Fever account.
That’s right. Getting tossed for smacking an opponent in the head is apparently “white privilege.”Cunningham, who is white, wasn’t buying it. After the Fever’s 90-86 win, she told reporters the foul had nothing to do with race.
“This has nothing to do with race,” Cunningham said. “Last year, I did the same thing, and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason even to play that card.”
She added that she had no prior beef with Carrington and suggested the Chicago guard was simply looking for attention in a nationally televised game. “I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So get your [stuff] off. That’s fine. I can take it… Yeah, it’s intentional.”
The league will review the play for possible further discipline. Carrington has a history of physical and verbal controversy, including past run-ins involving Fever players.
In an era when every sports incident seems to get filtered through a racial lens, Carrington’s post offered a textbook example of the problem. A clear, excessive foul that endangered another player’s safety was met not with accountability, but with an instant accusation that the rules somehow only applied because of race.
Cunningham, for her part, refused to take the bait. She focused on the contact itself and the standard consequence that follows when you hit someone in the head on a basketball court.
The WNBA has spent years trying to grow its audience and project toughness and competitiveness. Moments like this – a hard foul followed by a racial grievance – do the opposite. They turn a basketball play into another tired culture-war spectacle.
Carrington was ejected for the foul. Whether the league decides additional punishment is warranted for the post remains to be seen. But one thing is already clear: claiming “white privilege” after delivering a shot to the head does not make the foul any less flagrant.
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