Sophie Cunningham has responded to claims of ‘white privilege’ after criticizing DiJonai Carrington over what she described as an ‘unnecessary’ flagrant foul.
The Indiana Fever guard has built a reputation for speaking candidly, and she did so again after the incident during the game against the Chicago Sky on August 8 at the United Center in Chicago.
Cunningham and Carrington drew attention following a heated sequence in which Carrington chased down Cunningham during a fast-break layup attempt and sent her to the floor.
Video of the play appeared to show Carrington making contact with Cunningham’s head and neck, causing her to fall awkwardly as the shot went in.
Officials initially assessed the play as a flagrant 1 before later upgrading it to a flagrant 2 after review. The referee cited windup, impact and follow-through on the foul as reasons for the upgrade.
Afterward, Cunningham said the play crossed the line and suggested Carrington was acting out of frustration.
Speaking to reporters, per Yahoo!, Cunningham said:
“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.”
She then added:
“Yeah, 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.
Cunningham also claimed the Fever attract extra attention because of their national profile.
“I don’t even know her. She wasn’t even on the team last year when all that was going on. But 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 claimed.
The comment about extra attention reflected the backdrop of the game, as dueling protests had formed outside the United Center around Cunningham’s recent comments opposing transgender women participating in women’s sports, which were featured in an ESPN profile released last month.
After the clash, Carrington posted on her Threads account the words “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever. She later also posted “8/23” on social media, referencing the next date the teams will face each other.
Cunningham dismissed that angle, saying she believed the league would handle matters and arguing that race was not relevant to the incident. She also pointed to a similar play from her own past.
She 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.”
While Cunningham felt she had been deliberately targeted, Fever head coach Stephanie White offered a more measured assessment.
White said:
“It was a hard foul,” White said. “I don’t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call.”
After hitting the floor, Cunningham quickly got back up and moved toward Carrington, shoving her before teammates stepped in. Officials noted they “deemed her reaction to the severity of the contact to be acceptable,” and Cunningham was not issued a technical foul.
Reflecting on her reaction, Cunningham said:
“I popped up,” Cunningham said of her retaliation, per AP. “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.”
The Fever defeated the Sky 90-86, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring 27 points to set a WNBA single-season record with her 16th straight game of 20-plus points, while Caitlin Clark added 26 points and 11 assists. Carrington, who had checked in off the bench and scored eight points in just four minutes before the ejection, was among the team’s bright spots before the incident. The guard had missed the first half of the season recovering from foot surgery.