A bloodied Sophie Cunningham found herself at the center of a WNBA race scandal after she was floored in a brutal clash with DiJonai Carrington, who later accused her rival of benefiting from ‘white privilege.’
Cunningham has been at the center of a sporting and political firestorm in recent weeks after comments she made about transgender athletes. The Indiana Fever star said she wants to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men.’
And she was back in the spotlight on Saturday after finding herself on the wrong end of a nasty collision during Indiana’s game against the Chicago Sky.
Toward the end of the first quarter, Cunningham drove towards the basket, only to be struck in the face by Carrington’s arm and sent crashing to the floor.
The Sky star was assessed a Flagrant 2 and ejected from the game, with both Cunningham and her teammate Caitlin Clark seen waving as Carrington headed to the locker room.
Cameras also caught Cunningham smiling and clapping the officials’ decision but a few minutes earlier, she had reacted furiously to the foul. Footage from courtside appeared to show Cunningham call her rival a ‘dumb a** b****’ and shout: ‘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 towards the basket, only to be 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 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 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.
