DiJonai Carrington found herself at the center of another ejection controversy in just a matter of days. Unlike last Saturday against the Indiana Fever, she was on the other side of the ejection, appearing to push for a fan to be removed from the arena during the Chicago Sky vs. Golden State Valkyries game on Wednesday, only for the situation to unfold differently. However, former ESPN sportscaster Linda Cohn still expressed her disapproval of Carrington’s actions.
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“She tried to have this fan get kicked out,” Cohn said while reacting to Outkick’s video from the game. The video showed DiJonai Carrington speaking to the officials, which led to a courtside fan getting ejected.
According to a Valkyries team official, the fan was allowed back to his seat after security reviewed the situation and deemed Carrington’s complaint to be “unfounded.”
“After security found the fan did nothing wrong, the fan was allowed to be let back in, but DiJonai Carrington still made a fuss about it,” added Cohn.
The incident in question actually happened with 8:47 remaining in the fourth quarter of that game. DiJonai Carrington approached referee Sarah Williams and pointed toward a male fan sitting courtside. Following her conversation with officials, security escorted the fan from his seat.
Linda Cohn also revealed that the entire fiasco involving the fan wouldn’t have happened had the league suspended DiJonai Carrington for her flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham, or had the league taken disciplinary action for her social media post following her ejection.
“Here’s the thing. Why is DiJonai Carrington even in this game? This all could have been avoided if the league suspended her, as they should have, for the flagrant two foul against Sophie Cunningham. But no, that never happened.”
“Also, the league never did anything about the posting on social media after she was ejected. That’s against WNBA policy. She broke a rule. But guess what? No suspension. No fine. Nothing.”
This was in contrast to what Alyssa Thomas had faced after her June 24 flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark, as she had to serve a mandatory suspension and pay a fine.
The WNBA, Chase Center, and the Chicago Sky have declined to comment publicly on what transpired. Carrington also did not detail the interaction during her post-game availability. Representatives from the Chicago Sky public relations team, however, did state that the fan was issued an official warning before being allowed back.
DiJonai Carrington herself had been subject to an ejection in the game against the Indiana Fever. In her case, she committed a foul against Fever forward Sophie Cunningham and was assessed a flagrant 2 for the play, which automatically resulted in an ejection. The decision clearly did not please Carrington, who later took to social media with a controversial post following her ejection.
She has since returned to the Sky following games against the Seattle Storm and now the Valkyries. However, the backlash has followed her across these games, which have all unfortunately ended in losses for the Sky. With this latest incident that has now unfolded during the Valkyries game, the backlash that appears to have been following Carrington since the Fever game seems to have gained even stronger ground.