Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington stated on social media that her recent "WHITE PRIVILEGE" post was not related to the Flagrant 2 foul that led to her ejection from a game against the Indiana Fever.
Carrington was assessed the foul and ejected from Saturday's game after just three minutes of play for attempting to block a layup by Sophie Cunningham. Moments after leaving the court, Carrington posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on Threads and tagged the Fever. The post drew immediate reaction, including from former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who addressed it on his "Speakeasy" podcast.
Acho argued that the foul call was not race-based and that Carrington's use of the term undermined its meaning. "This was not a race-based decision," Acho said. "To call that a white privilege-based foul is to completely undermine the term of white privilege and to also completely ignore the rules in basketball. You hit her in the head. You drew blood. You didn’t connect with the ball at all whatsoever."
In response to Acho's comments, Carrington wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption)." She criticized the notion that she was ignorant or asinine in her use of the term, stating she had researched the subject at a top university. However, her comments did not specify what her original post was referring to or why she tagged the Fever.
Sophie Cunningham also commented on the foul, stating it had "nothing to do with race." She recalled a similar incident last season where she was ejected for a comparable foul and believed she deserved it. "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.
Carrington has not spoken to the media since the game. The Sky's next game is Monday against the Seattle Storm.
The WNBA season has been marked by significant public discussion, including debates surrounding Caitlin Clark and the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports. Cunningham has been a vocal participant in the latter debate, having expressed her views on protecting women's sports from competition against biological males in a feature published by ESPN. The Indiana Fever player also has a history with the Chicago Sky, stemming from a similar foul committed by Cunningham against a Sky player last season.