DiJonai Carrington found a way to make it all about her on Saturday.
A routine fast-break layup transformed into the latest flashpoint in the WNBA’s national culture war after the Chicago Sky star was ejected after delivering a vicious strike to the head and neck of Indiana Fever sensation Sophie Cunningham. Carrington then went on social media to pour gasoline on the fallout of the foul with her now-infamous “White privilege,” remark after her punishment.
Carrington already appears to be looking forward to her next chance to sap of that attention, as she gleefully posted the date of the Sky’s rematch against the Fever on Aug. 23.
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And while this latest stunt has become a national headline, it’s hardly the first time Carrington has leveraged the Fever to make herself the center of attention.
How did she get here?
DiJonai Carrington No. 7 of the Chicago Sky reacts against the Indiana Fever during the first half at United Center in Chicago on Aug. 8, 2026. (Getty Images)
Carrington comes from a prosperous and religious sports family
Religion played a major role in her home life.
Her father became a pastor, her mother is active in ministry, and DiJonai attended a private Christian school growing up.
Her father, Darren Carrington, was a standout safety in the NFL who played in two Super Bowls during his eight-year professional career with the Chargers and Patriots.
Her mother, Vickie, was a star track athlete.
Inspired by her older siblings (brother Darren II and sister Diarra), she insisted on playing youth football in elementary school, playing one year of flag football and two years of tackle football in grades 2 through 4.
During her high school years at Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, her mother served as her basketball head coach, her father as the associate head coach, and her sister as an assistant coach
During her high school years at Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, her mother served as her basketball head coach, her father as the associate head coach and her sister as an assistant coach.
DiJonai became a highly touted prospect who played for elite programs, beginning her college career at Stanford University.
In a 2019 interview for “My Stanford Story,” Carrington spoke modestly and eloquently about her childhood and overcoming injuries, and her academic interests in psychology and African American studies.
She later transferred to Baylor before being drafted by the Connecticut Sun in 2021.
The breakup
Fast forward to 2026, Carrington has a very different image than what she put on display in her 2019 Stanford interview.
Just weeks before her confrontation with Cunningham, Carrington sent shockwaves through the WNBA by publicly detonating her former relationship on social media.
During the late-July All-Star break, Carrington took to Threads to launch a spontaneous, unprovoked attack on her ex-girlfriend, Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith.
NaLyssa Smith #1 and DiJonai Carrington #21 of the Dallas Wings poses for a portrait during WNBA Media Day on May 7, 2025 at College Park Center in Dallas Texas. (Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
The two had dated since their college days at Baylor in 2020 and even briefly played together for the Dallas Wings.
A full year after their breakup, Carrington suddenly accused Smith of cheating on her with multiple other WNBA players, explicitly naming Deja Kelly and Aaliyah Nye in the process to her followers.
DIJONAI CARRINGTON DECLARES ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE’ AFTER EJECTION FOR SMACKING SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM IN THE FACE
“Since mfs wanna be funny today ima be hilarious!” Carrington wrote on social media, dragging uninvolved players into a chaotic, reality-TV-style scandal on a random Sunday morning.
Smith, clearly blindsided by the sudden accusations, was forced to defend herself on a Twitch livestream.
Calling the outburst “weird” and questioning why Carrington would bring a year-old private issue to the internet, Smith pleaded for the privacy of the other players dragged into the mess.
“These folks is minding they business,” Smith said on Twitch. “These folks woke up to this [expletive] on a random Sunday night of these types of allegations.”
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Their relationship had been one of the most widely-known and discussed pairings in the WNBA in recent years. But Carrington had previously claimed that she wasn’t even gay, while they were still together.
“I’m not even like into girls… I’m not gay, I just like Lyss,” Carrington said, adding that Smith would never have to worry about Carrington being into other girls, or other guys, during an appearance on Angel Reese’s podcast in March 2025.
She is vocally anti-Trump
Carrington has also used her basketball platform to make her progressive political allegiances unmistakable.
Days after President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025, Carrington arrived at an Unrivaled game wearing a vintage sweatshirt from rapper YG’s “F— Donald Trump Tour.” The garment featured the rapper raising his middle fingers beneath the tour’s name.
Carrington then amplified the display by posting photographs of the outfit to X with the caption, “what my hoodie says.”
Less than a week later, Carrington called on the WNBA to respond to the new administration during an Unrivaled press conference.
“We see that some of the policies are already going into action,” Carrington said, adding that it was “time for us to also take action.”
