DiJonai Carrington Ejected After Flagrant 2 Foul on Sophie Cunningham in Fever’s 90-86 Win

DiJonai Carrington was ejected after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for a hard foul across the face and neck area of the Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham during the first quarter of Indiana’s 90-86 win Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

“assessed a Flagrant 2 and ejected after a hard foul across the face and neck area”

NBC News

Cunningham said, "Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary," after the play was reviewed and upgraded to a Flagrant 2, while Fever coach Stephanie White said, "It was a hard foul" and that she did not think Carrington intentionally went for the neck.

BBC

Carrington declined to comment after the game, and the foul carried an automatic ejection after the referee said there was windup, impact and follow-through with a high potential for injury on a player in a vulnerable position.

After the ejection, Carrington posted on social media the words "WHITE PRIVILEGE" and tagged the Fever, and Cunningham responded that "This has nothing to do with race."

Cunningham pushed back on the racial framing, telling reporters, "This has nothing to do with race," and adding that last year she did the same thing and "I deserved to be kicked out."

NBC News reported that Cunningham said, "I think the league is taking care of that," after Carrington’s Threads post, while Reuters quoted Cunningham saying, "Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out."

Chicago Sun-Times

Officials also addressed the aftermath, with Reuters reporting that crew chief Maj Forsberg said Cunningham was not penalized for her reaction because "we deemed her reaction to the severity of the contact to be acceptable."

Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he was just hearing about the post and told reporters, "I have to get back to you on that because I’m just now hearing about that."

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier weighed in on the incident, saying, "The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault," after Carrington’s ejection and social media post.

“"The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault,"”

NBC 15 WPMI

Uthmeier later clarified in a follow-up post, "I should probably clarify … assault and battery," and NBC 15 WPMI reported that the WNBA issued a punishment and Carrington "will also need to pay a $1,000 fine."

The dispute also fed into a broader debate around transgender participation in women’s basketball, with NBC News reporting that in a memo to teams on Friday WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league would have ongoing discussions about the issue.

In the immediate aftermath, ESPN reported that the play was originally called a flagrant 1 but was upgraded after review, and it noted that Carrington declined comment while Cunningham said, "I think the league is taking care of that."