WNBA guard DiJonai Carrington accused the league of having "white privilege" following her ejection from Saturday's game against the Indiana Fever.
The Chicago Sky guard was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul following a hit to the neck of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. Carrington's foul was initially called a Flagrant 1, before getting upgraded to a Flagrant 2 upon review. The Fever went on to beat the Sky, 90-86.
"Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary," Cunningham said after the game. "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 (expletive) off. That's fine. I can take it."
Fever head coach Stephanie White, meanwhile, agreed with the call.
"Look, it was a hard foul," White said. "It did happen, and I thought it was the right call. One of the things about [Carrington] is that she's going to play her butt off, man. She's going to compete. Nobody's going to go walking in for a layup. I don't oppose the hard foul, but I also don't think that she intentionally went for the neck."
© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Carrington, meanwhile, appeared to take issue with the call.
Immediately following her ejection, she took to social media with an accusation: "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever."
Cunningham was asked postgame for her thoughts.
"I think the league is taking care of that," Cunningham said. "This has nothing to do with race. 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."
Former NFL player calls out Carrington
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho said that Carrington's skin color had nothing to do with her ejection.
"DiJonai Carrington posted 'White Privilege' from the locker room after being ejected for fouling Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham. Judge for yourself, but color didn’t have nothing to do with the flagrant 2. IMO," he shared.
The WNBA would likely agree.
Carrington, of course, does not.
