DiJonai Carrington gained the wrong kind of attention when she criticized the WNBA for not promoting the Connecticut Sun’s game in front of a sellout crowd at TD Garden arena. It was an historic moment for the league but was met with little fanfare.
The talented guard was vocal about having to do her own promotion for the event and how the league dropped the ball on capitalizing off this monumental night in women’s basketball and the explosive rise of the WNBA.
The shifty two-way guard recently sounded off on an online critic after she went too far with his mocking of her team’s recent loss to Caitlin Clark, a player who Carrington has some contentious history with this season.
On Wednesday night, the Connecticut Sun lost an 84-80 game against Caitlin Clark and the Fever. It was a hotly-contested game with Carrington and Clark often meeting face to face.
After the game, DiJonai Carrington made a post on X (formerly Twitter) about the Fever fan base. One person commented with a meme of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd using her and Clark’s heads. Carrington ended up re-posting the photo and voicing her displeasure with using something like that in a joking manner.
“Imagine thinking George Floyd’s murder is a joke. all because of a basketball game. this is so sick.”
Carrington is in the midst of a career year for the Sun and did everything she could to lead her team to victory over Indiana, finishing with a team-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and six steals.
As for Clark, she also did a little bit of everything in Wednesday night’s matchup. In 37 minutes of action, she tallied 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. She followed that up with a 30-point explosion against Angel Reese and the undermanned Chicago Sky.
While Carrington did lead the Connecticut Sun in scoring on Wednesday, her defense was her calling card as she set a new career high in steals with six. This has been a year of ascension for Carrington, who is averaging career-highs in points (12.8), rebounds (4.9), assists (1.6) and steals (1.4).
Since being drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft, she’s continued to develop. So has the league, as ratings are through the roof and attendance is up. What hasn’t improved are racial twists and attacks that some fans use to create division between players and keep a soap opera narrative going that attracts more eyes, but often the wrong kind.
Guess that’s one of the downsides of rapid expansion. Carrington didn’t let up though. She also tweeted that the “Indiana Fever have the nastiest fans in the W. ew.”
She has no problem fueling the fire and the rivalry with Cailtin Clark and overzealous and rabid Indiana Fever fans. She also can’t be that surprised by the racial nature of the X post, as she’s been victim of such attacks by some basic Caitlin Clark fans and agitators throughout the season.
Carrington’s repost of the nasty meme, generated plenty of feedback in her favor. X is probably putting out a search committee to find out the original post creator’s address and place of employment.
Carrington and Clark Could Meet In First Round Of WNBA Playoffs
The Suns have been among the WNBA’s top 3 teams all season and Indiana has been fighting to stay in the top eight playoff spots. Both teams have been playing elite basketball coming out of the break. Connecticut (22-8) is 6-4 over its past 10 games and Clark’s Fever is a blazing 7-3.
It all started with a flop. And now the animosity between these two fan bases has elevated another notch.
The Sun and Indiana (15-16) could be on a crash course to meet in the playoffs. If Connecticut can get into the No. 2 spot and the Fever maintain its current seventh place position, the two teams could meet in what would be an explosive first-round of the playoffs, filled with storylines and plenty of dram to feed the social media mosh pit.
