Sophie Cunningham took a clothesline to the face on Saturday.
Now the player who hit her is hiding behind a “white privilege” post.
And Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told the WNBA exactly what happens if this comes to his state.
Uthmeier Did Not Mince Words
Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington delivered a clothesline-style blow to Cunningham’s head and neck as she went up for a layup in the first quarter of Indiana’s 90-86 win on August 8.
Cunningham hit the floor with a bloodied mouth.
Officials reviewed the play and upgraded it from a Flagrant 1 to a Flagrant 2 – the highest foul designation in the sport – based on what they called clear “windup, impact, and follow-through.”
Carrington was ejected.
She walked to the locker room and posted two words on social media: “WHITE PRIVILEGE,” tagging the Indiana Fever.
https://twitter.com/JamesUthmeierFL/status/2086221359554695421?s=20
Uthmeier responded the same day on X: “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault.”
When Fox News reported his statement, he added a follow-up: “I should probably clarify – assault and battery.”
Then he went further.
“The WNBA continues to view the question of ‘what is a woman?’ as something that is ‘complex and nuanced’ instead of recognizing the simple truth,” Uthmeier wrote. “That’s the problem. What’s next, men assaulting women on the WNBA courts?”
That’s not a sports argument.
That’s Uthmeier connecting a $1,000 fine and a race card to the league’s refusal to define biological reality – and pointing out exactly where that logic ends up.
This Is Not Carrington’s First Rodeo
Cunningham did not hold back after the game.
“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary,” she said. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff.”
She also pulled the race card right out of Carrington’s hand: “This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason even to play that card.”
That kind of clarity is rare in the WNBA – and it matters, because Carrington has made a career out of this kind of play.
https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/2086194309640974530?s=20
During the 2024 WNBA playoffs, Carrington – then with the Connecticut Sun – poked Caitlin Clark in the right eye while Clark was making a pass.
Clark went to the floor holding her face, spent time on the bench batting her eye and patting it with a towel, and came back to finish the game with a black eye.
No foul was called.
Carrington’s response was to post racial grievance content on X and accuse Clark of enabling “racism” by not using her platform to speak out.
When veteran USA Today reporter Christine Brennan asked Carrington at a press gaggle whether the eye poke was intentional, the WNBA Players Association released a public statement condemning the question.
The WNBA’s punishment for the Cunningham clothesline: a $1,000 fine.
One thousand dollars.
The League Created This Problem
The WNBA has spent two years sending one clear message: targeting Indiana Fever players carries no real cost.
Hit Caitlin Clark – no flagrant, no fine, players union defends the hitter.
Clothesline Sophie Cunningham on a fast break – ejection, $1,000 fine, coaches defend the intent.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2086848841672691719?s=20
Post racial grievance content after committing the foul – no additional discipline.
Carrington already posted the date of the August 23 rematch against the Fever.
The WNBA built this by treating every act of physical targeting against Fever players as a culture war flashpoint to be managed rather than misconduct to be punished.
Uthmeier is the first official outside the league willing to call it what it is: a crime, not a foul.
The WNBA fine schedule says otherwise.
Florida law does not.
Sources:
- Associated Press, “Chicago’s DiJonai Carrington ejected for foul on Fever’s Cunningham and posts ‘white privilege’,” NBC News, August 8, 2026.
- OutKick Staff, “Who is DiJonai Carrington? WNBA star who smacked Sophie Cunningham, got ejected and blamed ‘White privilege’,” OutKick/Fox News, August 9, 2026.
- OutKick Staff, “Sophie Cunningham speaks out against DiJonai Carrington after flagrant foul and ‘White privilege’ post,” OutKick/Fox News, August 9, 2026.
- Andrew Holleran, “Florida Attorney General Sends ‘Warning’ to Entire WNBA,” The Spun, August 9, 2026.
- OutKick Staff, “Caitlin Clark hard contact timeline: WNBA’s growing history of brutal hits against the face of the sport,” OutKick/Fox News, June 28, 2026.
- Staff, “Florida AG says he’d have charged WNBA’s Carrington with ‘assault’ over Cunningham foul,” KOMO News/TNND, August 10, 2026.
