In the latest chapter of the WNBA’s endless soap opera, Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington decided the real opponent wasn’t the Golden State Valkyries, it was a courtside fan minding his own business.
During the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game at Chase Center, Carrington marched over to officials and security to complain about a spectator. The fan was promptly escorted from his courtside seat. Minutes later, he was back in place. Why? Because a Valkyries official confirmed the complaint was “unfounded.” The fan, by all accounts, had been cooperative. No threats. No abuse. Just a player who apparently couldn’t handle the heat of a live audience.
Professional victim. It’s becoming Carrington’s signature move.
This is the same player who, just days earlier, was ejected for a flagrant-2 foul after leveling Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham with a high, hard hit to the head and neck area—then immediately posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” while tagging the Fever.
Cunningham, who is white, pushed back hard: the foul had nothing to do with race, she’d been ejected for similar contact herself in the past, and playing the race card was unnecessary. Carrington later tried to walk it back, claiming she was talking about “consistency” in officiating. Sure.
Now she’s weaponizing arena security against paying customers. The league already struggles with thin crowds and declining relevance outside of manufactured drama. Kicking out a fan over a baseless gripe is a hell of a way to grow the game.
Video of the incident shows Carrington in discussion with officials and staff before security moved in. The fan later laughed it off with people around him. Meanwhile, social media lit up with the usual mix of exhaustion and ridicule. Fans called her a “professional victim,” questioned whether she should even be in the league, and pointed out the absurdity of ejecting paying customers when half the arenas already look half-empty.
Carrington has been back from injury only a short time and has already managed to dominate headlines for everything except elite basketball. Dirty fouls, race-baiting posts, and now this. The pattern is clear: when the whistle doesn’t go her way, or the crowd isn’t sufficiently deferential, it’s always someone else’s fault.
The WNBA loves to lecture America about respect, inclusion, and “taking threats seriously.” Fine. But when a player cries wolf and a cooperative fan gets frog-marched out only to be walked right back in, it doesn’t look like protecting athletes. It looks like entitlement in a jersey.
If the league wants to be taken seriously as a professional sports product instead of a floating grievance seminar, maybe start by telling its players to toughen up and stop treating every mild inconvenience like a human rights violation. Until then, expect more of the same: manufactured victimhood, ejected fans, and an audience that keeps shrinking while the drama gets louder.
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