NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Dijonai Carrington was in headlines last season when she accidentally knocked Caitlin Clark in her eye,
When asked about it by the US Today’s Christine Brennan, it became a war war.
Women’s National Basketball Players’ Association issued a scornful statement called Brennan by name over an interview with Carrington, which the union claimed fuel “racist, homophobic and misogynist vitriol” online.
Brennan asked Carrington, who was at Connecticut Sun at the time if she intended to hit Clark in the eye after the video, and whether she and Marina Mabry, who recently pushed Clark to the ground in a game, made fun of the incident afterwards. Carrington denied that both were the truth.
CLICK HERE for more sports cover at Foxnews.com
Indiana Fever Guard Caitlin Clark runs on Connecticut Sun Guard Dijonai Carrington in Indianapolis, August 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
However, another of Clark’s rivals, Dewanna Bonner, confronted Brennan just minutes after her back and forth with Carrington, revealed Brennan in her new book “On her game: Caitlin Clark and Revolution in Women’s Sports.”
Bonner, who was Carrington’s teammate of the sun at the time, approached Brennan and said she had “attacked” and “respected” Carrington. She used both accusations twice each.
Brennan said she was trying to present herself to Bonner and even offered Bonner the chance to listen to their exchange – but Bonner apparently did not want any part.
Brennan then said she texted the then Sun head coach Stephanie White, now Clarks coach with Indiana Fever, to tell her about the situation she called “Journalism 101.” She also said in the book that a WNBA official told her her question was “fine.”
Connecticut Sun Guard Dijonai Carrington Fouls Indiana Fever Guard Caitlin Clark in Indianapolis, August 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Fever-Wings ‘Successor’ moved to the 20,000-seat Arena as Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers set to meet each other
“Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea of what real media exposure is,” the official in Brennan admitted, according to the author. “They don’t know what real coverage is, they’ve been shielded in college, and then they come to WNBA without knowing what real questions are. Frankly, our players just don’t get it.”
Brennan said Carrington also questioned journalists, including himself, the next day, claiming that they “talked S —” about Nalyssa Smith, her partner, who just as happened to be on the fever. Brennan claimed that the other two journalists simply discussed “a bit of a fever strategy just noticed on the field.”
Smith confronted Brennan, who told Smith she didn’t say anything negative, but Smith said she “lies,” Brennan wrote in the book.
Bonner signed a year agreement with the fever during the high season, but was waived after it was reported that she had no “interest” in playing for them anymore.
Indiana Fever Guard Caitlin Clark and Sun Forward Dewanna Bonner Exchange Words Under WNBA Playoffs, September 25, 2024, in Uncasville, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Carrington and Smith seemed to joke about the eye-poking incident during an Instagram live video in October.
