Jason Whitlock slams ‘idiot’ WNBA analyst for defending DiJonai Carrington foul on Sophie Cunningham
· Yahoo Sports
DiJonai Carrington’s flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham has become one of the most divisive plays in modern WNBA history.
Carrington brought Cunningham down to the floor as the Indiana Fever star was driving to the basket on a fast break.
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Carrington was immediately ejected from the game after her foul was deemed a Flagrant 2 by the referees. But one former player has come to Carrington’s defense on the matter.
Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesAndrea Carter defends DiJonai Carrington’s foul on Sophie Cunningham
Speaking on ESPN, former WNBA star Andrea Carter spoke about the foul DiJonai Carrington made on Sophie Cunningham, and why it wasn’t intentional.
Carter pointed to Carrington’s history of chasedown blocks and declared that Carrington did not specifically target Cunningham with the foul.
“DiJonai has made this play successfully so many times throughout her career. No matter what team she has played on, we have seen DiJonai make transition blocks.
“So, to me, I understand it was called a Flagrant 2. I wouldn’t have been mad if it was called a Flagrant 1 because I do think she was making a basketball play. It was just a hard foul. It was a really hard foul…
“It’s hard to tell because of where the graphic is, but she’s trying to make a play on the ball. In reality, Sophie Cunningham got higher than DiJonai off the ground. DiJonai is behind Sophie Cunningham; she’s late to make this play, and she’s not in the right position to make the block and make the play on the ball.
“So she ends up hitting Cunningham in the face. This wasn’t because it was Sophie Cunningham making the layup. DiJonai would have tried to make that play on anybody making a layup because that’s what she has done throughout her career.”
Jason Whitlock rubbishes Andrea Carter’s defense of DiJonai Carrington
On his show, Jason Whitlock discussed Carter’s explanation of Carrington’s foul and accused her of misrepresenting the play to make Sophie Cunningham look bad.
“Y’all know I love Andrea Carter… But I’m just sorry, she’s an idiot here. She’s lying here. She’s protecting the cult… She’s part of that inner circle, that sisterhood…
“DiJonai Carrington, you all saw the clip – she barely jumps! This is intentional. Sophie Cunningham outjumps her? This is intentional. So is Andrea Carter’s whole little sequence here. The sequence offered needless defense and phoney praise…
“Andrea Carter’s job in that moment is not analysis; it is laundering. Take a violent play, ruin it through hockey assist energy and play hard language and send it back out as competitive spirit.”
Much of Whitlock’s comments boil down to conjecture about the intent of the play, with very little evidence outside of his own eyewitness account.
For him to blast a former WNBA star like Carter, who has been on the court and experienced the type of foul that Carrington was ejected for, just because he disagrees with her, is wildly disrespectful.
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