The discussion after Saturday’s game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky has centered heavily on the first-quarter flagrant foul incident. Now, WNBA legends Sue Bird and Cheryl Miller have weighed in on this issue, too.
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“I also, more importantly, want to see that same leadership during the collective bargaining agreement and how they rallied around the brand, the WNBA, and that’s what I want to see. I want them to do the same things that they did during that time and stand up for their brand. This is our brand, and not watch a bunch of outsiders hijack the league and our narrative,” Miller said during a halftime studio breakdown on NBC on Sunday.
Both Miller and Bird have echoed a similar sentiment: that the league’s issues have become a tool for others’ motives and narratives which don’t always have the WNBA’s best interests at heart.
“This is such a nuanced conversation. But I do think there are people trying to leverage our league for their own personal gain… what I learned is you have tough conversations behind closed doors and strategize,” Sue Bird said.
She further pointed back to the league’s 2020 social-justice season: “We fought for so many years, but in 2020 especially, to get to a point to where we were talking about the basketball. And somehow, now the basketball is being used against us.”
The panel emphasized that not every foul or incident has to be turned into an indictment against the league.
The recent weeks have witnessed a very charged-up atmosphere in the W, with Sophie Cunningham remaining at the center of it after her comments about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. That backdrop, many believe, is part of why the foul is being read as more than just a foul.
The incident happened late in the first quarter. Cunningham was on a breakaway layup when Carrington chased her down from behind and swiped across her face and neck with her arm, sending her to the floor. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant 2, with the referee citing windup, impact, and follow-through, and Carrington was ejected. Indiana went on to win 90-86.
Cunningham called the foul “absolutely” intentional, telling reporters, “Clearly, I think it was unnecessary. I’ve never really spoken to her and I have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff.”
Meanwhile, DiJonai Carrington was not going to wait for the final buzzer to respond. She posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” to Threads minutes after her ejection, and tagged the Fever’s account.
But not everyone agreed the foul was intentional. Fever coach Stephanie White, who coached Carrington for two seasons at Connecticut before returning to Indiana, called it a hard foul but added: “I don’t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call.”
Sky coach Tyler Marsh, asked about Carrington’s post afterward, said he hadn’t seen it: “I have to get back to you on that because I’m just now hearing about that. So yeah, we’ll handle that.”
Carrington later posted “8/23”, which is the date of the teams’ next meeting.