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The WNBA is more popular than it’s ever been, but apparently, one WNBA official believes the players don’t know how to handle it.
USA Today columnist Christine Brennan launched her new book, “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” on Tuesday, and in it, she highlighted the behind-the-scenes of her back-and-forth with DiJonai Carrington that prompted a scathing statement from the Women’s National Basketball Players Association in September.
Carrington poked Caitlin Clark in a game earlier last season, and many on social media believed that she may have done it on purpose and laughed about it afterward.
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Washington Mystics guard Brittney Sykes handles the ball against the Sun on May 18, 2025, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Amy Abramson-Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In a move she described as “journalism 101,” Brennan asked Carrington about the incident and whether she made fun of it later on – she denied doing both.
However, another one of Clark’s rivals, DeWanna Bonner, confronted Brennan just minutes after her back and forth with Carrington, Brennan claimed.
Bonner, who was Carrington’s teammate at the Connecticut Sun at the time, approached Brennan, saying that she had “attacked” and “disrespected” Carrington. She used both accusations twice each.
Brennan then discussed the situation with members of the Sun, then-head coach Stephanie White (who is now Clark’s coach with the Indiana Fever), and a WNBA official, who said her questions were “fine.”
Brennan revealed that the WNBA official said to her that as long as questions are not “vulgar, rude or inappropriate,” then they pass the official’s “test.”
But then, the official dropped a bomb on Brennan.
Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington fouls Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark in Indianapolis, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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“Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea what real media exposure is,” the official said, according to the book. “They don’t know what real coverage is, they have been shielded at college and then they come to the WNBA not knowing what real questions are. Frankly, our players just don’t get it.”
Brennan said the official “requested their name not be used due to the sensitive nature of the issue.”
Neither the WNBA nor the WNBPA have responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment regarding the official’s reported sentiments.
In her book, Brennan also wrote, “A top WNBA official told me ‘this happens everywhere. Why are our players so surprised. Why are they not prepared for it?’”
Christine Brennan speaks at the SiriusXM Business Radio Broadcasts “Beyond The Game: Tackling Race” on Feb. 5, 2016, in San Francisco. (Kimberly White/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
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Brennan said Carrington also took issue with reporters, including herself, the next day, claiming they were “talking s—” about NaLyssa Smith, her partner who just so happened to be on the Fever. Brennan claimed the two other reporters were simply discussing “a bit of a Fever strategy that had just been noticed on the court.”
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