DiJonai Carrington stuns in Connecticut

Just a second later, Carrington manages to contort her entire body 360 degrees and dishes a pass to Wings’ rookie Paige Bueckers. When Bueckers’ shot doesn’t connect, it’s Carrington who is there yet again, tracking where the ball is going and leaping to secure another offensive rebound, her second in a row. It’s then that the entire arena — mostly a sea of No. 5 Wings and UConn jerseys — erupts in a roar of applause and cheers.

It’s here, in Connecticut, that Carrington initially began her career in the WNBA and emerged as one of the best defenders in the league. After getting traded to the Wings this February, she’s continued to refine that part of her game this season. And on June 20, Sun fans watched her deliver a defensive masterclass against her former team in the Wings’ 86-83 win.

Carrington’s ascent

The last time the Wings played the Sun, on May 27, Carrington was electric. She dropped 16 points, going 5-9 from the field and 2-4 from three in the 109-87 victory, the Wings’ first of the 2025 season.

This time around against the Sun, Carrington came off the bench and still remained poised. Even when the shots weren’t falling and she went 2-9 from the field and scored just five points, she made up for it on the boards with a season-high nine rebounds to go along with two steals and a block. 

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As the Sun’s No. 20 pick in the 2021 WNBA draft, Carrington had to earn every minute and opportunity from the moment she arrived in Connecticut. As a rookie, she averaged just 2.8 points per game and made just one start, and it would take her two more seasons until she solidified a spot in the Sun’s starting lineup. The 2024 WNBA season marked a turning point for Carrington’s ascent into stardom: during her final year in a Sun uniform, she averaged a career-high 12.7 points per game and five rebounds, was named Most Improved Player of the Year and solidified herself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire League, while making the WNBA All-Defensive First Team. 

How exactly did she do it? “I would just say the consistency,” Carrington told The Next last season when asked how she’s grown. “Because I feel like I’ve always had spurts of playing well, whether it was offensively or getting stops defensively, but putting both of those together and consistently doing it, I think has been one of [my] biggest jumps. 

“During the season, that was one of the things I consistently focused on was staying disciplined, whether it was my closeouts, tendencies, things like that,” Carrington continued last season. “You make it hard for the other team when you’re disciplined and not taking chances, not lunging, making them just do different things and get deep in the shot clock.”

Looking ahead

Now that she’s in Dallas, Carrington has brought that same energy to a franchise that’s on the rebuild. She’s often been praised by her teammates, too, for her leadership and the fire that she brings, night in and night out, especially while being tasked with guarding the best player on the floor.

It’s Carrington’s ability to execute her defensive assignment that Sun fans grew to love over the years. And on Friday, they watched their former defensive ace battled it out in the paint with their newest rookie talent in Morrow.

After the game, Koclanes even gave Carrington her props for the effort she brought in their bounce-back win.

“Nai was fantastic in the second half, just with her effort on the glass,” he said in the postgame press conference. Ahead of their matchup against the Washington Mystics on June 22, more defensive masterclasses like this, especially in the paint, will be key for the Wings.