Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington disputed an assessment that her use of the term "white privilege" in a social media post was a reference to her ejection from a game on Saturday.
Carrington also talked about the incident on Monday ahead of the Sky's road game against the Seattle Storm.
"I already spoke with people who potentially will have the agency to create the change that I'm hoping comes about from not just this incident, but ones in the past and that are obviously going to be coming up in the near
future, probably," Carrington said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Carrington was thrown out of the Sky's 90-86 loss to the visiting Fever in the first quarter for a hard hit on Indiana's Sophie Cunningham. As Cunningham went up for a layup, Carrington knocked her down with an arm that made contact to the head and face.
The referees checked the video and upgraded the initial call to a flagrant-2 foul, triggering an automatic ejection.
Shortly thereafter, Carrington, who is Black, posted on her Threads account: "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever." Cunningham is white.
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho said Sunday on his podcast, "This was not a race-based decision. 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.
"So to me, it was just very ignorant and, to some degree, asinine by D.J. Carrington to suggest that that call was based on white privilege. Have we seen examples of white players make that same foul and get away with it? Have we seen examples of black players make that same foul and get away with it? Yes. There was no white privilege involved in that specific call."
Carrington responded by writing on social media, "I've never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). Try exercising your critical thinking skills, I know you studied psych. Furthermore, I'm the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on ‘white privilege', do ya research on that one. I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject.
"I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it."
Carrington continued to elaborate on her view of the foul on Cunningham on Monday.
"It was unfortunate that I made contact with her in the way that I did, but it was never intentional," Carrington said, according to the Sun-Times. "And look, it might happen again. That's just how I play. I'm gonna always go all out. I'm not gonna just let an open layup happen. But like I said, I'm never intending to hurt anybody, regardless of the outside noise or whatever the situation may be."
Asked about Cunningham not receiving a technical foul for shoving Carrington in the aftermath of the hard foul, Carrington said, per the Sun-Times, "I would just love consistency across the board when it comes to things like that. Whether it's the foul that I commit, whether it's the reaction or retaliation, I would just love for it to be consistent across the board, regardless of the name on your jersey or your skin color or the score of the game, whatever.
"I don't think we're there yet. That's something that I've talked to the league about as well. I think that will eliminate a lot of frustrations that we all have."
Carrington played college basketball for Stanford (2016-17 to 2019-20) and Baylor (2020-21) before she was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft by the Sun. Following four seasons in Connecticut, she played for the Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx last season, then joined Chicago before this season.
The 28-year-old San Diego native was selected the WNBA's Most Improved Player in 2024, when she also made the All-Defensive first team.
In five games off the bench for the Sky this season, Carrington is averaging 9.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists. She has career averages of 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 167 games (56 starts).
--Field Level Media
