A bloodied Sophie Cunningham was thrust into the middle of a WNBA controversy after a hard collision with DiJonai Carrington, who later appeared to imply that her opponent had benefited from “white privilege.”
Cunningham has already been a flashpoint in a wider sports and political debate in recent weeks following her remarks about transgender athletes. The Indiana Fever guard said she wants to “protect young girls” from “biological men.”
The spotlight returned to Cunningham on Saturday during Indiana’s matchup with the Chicago Sky, when she was sent to the court after a jarring first-quarter incident.
Late in the opening period, Cunningham attacked the basket before Carrington’s arm caught her in the face, knocking her down in a nasty sequence that quickly drew attention.
Officials reviewed the play and assessed Carrington a flagrant 2 foul, ejecting the Sky player from the contest. As Carrington made her way toward the locker room, Cunningham and Fever teammate Caitlin Clark were seen waving in her direction.
Broadcast cameras also showed Cunningham smiling and applauding the officials’ ruling, but courtside footage from moments earlier captured a much angrier reaction. She appeared to call Carrington a “dumb a** b****” while shouting: “Why the f*** would you do that?”
A furious Sophie Cunningham had to be held back after she was floored by a nasty foul
Cunningham drove toward the basket before being struck in the face by DiJonai Carrington
Carrington, who was ejected, later wrote on social media: ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever’
The 29-year-old immediately climbed to her feet and attempted to confront Carrington, only for teammates and staff to drag her away.
Following her ejection, Carrington posted on social media from the locker room. ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever,’ she wrote.
A few minutes earlier, there were some boos from the crowd in Chicago as Cunningham was led away from the confrontation and toward the Fever bench.
The officials reviewed the incident and upgraded it from a flagrant 1 to a flagrant 2 – leaving Carrington open-mouthed in shock.
‘Since there is wind-up, impact and follow-through, high potential for injury [and] players in a vulnerable position,’ official Maj Forsberg explained.
It is just the latest saga to engulf Cunningham and the WNBA. Earlier this week, the players’ union called out the ‘demonization’ of trans people in the wake of Cunningham‘s comments on protecting women’s sports.
JD Vance and Megan Rapinoe are among those to have waded into the debate, while two former NBA stars – Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White – have both announced their intention to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
The Indiana Fever star was left bloodied by the incident, which provoked a furious reaction
Cunningham and Caitlin Clark were seen waving as Carrington headed to the locker room
Carrington was ejected after the officials reviewed the foul and upgraded it to a flagrant 2
The WNBPA has now spoken out, appearing to go against Cunningham’s original comments in a bid to quell the ‘hate’ against the trans community.
In a bombshell statement, the organization said: ‘To everyone who loves this game: The WNBPA represents 200+ individual people with different lived experiences, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions.
‘We embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Those are the values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change.
‘Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns.
‘Support the Players. Support the Fans. At games, notify security if you witness hateful, violent, or abusive behavior. Online, report abusive posts and drown out the bots and bad actors. At home, tell your elected officials to strengthen Title IX.’
In the wake of Cunningham’s initial comments, in the ESPN piece published on July 21, protests both pro and anti-trans were held outside various WNBA arenas.
While some, such as Riley Gaines and Stephen A. Smith, have seemingly sided with the Fever star, others have openly criticized her and booed her on the court.
Recently, the bitter culture war deepened after Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams claimed she would happily welcome a trans player to her team.
