Tara Sullivan believes WNBA 'not ready for prime time,' cites Christine Brennan-DiJonai Carrington exchange as proof

Longtime WNBA reporter Tara Sullivan, who covered the first WNBA game 28 years ago, believes that the league isn't ready for prime time. She used the recent exchange between Connecticut Sun standout DiJonai Carrington and reporter Christine Brennan and the WNBPA statement that followed as examples.

As Sullivan wrote in a piece for the Boston Globe, at every turn the league and its players threw gas on the metaphorical fire, further adding to the off-court narratives that surrounded the season.

In addition, according to Sullivan, throughout a season that drew record ratings and saw a massive uptick in attention thanks to the arrival of standout Caitlin Clark, the WNBA wound up being outmatched by the scrutiny that came along with the increased attention.

From the get-go, the season was marred in controversy, with some of the mindset that the outpouring of support and attention caused by Clark came at the expense of other players who had been in the league for years. At the same time, others injected racism into the narrative surrounding the season.

"As the playoffs roll on and a historic season heads toward its championship finale, the WNBA and its players keep fumbling their golden opportunity with a string of ill-advised decisions and PR gaffes exposing them as not being ready for prime time," Sullivan wrote.

"So as semifinal playoff action continues Tuesday night the conversation, much as it has all season, has veered away from the on-court product (which has been both high-quality and entertaining) and into uglier areas."

"Laughingly uninformed and hypocritical," - Tara Sullivan takes aim at WNBA Players Association for statement on Christine Brennan-DiJonai Carrington exchange

Tara Sullivan's piece for the Boston Globe used the recent controversy surrounding DiJonai Carrington and Christine Brennan as an example of how the league and its players have poured fuel on the fire when it comes to controversies.

In Game 1 of the Connecticut Sun-Indiana Fever's first-round series, DiJonai Carrington struck Caitlin Clark in the face while attempting to deflect a pass. Moments later, Carrington and her teammate appeared to laugh while talking.

Longtime reporter Christine Brennan, who is working on a book about Clark, asked Carrington about the situation during a media scrum the following day, following up and asking whether Carrington and her teammate were laughing at the play after the fact.

The brief exchange led to the WNBA Players Association releasing a statement, where they accused Brennan of attempting to fuel a narrative described as "racist, homophobic, and misogynist vitriol."

In addition, the statement accused Brennan of abusing her privileges and indicated that she didn't deserve to be a credentialed media member. Sullivan touched on the situation, calling out the WNBPA for not reaching out to Brennan for her side of the story:

"Absurd on its face, and laughingly uninformed and hypocritical in each of its five pages posted to social media last Friday, the statement indicted the WNBPA far more than it could ever hurt Brennan, a trailblazing journalist who has been on the ground covering women’s sports for more than four decades."

The WNBPA has not responded to the comments.