Fiery WNBA union claims over Caitlin Clark-DiJonai Carrington question a ‘complete overreaction’: Christine Brennan

Christine Brennan is standing her ground.

The veteran USA Today columnist is defending her line of questioning toward Connecticut Sun star DiJonai Carrington, in which she asked whether Carrington intentionally hit Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark in the eye during a playoff game. Brennan was caught off guard by the strong backlash from the WNBA players association, which released a fiery statement criticizing her and calling for her to be banned from covering the league.

“I was certainly surprised,” Brennan said during an appearance on Sarah Spain’s “Good Game” podcast. “I take it seriously, and I was surprised to hear from the players association… suggesting I be banned. I felt it was an overreaction. Many in the journalism world share that view, as reflected in columns and responses. But it’s a free country—if people think I should be banned, they’re entitled to that opinion.”

USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson condemned Christine Brennan’s questioning, calling it “a blatant attempt to bait a professional athlete into participating in a narrative that is false and designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media.” Jackson’s strong response highlighted the association’s stance that Brennan’s inquiry towards DiJonai Carrington went beyond typical post-game questions and contributed to harmful discourse online. This statement added significant weight to the players association’s call for Brennan to be banned from covering the WNBA.

Caitlin Clark, who has been a driving force behind a surge in WNBA interest this season, sustained a black eye during Game 1 of the Fever-Sun playoff series on Sept. 22 after a collision with DiJonai Carrington, who was attempting to block one of Clark’s passes.

During an off-day media session two days later, USA Today columnist Christine Brennan posed a pointed question to Carrington: “When you went and kind of swatted at Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye? And if so, or if not, either way, could you talk about what happened on that play?”

“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. That doesn’t even make sense to me,” Carrington replied. “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, like, the type of player that I am.”

Caitlin Clark (22) of the Fever dribbles against the Sun’s DiJonai Carrington (21) on Sept. 25, 2024.

DiJonai Carrington (21) of the Sun dribbles against the Fever on Sept. 22, 2024.

A video from later in the game showing DiJonai Carrington laughing with teammate Marina Mabrey sparked speculation online that the moment was related to the incident where Carrington hit Caitlin Clark in the eye.

Christine Brennan, who is working on an unauthorized book about Clark and was credentialed by *USA Today* to cover the series, followed up with Carrington during the media availability: “Did you and Marina kind of laugh about it afterward? It looked like later on in the game they caught you guys laughing about it.”

Carrington firmly denied the suggestion, responding, “No. I just told you I didn’t even know I hit her. So I can’t laugh about something I didn’t know happened.”

Brennan defended her line of questioning during her podcast appearance, emphasizing her journalistic approach.

“Here she comes over to talk to us and answers a few questions, and I then, of course, ask her a question that I would ask 100 times out of 100 — and have [asked], 1,000 times out of 1,000, or more — of any athlete,” Brennan explained. “When an issue is in the news, it’s important to give them a chance to respond, to talk about it. It’s a way for them to address the situation and engage with the discourse that’s happening. And clearly, this was a topic in the news, right? I’m not even on Twitter (now X) that much, and I couldn’t avoid it.”

She described her questions as “Journalism 101.” Spain pressed Brennan on whether her asking if it was intentional was leading.

“You just give them a chance … give her a chance to answer the question because it was running rampant on the internet,” Brennan said. “It’s out there, so let’s ask the athlete so they can clear the air.”