Sun's DiJonai Carrington wins WNBA's Most Improved Player award

Connecticut Sun subordinate DiJonai Carrington was named the victor of the 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player grant Wednesday. 

The 26-year-old, 5-foot-11 shooting guard improved her averages from 8.3 points per crippled past twelvemonth to 12.7 this twelvemonth and 2.9 rebounds per crippled past twelvemonth to 5 this season. She improved her assistance mean from 1.3 to 1.6.

This twelvemonth was her archetypal arsenic a full-time starter. She started 39 games with a career-high 29.6 minutes per game. 

Now, she is successful her archetypal playoff tally arsenic a starter, and the Sun volition look to adjacent retired the archetypal circular with a triumph implicit Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever Wednesday night. 

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Connecticut Sun defender DiJonai Carrington (21) shoots implicit Indiana Fever guardant NaLyssa Smith (1) successful the archetypal fractional of a crippled successful Indianapolis Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Carrington has already made headlines successful this playoff bid for poking Clark successful the oculus with her fingernail successful the archetypal 4th of Game 1 Sunday. Slow-motion footage showed Carrington bending her manus portion coming down from a artifact attempt, pointing her nails in Clark's face. No foul was called connected the play, and Carrington said the deed was not intentional. 

"I don’t adjacent cognize wherefore I would mean to deed anybody successful the eye,"  Carrington told reporters Tuesday. "That doesn’t adjacent marque consciousness to me. But, no, I didn’t. I didn’t cognize I deed her, actually. I was trying to marque a play connected the ball, and I conjecture I followed through, and I deed her. So, obviously, it’s ne'er intentional. That’s not adjacent similar the benignant of subordinate that I am."

INSIDE CAITLIN CLARK AND ANGEL REESE'S IMPACT ON MEN'S BASKETBALL

Carrington enters Game 2 with her caller hardware, the archetypal large league grant of her career. A triumph to extremity Clark's rookie play would beryllium the latest triumph successful her rivalry with Clark. 

During a crippled successful June, Carrington fouled Clark aft Clark received an inbound walk from teammate Kristy Wallace. Clark caught the walk and started toward the basket. Carrington was precocious getting to Clark owed to a surface by Aliyah Boston, and she bumped Clark.

Connecticut Sun defender DiJonai Carrington (21) fouls Indiana Fever defender Caitlin Clark (22) successful the 2nd fractional of a crippled successful Indianapolis Aug. 28, 2024.  (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Carrington didn't similar the telephone and thought Clark exaggerated the foul and started mocking the Fever rookie, eliciting boos from her ain location assemblage portion making the gesture. 

Later that month, Carrington posted connected X, saying Clark should bash much to talk retired astir radical utilizing her sanction for "racism." 

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"Dawg. How 1 tin not beryllium bothered by their sanction being utilized to warrant racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them each is nuts," Carrington wrote. "We each spot the [s---]. We each person a platform. We each person a dependable & they each clasp weight. Silence is simply a luxury."

On Aug. 28, aft the Fever defeated the Sun 84-80 successful Indiana, Carrington posted connected X, criticizing the Indiana fans. 

"The indiana fever person the nastiest fans successful the W. ew," Carrington wrote. 

DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun defends against the Indiana Fever during successful Game 1 of the archetypal circular of the 2024 WNBA playoffs Sept. 22, 2024, astatine the Mohegan Sun Arena successful Uncasville, Conn. (Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images)

The elimination crippled matchup betwixt the 2 teams is apt to beryllium seen earlier different grounds TV audience. Game 1 was watched by an mean of 1.84 million, adjacent though the crippled turned into a blowout successful the 2nd half. The ratings were successful enactment with astir of the record-breaking numbers for the Fever's games. 

Clark said her squad tin travel backmost successful the bid and marque those fans happy. 

"We tin win," Clark said. "It's not thing astir the building. It's not astir the gym. It's not astir the hoops. I person each the assurance successful the satellite successful this team, and everybody successful the locker country does. And I cognize we'll beryllium a batch amended connected Wednesday."

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