DeWanna Bonner confronted Christine Brennan after DiJonai Carrington interview

DeWanna Bonner confronted USA TODAY columnist Christine Brennan with the same message four times during last year’s WNBA playoffs, according to a new book.

After Brennan asked Sun forward DiJonai Carrington if she had intentionally hit rookie sensation Caitlin Clark in the eye while defending a pass and then laughed about it with teammate Marina Mabrey after the fact — as social media had begun to speculate through interpretations of videos — Bonner took offense on Carrington’s behalf.

In an excerpt from her upcoming book “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports” published Sunday by CNN, Brennan tells the behind-the-scenes story of Sept. 24, 2024 during an off day of the Sun-Fever playoff series.

Just a couple of minutes after Carrington’s interview session was over and she walked away, I was standing near the other reporters at the side of the court when her teammate DeWanna Bonner walked toward me.

“You disrespected my teammate,” she said.

I put out my hand and tried to introduce myself, but Bonner did not want to shake it.

“You attacked my teammate,” she said.

I motioned to my phone in my hand. “Can I tell you what I said?

I was happy to show her the video I had just taken of Carrington’s answers to my questions. I again tried to introduce myself since Bonner and I had never met, but Bonner wanted no part of that.

“You attacked my teammate,” she said again.

I tried to introduce myself once more. “I asked her a question to give her a chance to respond to a controversy.”

“You disrespected my teammate,” Bonner said again, walking away.

Bonner never raised her voice, nor did I. 

Brennan’s questions and Carrington’s indignant denials became news at the time. News of the interview and Bonner’s more private reaction to it both quickly reached a WNBA official.

“Your questions were fine,” the official told Brennan, per the book. “Unfortunately, most of our players have zero idea what real media exposure is. 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.”

Tensions spilled into the next day — before Game 2 of the series — when Carrington accused Brennan and two other journalists of “talking sh—” about NaLyssa Smith of the Fever. Carrington and Smith are partners but were playing head-to-head in the series.

A Sun communications manager and Mabrey pulled Carrington away as she accused Brennan of saying Smith is “a bad teammate.”

As word traveled around the arena in what was described as “a bad game of ‘Telephone,” Smith challenged Brennan.

“Do you have something to say to me?” she asked.

When Brennan said nothing negative was said, Smith accused her of lying.

By the end of the week, the WNBA Players Association had issued a statement: “To unprofessional members of the media like Christine Brennan:

You are not fooling anyone.

That so-called interview in the name of journalism was a blatant attempt to bait a professional athlete into participating in a narrative that is false and designed to fuel racist, homophobic, and misogynistic vitriol on social media. You cannot hide behind your tenure.”

USA Today responded with a statement defending Brennan’s interview and journalistic reputation “as advocate for women and athletes.”

In the months since the incident, Carrington was traded from the Sun to the Wings and Bonner was signed by the Fever to team with Clark. Bonner has since been released by the Fever after nine games and remains a free agent.