“It wasn’t intentional” – Caitlin Clark absolves DiJonai Carrington of blame for eye injury during playoff debut

Caitlin Clark shuts down talk of DiJonai Carrington intentionally hitting her in the face (Image credit: Imagn)

Caitlin Clark shuts down talk of DiJonai Carrington intentionally hitting her in the face (Image credit: Imagn)

During her WNBA Playoff debut on Sunday, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark brought the ball up the court early in the game. Connecticut Sun defender DiJonai Carrington deflected the her pass at the three-point line, but her hand hit Clark in the face, giving the Fever star a black eye.

Clark discussed the situation on Tuesday while speaking to reporters during a post-practice media scrum.

“It wasn’t intentional by any means, just watch the play. It wasn’t intentional,” Clark said laughing when asked by a reporter what she would say to those who thought the hit was intentional.

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Despite having a bruise under her eye, Clark isn’t bothered and believes there’s little to no swelling. Given the update, there has been no talk of Clark sitting out Game 2 on Wednesday, where the Fever will look to fight off elimination and force a Game 3 at home.

DiJonai Carrington breaks silence on Game 1 incident with Caitlin Clark

Clark and Carrington were involved in a viral moment during a June meeting between the Fever and the Sun early this season. Clark had received a pass from a teammate when Carrington accidentally hit her while trying to deflect the pass.

After a whistle was blown on Carrington for bumping Clark, the Sun standout pretended to flop, mocking Clark for the play. Given that, some fans felt Clark’s blow to the face on Sunday was something more than an unintentional hit.

Carrington spoke about the situation on Tuesday, shutting down any talk of the hit to Clark’s eye being intentional.

“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,” she told Chloe Peterson, who shared the interview on X.

While no foul was called on the play, fans have called on the WNBA to be more vigilant when making calls in Game 2 on Wednesday at 4:30 pm Pacific (7:30 Eastern).