Connecticut Sun star Dijonai Carrington has thrown shade at the WNBA‘s newest superstar Caitlin Clark after the Indiana Fever star seemed to bat away claims about her name being used in an ongoing culture war.
When asked by reporters about the way people are using her name in the public discourse, Clark replied, ‘It’s not something I can control so I don’t put too much thought and time into thinking about things like that.
‘Basketball is my job. Everything on the outside, I can’t control that so I’m not going to spend time thinking about that. People can talk about what they want to talk about… I am just there to play basketball.’
That appeared to cause an issue with Carrington, who took to Twitter and said that players – seemingly Clark – should be calling out what they see.
‘Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts,’ Carrington tweeted.
DiJonnai Carrington (21) subtweeted Caitlin Clark (L) for her response to a question about her name being used in an ongoing ‘culture war’ surrounding the WNBA in recent weeks
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Caitlin Clark is being used as ‘avatar to lash out’ at black women, claims writer
‘We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury.’
In recent days, the discourse around Clark – especially her lack of inclusion on the US Olympic roster – has reached a high level of toxicity on the internet.
It’s evolved from beyond a basketball conversation to a point where, as Andscape writer David Dennis Jr. said on Around the Horn, ‘people on the fringe that do exist that are in real life – not just Internet trolls; politicians, pundits, and people of the like – [are] using Caitlin Clark as an avatar to lash out at the people who they have disdain for: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, Black women et al.’
Controversial conservative pundit Jason Whitlock has blamed the ‘Black Gay mafia’ and ‘angry lesbians’ as to why Clark wasn’t included in Team USA.
Another conservative pundit, Clay Travis, claimed that people are targeting Clark because she’s a ‘white hetero𝓈ℯ𝓍ual woman in a black lesbian league’.
Even a Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, said that Clark deserved a spot on the American Olympic team roster.
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Carrington and Clark have had a bit of a history despite the latter’s recent introduction to the league.
Just days ago, Carrington was ridiculed for mocking what she deemed to be a flop when Clark got a foul called her way.
Carrington is one of the best players on the Sun – who have the best record in the WNBA at 11-1.
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‘A BASKETBALL PLAY’: REESE DISAGREES WITH HER FOUL ON CLARK
INDIANAPOLIS — The second WNBA installment of Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese made as many headlines as the first.
Clark’s Indiana Fever defeated Reese’s Chicago Sky 88-83 on Sunday in a game that will be marked by the flagrant foul Reese committed against her college rival. Reese, the former LSU star who has been inextricably linked to former Iowa star Clark since their much-hyped matchup in the 2023 women’s Final Four, delivered a hard blow to Clark’s head as Clark drove to the basket in the third quarter. Officials upgraded the call to a flagrant foul 1 after a video review.
But Reese seemed to take exception to the ruling, describing it as merely “a basketball play” after the loss.
“I can’t control the refs,” she said. “They affected the game a lot tonight. … I’m always going for the ball. But y’all going to play that clip 20 times before Monday.”
Reese, who was called for five fouls, was visibly frustrated at times during the game. She was assessed a delay of game warning at one point in the fourth quarter after a prolonged argument with officials.
Asked about the physical play in the paint, where she was called for most of her fouls, Reese again turned her criticism toward the officiating.
“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and we didn’t get a lot of calls,” she said of herself and center Kamilla Cardoso. “And going back and looking at the film, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle.”
But just like the first contest two weeks ago, Clark took a hard shot that knocked her to the ground, this time when college rival Angel Reese’s right elbow hit Clark in the head.
The difference this time, unlike the Chennedy Carter play, was that the refs upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 following a replay review, giving Clark two free throws and Indiana the next possession.
“The right call was made in that moment,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments, and we can move forward. But when we don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem, and they made the right call tonight.”
Marina Mabrey scored 22 points to lead the Sky (4-9), who have lost four straight.
Carter, who hit the unsuspecting Clark with a hard foul on an inbound pass two weeks ago, had 18 points and four assists. League officials later upgraded Carter’s foul to a flagrant 1.
Reese had 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists while Kamilla Cardoso had 10 points and 10 rebounds Sunday.
Indiana built a 47-43 lead with a 12-6 run to close the first half. Marina Mabrey then scored eight points in a 12-4 spurt to open the second half to give the Sky a 55-51 lead.
The Fever charged back, taking a 58-57 lead on Clark’s 3-pointer midway through the third, and never trailed again. They opened up a 68-64 lead before Chicago scored the final basket of the quarter.
Indiana sealed it with a sequence that included Clark’s second 3 of the game, Boston’s short jumper, Smith’s layup and two free throws from Clark over the final 3:06.
