Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was ejected from Saturday's game for a brutal foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, sparking a bitter public dispute over race. Toward the end of the first quarter, Cunningham drove towards the basket when Carrington struck her in the face with her arm.
Game officials reviewed the play and upgraded the violation to a flagrant 2 foul, sending Carrington to the locker room. The Indiana Fever went on to win the matchup 90-86.
As Carrington walked off the court, courtside cameras captured Cunningham and her teammate Caitlin Clark waving goodbye to her. Minutes after her ejection, Carrington wrote on social media: "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever."
Following the strike, Cunningham immediately popped up to her feet and attempted to confront Carrington before teammates and staff dragged her away. Courtside footage appeared to show Cunningham calling her rival a "dumb a** b****" and shouting: "Why the f*** would you do that?"
Sophie Cunningham rejects race claim
After the game, Cunningham dismissed Carrington's post while speaking to ESPN, stating that the league was taking care of the situation and insisting the conflict had nothing to do with race.
"Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out," Cunningham told ESPN. "And I deserved to be kicked out. There's no reason even to play that card."
Addressing the foul, Cunningham called it unnecessary and said she had never spoken to Carrington or held any feud with her. "Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary. I've never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent up stuff. So get your s*** off. That's fine. I can take it," Cunningham said.
Cunningham suggested Carrington was intentionally seeking attention on national television. "I do think when people play the Fever, we're nationally televised, there's a lot of eyes on us and people just want attention. And that's her just trying to get attention," she said.
Cunningham added that Carrington was not even on the team last year when previous controversies occurred. "I don't even know her. She wasn't even on the team last year when all that was going on... it's intentional. She wasn't even on the team. She has no reason to be doing any of that. So, good way to get her kicked out," Cunningham said.
Insisting she was not upset, Cunningham said she popped up because she will not let anyone treat her that way. "I wasn't even upset... I popped up. I'm not going to let anyone just do that to me. I think everyone knows that. I think that's why she did it because she wants attention," Cunningham said. "I mean, s***, people have started craving attention. Like, go get it somewhere else. Go do something good in the world."
Resurfaced cab driver live stream
In the wake of the game, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy re-posted a December 2024 live stream clip showing Carrington mocking an Arabic-speaking taxi driver. Portnoy, a dedicated Caitlin Clark fan, shared the video alongside furious social media posts.
"Lets not forget the time DiJonai went on a.. racist rant against a cab driver," Portnoy captioned the post. "When people show you who they are believe them."
During the Instagram live stream, Carrington alleged that she and her friends were celebrating a birthday when they were kicked out of a taxi, seemingly for trying to play their music. "This stuff is crazy and I had to really expose him (the driver) in real time," Carrington told the camera.
Carrington went on to criticize the driver during the stream. "I don't know why white people think they can get away with trying to just scare black people by saying, "Oh, I'm gonna call the police." Ok, and we did nothing wrong, so that's fine. Go ahead and call the police," Carrington said. "There he is ladies and gentlemen. Live and in the flesh for you to see. He tried to kidnap us and take us."
Carrington then filmed the driver speaking to an incoming Uber driver. "Look, now he's going to talk to our next Uber driver. Let's see how this goes," she said, adding: "He just said something in another language to the next driver. What did he say?"
Upon getting into the new vehicle, Carrington realized the second driver spoke Spanish, not Arabic. She then yelled at the first driver: "Dummy, he don't even speak that language. He speaks Spanish."
Carrington added on stream: "He's a dumba** because our new driver speaks Spanish. This motherf***er was trying to speak Arabic. Arabic and Spanish do not sound the same." The Daily Mail has contacted Carrington's representatives for comment.
Previous political and court controversies
The incident comes as Cunningham remains at the center of a sporting and political controversy over her comments regarding transgender athletes. Cunningham said she wants to "protect young girls" from "biological men," leading to demonstrations as well as public support from figures including JD Vance.
Carrington has also been involved in previous controversies involving league stars. In 2024, while playing for the Connecticut Sun, Carrington poked Caitlin Clark in the face during a game, leaving the Fever guard with a black eye.
No foul was called during that play, and Clark stated the eye poke "wasn't intentional." Carrington later appeared to mock the incident by performing a dramatic recreation on a social media stream.
