DiJonai Carrington and Sophie Cunningham’s heated exchange has continued to generate headlines days after the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever met Saturday. What started with a hard foul and an ejection has since turned into a wider discussion involving race, social media and the way the incident was handled.

Carrington was ejected after officials upgraded her foul on Cunningham to a Flagrant 2. The foul came during a fast break when Carrington made contact with the Fever guard around the head and neck. After leaving the game, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on Threads and tagged the Fever, leaving WNBA fans divided.

Former NFL linebacker and analyst Emmanuel Acho criticized Carrington’s post, arguing that race had nothing to do with the Flagrant 2 decision. He also questioned the decision to use the term “white privilege” in response to the ejection.

Carrington responded to Acho on X on Monday, making it clear that she felt he had misunderstood the point she was making.

“I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege,” Carrington wrote, calling that interpretation “your assumption.” She then challenged Acho to exercise his “critical thinking skills,” referencing his background in psychology.

Carrington also pushed back strongly against the suggestion that she used the phrase without understanding its meaning. She said she was “the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine” when discussing white privilege and pointed to her education at Stanford, where she studied psychology and African and African American studies.

“I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon,” Carrington added, saying she understands the historical and social weight attached to it.

I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption). Try exercising your critical thinking skills, I know you studied psych. Furthermore, I’m the LAST thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on “white privilege”,… https://t.co/mykXGTtiXJ

— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) August 10, 2026

Acho’s criticism came after Carrington’s original post created widespread reaction across social media. Carrington did not elaborate further on what she intended the post to mean, but her response made clear that she rejects the interpretation that she was directly claiming the league’s foul assessment resulted from white privilege.

The Sky and Fever will meet again Aug. 23, and all eyes will be on Carrington and Cunningham when they share the court again.