“She took the shots that were hers and knocked them down. She distributed the basketball,” Sides said, referring to Clark. “She takes so much attention and she’s able to find those open looks for her teammates. I mean, all around she was just really good.”
Marina Mabrey scored 22 points to lead the Sky (4-9), who have lost four straight.
Carter, who hit the unsuspecting Clark with a hard foul on an inbound pass two weeks ago, had 18 points and four assists. League officials later upgraded Carter’s foul to a flagrant 1.
Marina Mabrey scored 22 points to lead the Sky (4-9), who have lost four straight.
Carter, who hit the unsuspecting Clark with a hard foul on an inbound pass two weeks ago, had 18 points and four assists. League officials later upgraded Carter’s foul to a flagrant 1.
Marina Mabrey scored 22 points to lead the Sky (4-9), who have lost four straight.
Carter, who hit the unsuspecting Clark with a hard foul on an inbound pass two weeks ago, had 18 points and four assists. League officials later upgraded Carter’s foul to a flagrant 1.
But just like the first contest two weeks ago, Clark took a hard shot that knocked her to the ground, this time when college rival Angel Reese’s right elbow hit Clark in the head.
The difference this time, unlike the Chennedy Carter play, was that the refs upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 following a replay review, giving Clark two free throws and Indiana the next possession.
“The right call was made in that moment,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments, and we can move forward. But when we don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem, and they made the right call tonight.”
But just like the first contest two weeks ago, Clark took a hard shot that knocked her to the ground, this time when college rival Angel Reese’s right elbow hit Clark in the head.
The difference this time, unlike the Chennedy Carter play, was that the refs upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 following a replay review, giving Clark two free throws and Indiana the next possession.
“The right call was made in that moment,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments, and we can move forward. But when we don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem, and they made the right call tonight.”
But just like the first contest two weeks ago, Clark took a hard shot that knocked her to the ground, this time when college rival Angel Reese’s right elbow hit Clark in the head.
The difference this time, unlike the Chennedy Carter play, was that the refs upgraded the foul to a flagrant 1 following a replay review, giving Clark two free throws and Indiana the next possession.
“The right call was made in that moment,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments, and we can move forward. But when we don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem, and they made the right call tonight.”
HOT NEWS:
BALTIMORE’S ANGEL REESE CALLS OUT REFS, CAITLIN CLARK AFTER HARD FOUL: “SOME PEOPLE GET A SPECIAL WHISTLE”
NDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, a Baltimore native, insisted all she did Sunday was make a basketball play against Caitlin Clark, of the Indiana Fever.
The former Iowa star agreed with her college rival.
But that isn’t likely to defuse what happens next.
After the Indiana Fever rookie wound up on the ground courtesy of Reese’s right elbow striking Clark’s head on a drive to the basket, the referees used replay review to upgrade the foul call to a flagrant-1 and almost assuredly setting off yet another debate about the contact Clark seems to be facing each game.
“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and didn’t get a lot of calls,” Reese said. “Going back and looking, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made, I guess some people get a special whistle.”
Reese, who finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and five fouls in the Sky’s 91-83 loss at Indiana, criticized the refs for changing another hard foul call against Clark.
“I can’t control the refs and they affected the game, obviously, a lot tonight,” Reese said. “Y’all are probably going to play that clip like 20 times before Monday.”
Naturally, it didn’t take long for the highlight to start making the social media rounds.
But regardless of whether the elbow was intentional, the result was the same — Clark taking a headshot most sports leagues want to prevent.
Clark’s response was to walk calmly to the free-throw line late in the third quarter, make both shots and help lead her team to its second straight victory before again downplaying the situation in her postgame news conference.
“It is what it is, you know, she’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block,” Clark said after finishing with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in her best all-around game as a pro. “I mean it happens and then those free throws when you have to shoot with nobody at the line are kind of hard. So I was just focusing on making those free throws.”
Still, Sunday’s scene was quite different from the one that played out two weeks earlier between these same teams in front of another sellout crowd in Indianapolis.
Back then, Sky guard Chennedy Carter hit Clark on an inbound play that sent the unsuspecting guard to the ground. Carter was tagged with an away-from-the-ball call, which resulted in one free throw and league officials later upgraded the call to a flagrant-1.
Fever fans serenaded Carter and Reese with cheers any time either was called for a foul in Sunday’s rematch.
No, Fever coach Christie Sides wasn’t happy to see her star player hit the deck yet again, but at least this time, she thought they got it right.
“The right call was made in that moment,” Sides said. “Just make the right call in those moments, and we can move forward. But when we don’t make the right call in those moments, that’s when there’s a problem and they made the right call tonight.”
Reese was born in Randallstown and played her high school basketball at Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy. She was an All-American at LSU, while winning the national championship in 2023.
