DiJonai Carrington Says "White Privilege" Over Sophie Cunningham Foul

Two women celebrating on a basketball court, one wearing a jersey with "Fever" printed on it. A basketball is being tossed in the air. — Source:

Sophie Cunningham is at the center of another WNBA controversy.

But this time it was initiated on the court at the hands of an opposing player during Saturday’s game at United Center.

Her Indiana Fever were taking on the Chicago Sky when, in the first quarter, she went up for a layup, and then DiJonai Carrington refused to let her have the easy two points.

So instead she hit Cunningham in the cheek and appeared to wrap her arm around her head, causing her to fall to the ground.

Cunningham immediately jumped up, and the two got into each other’s face and grabbed at each other before Cunningham’s teammate Makayla Timpson dragged her away.

Carrington was immediately issued a flagrant two and ejected from the game. While walking towards the tunnel, she flashed a smile as the crowd clapped for her.

Soon after, she took to social media to air her frustrations, posting “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on her Threads account and tagging the Indiana Fever.

After the game, which the Fever won 90-86, Cunningham said the hard foul was “absolutely” intentional.

“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.”

However, Cunningham’s own head coach Stephanie White didn’t think it was supposed to be as brutal as it seemed.

“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.”

Carrington’s white privilege quip added another layer of complexity to the situation, and Cunningham was aware of the Threads post.

“Oh yeah, we saw it,” Cunningham said. “I think the league is taking care of that. I mean, this has nothing to do with race. Last year I did the same thing, and I got kicked out, as I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason to even play that card.”

When it comes to actual on-court play, Yahoo! Sports reports Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points to set a WNBA single-season record with her 16th straight 20-plus point game, while Caitlin Clark was on her heels with 26 points and 11 assists.

Cunningham has had an exhausting few weeks, as she’s already dealing with backlash for saying she’s trying to protect girls in the locker room regarding her view on trans athletes.

See how social media is reacting to the Carrington—Cunningham dustup below.