Why the WNBA Should Suspend DiJonai Carrington & the Fever Should Fire Stephanie White | Ep 1214

**Jason Whitlock** (0:00)
Saturday, DiJonai Carrington bloodied Sophie Cunningham's mouth on a national television broadcast. Flagrant 2, ejected.
Officials cited windup, impact, and follow through. That is not a basketball play. That is a woman getting her mouth busted open, while her head coach surprisingly starts building the case for the woman who did it. Sophie Cunningham wears an Indiana Fever jersey. So does Caitlin Clark. Stephanie White is their coach. And White did the same thing she did in July when Alyssa Thomas drove a fist into Caitlin Clark's throat.
She walked to the podium and protected the aggressor, not her player. The aggressor. Take a listen.

**Stephanie White** (0:49)
Yeah. I mean, look, it was a hard foul. I don't think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did. But it did happen and I thought it was the right call. But, you know, one of the things about Nay is that she's going to play her butt off, man. She's going to compete. Nobody's going to go walking in for a layup. And so I'm not, I don't oppose the hard foul.
But I also don't think that she intentionally went for the neck.

**Charles** (1:12)
This is that fire.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:14)
Grab your popcorn.

**Jason Whitlock** (1:17)
This is a caste system. It is running in broad daylight inside the WNBA. It has members, it has outsiders, and the members already know the rules. Stephanie White is married to Lisa Salters, ESPN sideline reporter. White is part of the alternative lifestyle the league treats as protected class. Alyssa Thomas is in that class. DiJonai Carrington is in that class. Andraya Carter, Monica McNutt, Jemele Hill, Cari Champion, Syd Colson, Chiday Agumake, Malika Andrews. That is the circle Monica McNutt called the sisterhood. And she said it while talking about Caitlin Clark. She was talking about Sophie Cunningham too. She just didn't use Sophie's name. Sophie's not in the circle. Caitlin Clark is not in the circle. And this entire league, the W, is organized around elevating the women inside that circle and grinding the women outside it. Stephanie White is just the name on the presser. The project is bigger than one coach. Carrington did not contest the layup. Look at the tape. A normal contest is a jump high enough to challenge the ball near the rim. That is not what she did. She jumped just high enough to catch Sophie Cunningham across the head. You can see the difference, in my opinion, between a real contest and what ESPN and Andraya Carter put on your screen. One is basketball, the other is a time swat at a woman's skull.
Carrington bloodied Cunningham's mouth. Officials saw a wind up impact and follow through. Frazier and True, Ejection, Correct Call. Sophie said it was intentional. Absolutely. The Sky Coach, Tyler Marsh, he wouldn't even answer the question. His silence is his own answer. And Stephanie White, Sophie's own coach, stood at the podium and made sure the sympathy ran towards Carrington.
This is not a one-off. Carrington has a paper trial, paper trail, the eye poke on Caitlin Clark in 2024, hair pulling on Sarah Ashley Barker, a flagrant on Skyler Diggins, her own words when fans called her dirty. DiJonai Carrington just plays hard, never gives up on a play, and the last couple of flagrants got rescinded on challenge.
That is not a competition, that's not a competitor, that is a pattern with a press strategy.
Then she posted it herself, two words, white privilege. After she bloodied an opponent's mouth in front of a national audience, her first move was the race card aimed at Sophie Cunningham.
The league already called it flagrant two, ejection, wind up, impact, follow through. If the W means what it says about player safety, Carrington does not suit up tomorrow. She gets suspended.
Now let's talk about the same coach, same move. Five weeks apart, July, Alyssa Thomas pushes her fist into Caitlin Clark's throat. America reacts, Stephanie White walks out and lectures the country about racism, homophobia, and people using the league for divisive agendas.
Punch to the neck and we get a lecture from Stephanie White protecting Alyssa Thomas' player.

**Stephanie White** (5:14)
And AT was exactly right. Like we get to play a basketball game. And yes, that's going to come with criticism. Yes, that's going to come with fans and the love-hate relationship that they have with players and teams. That is going to come. But it's not hard to not be a jerk.
And if you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan. Our league is about inclusiveness. Our league is about competition. Our league is about elevating. Elevating women. Elevating marginalized communities.