Sophie Cunningham reacts to DiJonai Carrington's 'white privilege' post after hard foul, ejection

WNBA athlete Sophie Cunningham rejected the idea that race had anything to do with DiJonai Carrington’s ejection from a recent game after the Chicago Sky player posted about “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media after committing a flagrant foul against the Indiana Fever guard. 

“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,” Cunningham said after the game. 

During Saturday's game in Chicago, Cunningham was driving to the hoop for a breakaway layup in the first quarter when Carrington caught the Indiana Fever guard by the head and neck.

“Clearly I think it was unnecessary,” Cunningham said. “I’ve never really spoken to her and I have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent up stuff.”

Cunningham fell to the ground but later got up, charging toward Carrington and pushing her as a teammate held her back. The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 2 following a review of the footage, and Carrington was ejected from the game for the incident involving Cunningham. 

“I popped up,” the Indiana Fever guard said about why she charged Carrington after the foul. “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.”

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White agreed that what Carrington did was a “hard foul,” but does not think the Chicago Sky player meant to catch Cunningham by the neck the way she did. However, the coach noted that “it did happen” and she believes that the foul was the “right call.”

Following her ejection from Saturday’s game, Carrington later posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media and tagged the Indiana Fever team. Following the foul against Cunningham, the WNBA has also said that Carrington will need to pay a $1,000 fine, according to reports. 

The Chicago Sky player is not the only WNBA athlete who has been fined in recent years.

Last year, Cunningham announced in an X post that she had been fined $500 over a TikTok that included the words “@ some refs” in the video as the WNBA player lip-syncing to song lyrics, saying, “Stupid. Or is it, slow? Or maybe, useless?” 

“I got fined $500 for this TikTok,” Cunningham stated at the time. “idk why this is funny to me... like ok you got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now.”

The foul against Cunningham during Saturday’s WNBA game has attracted the attention of several influential figures, including Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. 

Uthmeier wrote in a Saturday X post, “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault.” 

In a follow-up X post on Sunday, the Florida attorney general added, “I should probably clarify … assault and battery.” 

Women’s sports advocate and conservative activist Riley Gaines also commented on the foul against Cunningham, writing in a Saturday X post, “The price of standing for girls and women.” Gaines’ post included a photo of Carrington committing the foul against the Indiana Fever guard while she was airborne during a layup. 

Cunningham has received praise from women’s sports advocates and criticism from LGBT activists after she publicly defended her belief that female athletes shouldn’t have to compete against men. 

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” the WNBA athlete stated. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”