The Worldwide Leader in Sports is facing criticism for its coverage of the Sophie Cunningham, DiJonai Carrington feud.
Carrington was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul for her hit to the neck of Sophie Cunningham. Carrington, a guard for the Chicago Sky, was promptly ejected from the game. Carrington then took to social media, posting "white privilege" and tagging the Indiana Fever.
However, Carrington has since claimed that her post wasn't about the foul call.
"I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). Try exercising your critical thinking skills, I know you studied psych. Furthermore, I’m the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on 'white privilege,' do ya research on that one. I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject. I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it," she wrote.
Meanwhile, ESPN has faced criticism for its coverage of the play and the controversy, especially from Fox Sports 1.
Dave Portnoy calls out ESPN on 'Wake Up Barstool'
Portnoy, who also plays a part in FOX's "Big Noon Kickoff," taunted ESPN and called them "morons."
"And maybe the story ends there if Carrington doesn't go to the locker room and pick up her phone and tweet 'white privilege,' which is insane. An absolutely insane thing to say. Now, if you go watch other networks, I'm not gonna say it on Fox, but like ESPN is filled with absolute morons," Portnoy said.
"They have a panel of morons sitting there discussing this play and talking about whether it was the right call and things of that nature. They don't even mention the fact that she said 'white privilege.' That is the story. The story isn't that she got kicked out. It's that she tweeted out 'white privilege' because Sophie Cunningham is white and that's somehow how she got kicked out. They go on to defend her — the story, the narrative that she's not a dirty player, she makes plays like this all the time."
Portnoy accused ESPN of not mentioning Carrington's "white privilege" comment in 99 percent of their coverage.
"Where this thing gets absolutely bananas is when you start making it into a race and culture war, and the people talking about it are not mentioning 99% of the time that she went back and tweeted 'white privilege.' White privilege how? You made a dirty play," he said.
Portnoy also ripped Fever coach Stephanie White for her comments on the play.
"Defend your players or get lost," Portnoy added.
