Anonymous WNBA official shockingly accuses players of being too "shielded" to face hard questions from media

CNN's WNBA and sports commentator and author Christine Brennan made a shocking revelation about the state of media exposure of WNBA players. In her book "On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports," Brennan revealed the behind-the-scenes media interaction after Game 1 between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.

DiJonai Carrington, who then played for the Sun, committed a foul on Clark, accidently poking the Fever star in the eye. The videos and pictures of the foul went viral on social media, with one of the narratives floating around being that it was a deliberate foul from Carrington.

Brennan wrote in her book that between Game 1 and Game 2, a video of Carrington and Marina Mabrey went viral on social media, where Mabrey was motioning with her finger. Brennan wrote that she wanted to give Carrington a platform to give her point and perhaps put an end to the claims being made on social media.

"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?," Brennan asked Carrington.

The reigning Most Improved Player said that when the foul took place, she didn't even realize in real time that she had hit Clark in the eye. Brennan again asked the WNBA star if she and Mabrey were laughing about the incident.

"Did you and Marina kind of laugh about it afterwards? It looked like later on in the game they caught you guys laughing about it?," Brennan asked.

"No, I just told you I didn't even know I hit her, so I can't laugh about something I didn't know happened," Carrington replied.

According to the author, things took a turn for the worse after that interview. Brennan further revealed that just a few minutes later, DeWanna Bonner, who was then teammates with Carrington, walked towards her and said that Brennan had "attacked" and "disrespected" her teammate.

The USA Today reporter said that she was later contacted by a WNBA official, who said that her questions were fine.

"Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea what real media exposure is," the WNBA official said.

"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."

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New details emerge about DiJonai Carrington's heated exchange with reporter after Game 1

In her book, Christine Brennan wrote that she stood with Indianapolis Star WNBA beat writer Chloe Peterson and Scott Agness, the beat writer for Indianapolis Fieldhouse Files, and discussing about the Fever game plan for Game 2.

Brennan revealed that the two were discussing the Fever potentially taking out NaLyssa Smith from the starting lineup. According to Brennan, DiJonai Carrington appeared upset in front of them.

"Why are you talking s**t about NaLyssa?," she asked.

She even said that she heard Brennan saying that Smith, who's Carrington's partner, wasn't a good teammate.

"I walked past, and I heard you talking shit about NaLyssa! It was you, out of your mouth!," wrote Brennan.

Brennnan also revealed that she was later confronted by NaLyssa Smith.

Christine Brennan's On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports is set to be released on July 8.