Longtime women's sports reporter Christine Brennan is on tour for her newest book, On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports, which will be released Tuesday, July 8. If her name sounds familiar, it's because last season Brennan was involved in a controversy with DiJonai Carrington — and in her book, she revealed that Clark's former teammate DeWanna Bonner was also part of the story.
Caitlin Clark, DiJonai Carrington, and Christine Brennan: What happened
In September 2024 Carrington was accused of intentionally hitting Clark in the eye during game 1 of the WNBA Playoffs between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun. Between games 1 and 2 plenty of videos circulated online that claimed exactly that; other videos appeared to show Carrington and her teammate Marina Mabrey laughing at Clark's response.
Carrington spoke to a group of reporters between the two games, and that group included Brennan. No one asked about the incident, so the veteran journalist decided to. "DiJonai, 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?" she posed.
Carrington denied intentionally hitting Clark. "I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye," she said. "hat doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t."
The two continued the conversation for a short while, and Brennan noted in a piece published on CNN Sunday that she didn't expect much to come from the discussion. "In my long career, I’ve asked hundreds of questions that were far more challenging and potentially controversial than those," she explained. Clark was asked by another reporter if she felt the moment was on purpose, and she answered, "It wasn’t intentional by any means. You just watch the play. It wasn’t intentional."
DeWanna Bonner joined the conversation
Soon after Brennan and Carrington spoke, the reporter added, Bonner approached Brennan and said, "You disrespected my teammate." Brennan noted that she attempted to introducer herself to Bonner, who added, "You attacked my teammate." Brennan offered to show Bonner the video of the exchange, but apparently Bonner was uninterested and said again, "You attacked my teammate."
"When a journalist is doing her job properly, and an athlete is doing hers or his properly, they sometimes will not get along," Brennan wrote for CNN. "This happens relatively often in big-time sports."
WNBA officials sided with Brennan
Brennan ended up chatting about the exchange with then-Sun head coach Stephanie White, as well as with the Sun's own PR staff, who said they told Carrington she should have come to them — and not Bonner — about the situation.
An unnamed official also told Brennan that part of the problem comes down to media training. "I have a simple test about whether questions are appropriate or not," Brennan reported the official said. "They should not be vulgar, rude, or inappropriate. Your questions were not vulgar, rude, or inappropriate. Your questions were fine."
"Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea what real media exposure is," the official added.
Fans are looking back on the moment differently now
The result was a messy fallout that also included Carrington's partner, NaLyssa Smith. Ultimately, there were other stories to report and other players to focus on, and a lot of people's attention shifted elsewhere. The release of the book, coupled with the fact that Bonner was waived from the Fever last month, have shifted attention back to the potential for a longer-brewing problem that might have roots in what happened in 2024.