The Connecticut Sun and Los Angeles Sparks made a cool piece of history on Tuesday as the first WNBA teams to play at Boston’s TD Garden, where celebrities like Celtics players Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday came out to show their support among a sold-out crowd of 19,125.
But looking past the bubbling excitement and cheering fans, Sun guard DiJonai Carrington made it clear she had a bone to pick with the WNBA.
Carrington, who led all scorers with 19 points in the Sun’s 69-61 win, called out the league for not promoting their historic matchup enough.
“Imma keep it real all the time,” Carrington said in a postgame presser. “I feel like Connecticut as a franchise is historically disrespected... I think that there could have been a lot more publicity or promo from the top. Connecticut had announced that we were having this game probably almost a year ago, sometime right after last season, so there was ample time to do what needed to be done.”
DiJonai Carrington was asked about calling out the WNBA for not sufficiently promoting this game:
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) August 21, 2024
“The game should have been on the national television broadcast. You should’t have to pay for any type of subscription to see a game that’s this historic, in my opinion.” https://t.co/iff6dMBKna pic.twitter.com/gA9A4zRTuI
Hours before Tuesday night’s tip-off, Carrington shared a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) telling fans how to watch the game.
Carrington wrote, “Since we gotta do our own promo… We’re playing at the @tdgarden tonight & it’s SOLD OUT 19k+. First W game here ever. Historic. Not on tv, but you can catch it right here on twitter.”
Since we gotta do our own promo…
— dιjonaι carrιngтon♛ (@DijonaiVictoria) August 20, 2024
We’re playing at the @tdgarden tonight & it’s SOLD OUT 19k+. First W game here ever. Historic. Not on tv, but you can catch it right here on twitter. 🙃 @WNBA
Fans could only watch the Sun-Sparks game on WNBA League Pass or the league’s livestream on X, with an exception for those living in Los Angeles or Boston.
“It was sold out, we got the dub, so I guess my tweet worked,” Carrington said. “And the game should have been on the national television broadcast. You shouldn’t have to pay for any type of subscription to see a game that’s this historic, in my opinion.”
The game ended up becoming the third-highest attended WNBA game this season and the highest-attended matchup in Sun franchise history. Tuesday’s victory marked a jubilant moment for the Sun as the franchise continues looking to expand its fan base into other parts of New England amid a watershed year for the WNBA.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as DiJonai Carrington Blasts WNBA for Lackluster Promotion of Historic Sun-Sparks Game.
