DiJonai Carrington Calls 'Defamation of Character' on Caitlin Clark Book Author

In September 2024, USA Today reporter Christine Brennan caused a lot of controversy for asking WNBA guard DiJonai Carrington whether she had intentionally poked Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark in the eye during a playoff game.

“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.

“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. That doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball and I guess I followed through and I hit her, so obviously it’s never intentional, that’s not even, like, the type of player that I am," Carrington responded.

DiJonai Carrington on *the play* with Caitlin Clark: “I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye. It doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball.” pic.twitter.com/uh04AxoEtV
— Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) September 24, 2024

Brennan is the author of 'On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports', which releases on July 9. CNN published a July 6 article that includes an excerpt from this book, which includes Brennan's writing about the aftermath of this interaction, including a confrontation between her and NaLyssa Smith, with whom Carrington is in a relationship.

"Indianapolis Fieldhouse Files Fever beat writer Scott Agness, Indianapolis Star Fever beat writer Chloe Peterson, and I were in the otherwise empty catering area, waiting for the Fever shootaround to end on the court nearby, when Carrington surprised us with her appearance between the curtains," the excerpt wrote.

“'Why are you talking shit about NaLyssa?' she blurted out loudly, referring to her partner, NaLyssa Smith, the Fever forward.

"The question surprised the three of us because no one was saying anything personal or derogatory about Smith... 'You’re saying she’s a bad teammate!' Carrington yelled," it continued.

"Then [Carrington] looked specifically at me. 'I walked past and I heard you talking shit about NaLyssa! It was you, out of your mouth!'"

an excerpt from c. brennan’s book:

indiana beat writers were talking about how nalyssa smith would not be starting for game 2 against connecticut. dijonai carrington overheard them talking and started accusing them of saying she’s a bad teammate. later on told nalyssa this too pic.twitter.com/cXlYAaABqt
— cc akgae (@clrkszn) July 6, 2025

It seems that Carrington has caught wind of this excerpt, which is shown by two X posts she made hours after it was published.

"🤥🤥🤥🧢🧢🧢😂😂😂," was Carrington's first post.

🤥🤥🤥🧢🧢🧢😂😂😂
— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) July 6, 2025

She then added, "defamation of character atp 🥱".

defamation of character atp 🥱
— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) July 6, 2025

Making a defamation of character claim is extremely serious, given the legal implications. And while an X post is a far cry from actually taking someone to court, it's clear that Carrington is not happy about this part of the book.

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