DiJonai Carrington Jokes About Caitlin Clark Eye Poke With Fever's NaLyssa Smith
Perhaps the biggest storyline in this WNBA postseason stemmed from when Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington poked Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark during the Fever's Game 1 loss to the Sun last month.
Not only was the eye poke (which both Clark and Carrington asserted was not intentional) the subject of much debate and controversy, but the entire poke rose to a whole new level of infamy when USA Today reporter Christine Brennan decided to ask Carrington, "When you went and kind of swatted at Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye?" on September 24.
I asked DiJonai Carrington about that moment early in Sunday’s Indiana-Connecticut game when she caught Caitlin Clark in the eye. Here’s her answer: pic.twitter.com/DnQVYi0r6J
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 24, 2024
This prompted outrage from the WNPBA, who released a statement regarding Brennan's question over X to call the reporter out.
From there, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner had an alleged confrontation with Brennan over her question, which then turned into a whole additional storyline between Brennan and reporter Sarah Spain over whether Brennan filed a complaint with the WNBA over what happened between her and Bonner.
All of this is to say that Carrington's infamous eye poke turned into a serious, nuanced matter with many implications for many different people.
Although that didn't keep Carrington and her girlfriend NaLyssa Smith — who is Clark's teammate in Indiana — from poking fun about the initial incident during an Instagram live.
X user @NaiLyssa_Muse posted an excerpt from Smith's Instagram live on Wednesday where she and Carrington were cooking together. Smith accidentally poked Carrington's eye while turning around in the kitchen.
"You poked me in the eye," Carrington said to Smith with a smile. Then the two started cracking up.
"Did you do it on purpose?" Carrington then asked twice, in what appeared to be a clear mockery of Brennan's initial question to her over two weeks ago.
Dijonai is messyyyyy 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CuWg3OHsPG
— NaiLyssa (@NaiLyssa_Muse) October 10, 2024
Props to Carrington and Smith for being able to laugh this whole situation off.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.