Chicago Sky star DiJonai Carrington has hit back at her critics and told them to "do ya research" as the fallout from her controversial clash with Sophie Cunningham continues.
The 28-year-old has found herself at the centre of a fierce debate after being ejected during Chicago's WNBA defeat following a hard foul on the Indiana Fever guard.
Carrington was dismissed after catching Cunningham in the head, with the incident leaving her opponent bleeding.
The controversy then escalated when Carrington subsequently posted the words "white privilege" on social media and tagged the Fever.
Her message sparked criticism from several prominent figures in American sports media, with former NFL player Emmanuel Acho among those to question the post.
Acho argued there was no racial element behind the decision to eject Carrington and accused the Sky guard of wrongly invoking white privilege in relation to the incident.
"It was not a race-based decision. To call that a white privilege-based foul is to completely undermine the term of white privilege and to also completely ignore the rules in basketball," he said on the Speakeasy podcast.
"You hit her in the head. You drew blood. You didn't connect with the ball at all whatsoever.
"So to me, it was just very ignorant and, to some degree, asinine by DiJonai Carrington to suggest that that call was based on white privilege."
Carrington has now responded publicly, insisting Acho had made an assumption about what she meant.
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She has not yet offered a full explanation for why she posted the phrase immediately after the game.
"I've never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege [that was your assumption]," Carrington wrote on X.
"Try exercising your critical thinking skills, I know you studied psych.
"Furthermore, I'm the last thing from ignorant or asinine when it comes to speaking on 'white privilege', do ya research on that one.
"I actually went to school, one of the top universities might I add, to educate myself on this exact subject.
"I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it."
Cunningham, meanwhile, has rejected the suggestion that race should have any bearing on the incident.
The Fever star was questioned about Carrington's post after Indiana secured a 90-86 victory and suggested the WNBA was dealing with the matter.
"I think the league is taking care of that," she said.
"This has nothing to do with race.
"Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out, and I deserved to be kicked out.
"There's no reason even to play that card."
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