Carrington cited threats to women’s and LGBTQ rights, although she did not identify what specific action she expected the WNBA or its players to take.
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Her political commentary later intersected directly with the Fever rivalry.
In the days before her confrontation with Cunningham, Carrington inserted herself into the national dispute over transgender participation in women’s sports. Cunningham had argued that girls and women should not be required to compete against athletes she described as biological men, a position that drew criticism from former U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe.
When Rapinoe attacked Cunningham’s position and her association with conservative activist Riley Gaines, Carrington signaled her approval beneath Rapinoe’s Instagram video.
“Clock it, Megan!” Carrington wrote.
The eye poke
During the opening round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs, Carrington delivered a brutal blow directly to the eye of then-rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts after getting hit in the eye during Game 1 of the first round of the 2024 WNBA playoffs against the Connecticut Sun on Sept. 22, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The uncalled foul left the league’s biggest star with a prominent black eye and sparked outrage from fans and commentators who suspected the hit was entirely intentional. Rather than apologizing or showing concern, Carrington dismissed the backlash, telling reporters it “doesn’t even make sense” that she would purposefully injure a player.
Carrington didn’t just brush off the eye-poke controversy; she actively mocked it.
Weeks after the incident, Carrington went on Instagram Live and performed a coordinated bit where she was supposedly accidentally poked in the eye while cooking. Smiling and laughing at the camera, she repeatedly asked, “Did you do it on purpose?”—a blatant, theatrical mockery of USA Today reporter Christine Brennan, who had dared to ask Carrington during a press conference if the hit on Clark was intentional.
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Carrington also shared that she had received a severely abusive and threatening email from an anonymous sender. She posted a screenshot of the message to her Instagram Stories, revealing that it contained a racial slur alongside graphic death and sexual assault threats, specifically stating, “I hope someone rapes you and cuts your head off.”
The WNBA later issued a formal statement denouncing the toxic behavior. The league condemned any racist, derogatory, or threatening comments directed at its players and announced that its security team was actively monitoring threat-related activity, with plans to involve law enforcement when necessary.
‘Nastiest fans in the W’
On Aug. 28, 2024, after a game where Carrington’s Sun lost to Clark’s Fever, Carrington posted a brief comment on social media regarding the Fever fan base.
“The indiana fever have the nastiest fans in the W. ew,” she wrote on X.
During that August 2024 game, there were moments of on-court back-and-forth, including a sequence where Carrington shushed the crowd shortly before Clark scored a basket. Carrington provided no specific details in her initial post about what prompted her assertion regarding the fans’ behavior.
An adversarial history with referees
Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington, second from left, reacts after being called for a foul during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Carrington’s “White privilege” accusation was not the first time she transformed a disagreement with WNBA officials into an allegation of social bias.
On May 29, 2025, Carrington’s Dallas Wings suffered a 97-92 loss to the Sky at Wintrust Arena. Carrington scored 15 points, but her most memorable performance came after the final buzzer.
Carrington approached head official Roy Gulbeyan near midcourt and began arguing about the officiating. Video shows an animated but nonphysical exchange as Carrington continued moving toward Gulbeyan.
After listening for several seconds, Gulbeyan motioned for arena security.
A security guard stepped between them while Gulbeyan retreated behind him, at one point gripping the guard’s shirt as Carrington continued speaking.
The following day, Carrington posted footage of the encounter to X and suggested that Gulbeyan’s response was a microaggression.
“security… when i’m literally having a civil conversation is insane,” Carrington wrote. “mind you, he called the ‘sEcUrItY’ over there… #Mircoagression.”
WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes rushed to Carrington’s defense, declaring that if the referee felt afraid and needed security, he “should NEVER be able to ref again.”
Days later, a foul she committed against Ariel Atkins was upgraded to a flagrant 1. On June 3, she received another flagrant 1 after striking Seattle’s Skylar Diggins-Smith in the head while attempting to block a layup.
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Carrington again turned to social media, rejecting the growing description of her as a dirty player. She insisted that she simply “play[s] hard” and is “ALWAYS” attempting to make a play on the ball, while claiming that other recent flagrant rulings had been rescinded after challenges.
She claimed to be a natural blonde
Despite her hair being black in her 2019 Stanford interview, Carrington previously claimed her hair is naturally blonde.
“I hate when people talk about that, like, ‘Why do you have blonde hair?’ I got black eyebrows. I got black arm hair, black leg hair … and I don’t care. I’m still a natural blonde,” she said during her March 2025 appearance on Reese’s podcast.
