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CHICAGO — The ongoing Sophie Cunningham saga has another chapter, and another layer thanks to a social media post.The Indiana Fever guard took a shot to the face from Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington during the first quarter Saturday at the United Center — a foul that resulted in a Flagrant 2 foul and ejection for Carrington, followed by an almost immediate rebuke on her social media account.
“WHITE PRIVILEGE,” the post from Carrington’s Threads account read, with the Indiana Fever tagged.
Cunningham responded with a jab of her own after the game, saying Carrington’s hard foul was “her just trying to get attention.”
After an errant pass from the Sky’s Elizabeth Williams, the Fever’s Monique Billings collected the loose ball and threw ahead to a streaking Cunningham. On the shot attempt, Carrington’s left arm connected with Cunningham’s head and jaw, sending her to the floor.
“We got a good steal, we had some good defense, and just went up and got the and-one,” Cunningham said after the game. “From my point of view, I mean clearly I think it was unnecessary. I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her. But I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So get your s— off. That’s fine. I can take it.”
Fever coach Stephanie White said she did not believe Carrington “intentionally came out to get her across the neck,” but Cunningham was not as generous.
She believed the foul was motivated by her own flagrant foul on Sky guard Jacy Sheldon and subsequent ejection from a 2025 game, even though Carrington did not join Chicago until the 2026 season.
“I don’t even know her,” Cunningham said. “She wasn’t even on the team when all that was going on. But I do think when people play the Fever, we’re nationally televised, there’s a lot of eyes on us. People just want attention. And that’s her just trying to get attention.”
Cunningham immediately popped up, and teammate Makayla Timpson had to separate her from Carrington. After a review, officials upgraded the common foul to a Flagrant 2 and sent Carrington to the locker room. On her way through the tunnel, Carrington grinned and shook her head as Sky fans gave her an ovation.
Shortly after being ejected, the post appeared on Carrington’s Threads account. Carrington was not made available for comment after the game.
“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.”
Cunningham, an eighth-year veteran reserve, has been in the spotlight since ESPN quoted her in a July 21 story saying she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
The ensuing uproar has included demonstrations and counter-demonstrations outside of Fever games, a trend that continued Saturday near the United Center on Chicago’s West Side. In addition, Cunningham has been booed by crowds in Portland and Minneapolis, and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a T-shirt declaring “Trans kids belong” during her team’s game against the Fever on Aug. 2.
On Friday, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association denounced “hate, abuse, and demonization” of the transgender community in a statement that did not reference Cunningham.
Against the Sky, Cunningham checked into the game at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter to a strong but mixed reaction of boos and cheers. After the dust-up with Carrington and the Sky guard’s ejection, the United Center scoreboard showed a fan with a t-shirt supporting transgender rights before quickly cutting away to another attendee.
This was not the first Carrington-Fever imbroglio. In Game 1 of a 2024 playoff series, Carrington inadvertently poked the Fever’s then-rookie Caitlin Clark in the right eye. Debate about Carrington’s motivation nevertheless dominated the following days, even as Clark said it “wasn’t intentional by any means” in a media session two days later.
“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye,” Carrington told reporters at the time. “That doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball, and I guess I followed through and I hit her. Obviously it’s never intentional. That’s not even the type of player that I am.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Chicago Sky, Indiana Fever, WNBA
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