Dallas Wings’ Dijonai Carrington Calls Out Referee For Evading Her Pleas to Explain Their Decisions

Dijonai Carrington termed referee Roy Gulbeyan's actions to be a 'microaggression' following the Wings' loss on Thursday.

Dallas Wings’ Dijonai Carrington Calls Out Referee For Evading Her Pleas to Explain Their Decisions

Dijonai Carrington (Image via Wikimedia)

The struggling Chicago Sky bagged the first win of their 2025 WNBA season on Thursday night. They took down fellow basement team Dallas Wings at home, 97-92, overcoming an offensive explosion by Arike Ogunbowale. The Sky ran up an early lead, but with Ogunbowale powering Dallas, the contest became a close one by the end. The officiating on the night seemed to tick off Dijonai Carrington.

Carrington had chipped in with 15 points on a night when Paige Bueckers battled through a concussion. The game was a physical one, as proved by the contact between Bueckers and Courtney Vandersloot.

With the Wings’ frontcourt unable to hang with Kamila Cardoso on the interior, they also had to start matching the physicality and intensity of the Sky. However, it led to a lot of inconsistent refereeing.

Dijonai Carrington was clearly peeved by what she felt was some abhorrent refereeing. However, instead of being explosive in her display of frustration, she opted to take the measured route. Even so, she was rebuffed by the official as she attempted to reason with him. He beckoned for the arena security to come between the two of them. It was something noted and promptly admonished on social media during the night.

The 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player herself noted a video tweet the day after the game. At this point, she was unable to contain her disdain for the nature of the incident. Carrington took to her Twitter fingers and sent a scathing text showing her frustration with the official in question, crew chief Roy Gulbeyan.

Security… , when i’m literally having a civil conversation is insane . mind you , he called the “sEcUrItY” over there.

Dijonai Carrington tweeted

‘Microaggression’ or not, referee Roy Gulbeyan could undoubtedly have taken a more pacifist route to the whole thing. Talking to players and explaining their decisions is a protocol that referees have explicitly been instructed to follow. Doing this sets a good barometer between the two parties and allows players to calibrate their level of physicality.

The Dallas Wings can take revenge today

Paige Bueckers is ruled out of the return fixture between the two mid-west teams today, being played in Dallas. The Wings will have to rely on Kaila Charles to be one of their starting guards on their already undersized lineup. They usually start three guards – Ogunbowale, Bueckers and Carrington – and rely heavily on a switch-heavy defensive scheme.

However, Ogunbowale seems to have shaken off her early-season rust. After entering the previous game shooting a dastardly 30% from the floor, the 2024 Olympics team snub put the Wings’ perimeter defense to the sword. She recorded 37 points on the night. She is now second only to Diana Taurasi for the most career 35-point games with at least five made 3-pointers. The 28-year-old shot 6-12 from deep in the game.

Ogunbowale previously tied Diana Taurasi as the fastest player to reach 500 career WNBA 3-pointers. She reached this landmark in 198 games while playing against the Minnesota Lynx earlier this season. Given that Chicago has an old backcourt with slower foot speed, she should have another field day playing them. Both rebuilding teams are looking to find their best lineups and combinations through the still-early stages of the 2025 WNBA season.

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