Carrington ejected after flagrant 2 foul on Cunningham
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- DiJonai Carrington was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected late in the first quarter after swiping down across Sophie Cunningham's face and neck on a breakaway layup; the foul was originally a flagrant 1 and upgraded after review.
- Cunningham called the foul "unnecessary," said she had no prior beef with Carrington, and accused her of craving attention: "Go do something good in the world, I don't know."
- Carrington posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever" on her Threads account shortly after heading to the locker room, implying the ejection was racially motivated; she declined comment to media.
- Cunningham rejected the race framing outright: "This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out."
- Crew chief Maj Forsberg said postgame the contact was "unnecessary and excessive to a player in a vulnerable position," and officials deemed Cunningham's shoving and jawing at Carrington "acceptable" — no penalty for her reaction.
- Fever coach Stephanie White called it "a hard foul" and "the right call" but added she didn't believe Carrington intentionally targeted the neck area.
- Cunningham has been at the center of a separate controversy over an ESPN article in which she voiced support for barring trans girls and women from girls' and women's sports; rallies for and against her have appeared at arenas in Seattle, Portland, and Chicago.
Why it matters: The race allegation lands in a WNBA season already roiled by Cunningham's recent comments on trans athletes in women's sports, which have drawn competing rallies to arenas in three cities — turning a single hard foul into a flashpoint over how the league handles cultural controversy on the floor.
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