Connecticut Sun star Dijonai Carrington appeared to have fun with the infamous Caitlin Clark eye poke earlier this week.
Carrington seemed to crack a joke about the incident to NaLyssa Smith, her girlfriend and Indiana Fever teammate of Clark’s, while the pair was on Instagram Live.
“Ow!” she said before telling Smith, “You poked me in the eye,” with a smile in what was ultimately a light-hearted moment.
The interaction was an apparent call back to the eye poke incident Carrington had with Clark in the WNBA playoffs, which was a competitive moment, according to both athletes.
Clark and Carrington attempted to make clear that the incident was not intentional after it happened.
The narrative of the incident escalated when USA Today reporter Christine Brennan questioned Carrington (and not Clark) on the eye poke, asking the Sun guard, “When you went and kind of swatted at Caitlin, did you intend to hit her in the eye?” last month.
The WNBA Players Association then called Brennan out by name in a statement on her reporting of the incident.
Carrington made light of that controversy while live on social media, asking Smith, “Did you do it on purpose?”
While Clark did win Rookie of the Year in a high-profile season, Carrington enjoyed a breakout year, establishing herself as a standout two-way guard en route to winning the award for Most Improved Player in the W.
Carrington also finished tied for fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named to the WNBA’s All-Defensive First Team.
