When you survey the dynamic guards of the WNBA, and they are plentiful from Sabrina Ionescu, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell to Paige Bueckers and a slew of others on the horizon, few are as good as Chennedy Carter who has not been in a WNBA uniform since leading the Chicago Sky in scoring with 17.5 points per game in 2024.
Dynamic WNBA Guard Chennedy Carter Left Unsigned In 2025
That team was a playoff contender until the final weeks of the season, when Angel Reese went down with an injury. While the Sky struggled to produce any significant guard scoring in 2025, stumbling to the bottom of league standings (10-34), Carter unfathomably was left unsigned by WNBA teams.
What makes her case even more inexplicable is the fact that she’s been tearing up international ball since she arrived, putting up ridiculous numbers playing in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). Carter is leading the league in scoring, averaging 30.9 points per game while shooting 52.8% from two-point range.
The all-around weapon is also averaging 6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game for the Shanghai Swordfish. This is a continuation of her on-court success as she was named Player of the Year in the WCBA last season.
Fans Just Don’t Understand Why Chennedy Carter Is Not In WNBA
Last season for the Chicago Sky for all of the reasons previously stated. Plenty of Sky fans lamented the loss of Carter and criticized the organization. Others continue to assume that this one player’s attitude is so volatile that it supersedes her amazing play.
She might just be the first in the history of sports with no felonies, egregious crimes or attacks on coaches on her resume. WNBa fans have been having this discussion since last season.
“If I’m a WNBA organization and the biggest complaint I have about a 25 Y/O is her attitude RESPECTFULLY CHENNEDY CARTER Coulda been in the BACK Smoking CrAck!!!”
“A locker room cancer can tank a championship roster no matter how talented. What do you think it will do to a rebuilding one?,” said one fan who felt the sky was better off without Kennedy.
“We was better with the “locker room cancer,” answered another fan on X.
“We also ignoring the fact that we let her go for free…and we need ball handling now more than ever with injuries…no one has confirmed anything negative that she did so idk we could’ve resigned her we could have signed and traded her but she’s just not here and she’d solve at least one problem we’ve had all season,” said one fan pointing out all of the deficiencies that losing Carter caused.
“Co-sign, I don’t give a fuk she should have been in the team. I will die on this hill,” said another angry Sky fan.
“her attitude” huh? I got an endless list of females in the W with attitude SMH, the league just couldn’t handle angel having another DOG around her that could match her energy and could compete at high level,” accused one netizen.
The dynamic guard out of Texas Tech has played 84 career games in the WNBA and averaged 14.6 points per game and shot 47.3 percent from the field. It appears as if her game was really blossoming under rookie head coach Teresa Weatherspoon in 2024, but neither of those stars got a chance to participate in the organization past one season. Instead, while the Sky signed players off the streets to desperately find someone who could break down a defense and get buckets, Chennedy was off to play for the Mexican club Adelitas de Chihuahua, while spending the last few offseasons playing in China.
Chennedy Carter’s WNBA Tenure Marred By Reported Attitude Issues
There’s never been a statement by the league as to why Chennedy Carter has been blackballed. Before her season in Chicago, Carter played for the Atlanta Dream for two seasons after being drafted fourth overall in 2020. After averaging 17.4 points per game as a rookie, Carter’s tenure ended abruptly. In 2021, she was suspended by the Dream for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
She then went to the Los Angeles Sparks, where in 2022, the Los Angeles Times reported that Carter was benched by the Sparks due to “poor conduct.”
Kennedy Carter vs. Caitlin Clark
The icing on the cake for her might have been her fierce battles with Caitlin Clark early in the rookie’s first season. Despite the fact that it did wonders for WNBA ratings, Carter gave Clark a hard time and was very physical while defending the 2024 Rookie of the Year, which led to some scuffles, some postgame press conferences that angered Clark fans. The fact that Carter was a teammate of Angel Reese made her one of the most criticized and hated figures by the media and fans who worship CC.
Is Chennedy Carter Being Blackballed By WNBA?
Still, the fact that Carter did not sign with a WNBA team ahead of 2025 is a mystery to all. The Sky declined to even extend her a qualifying offer despite her strong 2024 season.
While several other WNBA players have torn it up in China this season, including the dynamic Golden State Valkyries forward Temi Fagbenle (17.6 points and 8 rebounds per game) , Dallas Wings forward Myisha Hines-Allen (17.9 points per game and 7.9 assists, and Seattle Storm forward Tiffany Mitchell (19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game), Carter has definitely stood out from the rest. Her scoring prowess is virtually unstoppable. She’s fast, she can handle and her talent is undeniable. The problem is, she’s doing all of this in China, when you can’t name 10 WNBA guards better than her.
Until someone from the league addresses her absence, we can only assume she’s being blackballed for reasons we will never know. That’s sad when the WNBA needs all of the show-stopping talent that it can get.
