Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier declared he would pursue assault charges against Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington if the WNBA player's recent foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham had occurred within the state of Florida. Uthmeier, a Republican appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis, made the statement on his social media account.
Carrington was ejected from the game after receiving a flagrant 2 foul for the play against Cunningham. The incident and subsequent social media posts by Carrington have generated significant commentary across the sports world.
Uthmeier, who is running for re-election, posted, "The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I'll be charging people with assault." His stance drew praise from some online users, while others suggested he should refrain from intervening in league matters.
One response questioned, "Oh shut up. do you do anything with dirty plays or fights during Lightning or Panthers NHL hockey games? Didn't think so. This is a league mater and the NBA commish needs to take this failed league over and set some strict parameters." Another user advised, "Respectfully, sir, sit this one out. The @WNBA has lots of problems, and I am a supporter of @sophaller [Cunningham] (and @CaitlinClark22 as I am a former Iowan), but if you, @JamesUthmeierFL, and the rest of the people in government, think you are helping, you are not."
Despite Uthmeier's assertion, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White, who previously coached Carrington, did not believe the foul was intentional. "One of the things about 'Nai is she's going to play her butt off, man," White said. "She's gonna compete, no one's gonna go walking in for a easy layup, so I don't oppose the hard foul. But I also don't think she intentionally went for the neck."
Following her ejection, Carrington reportedly stated from the locker room that her removal was due to "white privilege." Cunningham disputed this, saying, "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."
