DiJonai Carrington made it clear what she thinks of her infamous eye poke at Caitlin Clark during the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.
In Game 1 of the Indiana Fever’s first-round matchup against the Connecticut Sun, Carrington inadvertently swiped Clark in the face, just missing the 22-year-old’s eye in the process. Soon after, the play was dissected greatly by fans and reporters, believing it to be an intentional attack on the star rookie.
Carrington and Clark both downplayed the incident, with the two stars asserting it was a normal basketball play. Now weeks after the dustup, the Sun guard can play it off in a humorous way.
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During an Instagram Live with her partner NaLyssa Smith, Clark’s Fever teammate, the two were spotted cooking food together. As Smith was walking away from Carrington, the latter appeared to drop something, which caused the former to react and accidentally hit Carrington in the eye.
The two then looked at each other with smiles and then laughed after Carrington declared that Smith poked her in the eye. Carrington then asked: “Did you do it on purpose?” The question was left unanswered as the two continued with what they were doing.
Considering how Carrington was treated after the incident, it’s interesting to note how she has responded after having time away from the game. Instead of feeling anger toward the situation, the star guard seemingly has moved past it and appears to see it in a humorous light.
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At the time, many around the league – including fans and reporters – questioned Carrington’s intent after the play. This led to a contentious exchange between USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan and Carrington before Game 2 of the Sun-Fever series, with Brennan insinuating the play was purposeful.
“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye,” Carrington said to Brennan. “That doesn’t even make sense to me.
“But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball, and I guess I followed through, and I hit her. So, obviously, it’s never intentional. That’s not even the type of player that I am.”
With the abuse Carrington received as a result of the play, Smith made it a point to defend her partner during her exit interview. Speaking to reporters, Smith stated her attempts to compartmentalize all that’s happened during the season.
“I’m the type of person where I just put a lot of stuff to the side and try to keep the main thing, the main thing,” Smith said.
“So I don’t try and get too deep into the other side of things because I know at the end of the day I’m just here to play basketball. There’s only so much you can say when you’re here.”
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