DeJonai Carrington’s Controversial Plays Draw Attention

Chicago Sky guard DeJonai Carrington insists she isn’t a dirty player, but recent actions on the court raise eyebrows. Last week, she caught headlines for a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham during a layup, resulting in Cunningham sustaining a bloody mouth. Carrington was ejected from the game after the foul was classified as flagrant 2. In a controversial move, she later posted about “white privilege” on her Instagram, suggesting it influenced the ejection.

Just days after the incident with Cunningham, Carrington was back in action, making more contact with another player’s face. During a recent loss to the Golden State Valkyries, she was guarding Cecilia Zandarasini, but her hand movements seemed off. While attempting to swipe the ball, her left hand was in a position that would inevitably hit Zandarasini’s face instead of the ball.

It’s not unusual for players to get poked or jostled in basketball, but Carrington’s subsequent foul against Golden State crossed a line. When another player, Tiffany Hayes, went up for a layup, Carrington jumped too, swinging her arms down and accidentally catching Hayes in the mouth instead of the ball.

Neither of Carrington’s fouls against Golden State merited a flagrant or technical foul, but it did earn her second technical foul of the season after she questioned the referee’s call.

In a span of four days, Carrington has hit three players, prompting a look back at her previous declaration on social media where she distanced herself from being a dirty player. Back in June 2025, she wrote, “I swear to you, fans, what a dirty player I am. If you really know basketball, you know I play hard and never give up on a play, but I hate this story.” This contradiction is striking, considering her track record of aggressive plays lately.

Interestingly, Carrington faced no consequences for her foul on Cunningham or her social media comments. The WNBA has stayed silent, not addressing multiple inquiries regarding these incidents.

After the foul on Cunningham, Carrington clarified that anyone who took her posts about white privilege as an indictment on Cunningham’s foul or her ejection misunderstood her intent. In a follow-up post, Cunningham asserted that she never claimed grading fouls was a matter of white privilege, emphasizing that assumptions shouldn’t be made about her statements.

As for Cunningham’s performance against Golden State, she came off the bench, scoring three points but struggled with her shooting, going 1-of-9 in 24 minutes.