Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington: ‘It takes heart to play on both sides of the ball’

Since entering the WNBA in 2021, Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington has steadily carved out her place as one of the league’s fiercest two-way players.

Known for her defensive tenacity and relentless energy shutting down opponents, she became a reliable player with the Connecticut Sun and now is a veteran leader in the Wings’ locker room. Carrington, whose “Seat Belt Gang” celebration has become a viral symbol of lockdown defense in the league, attributes her defensive prowess to “controlling the controllables.”

“It takes heart to play on both sides of the ball, and I feel like something for me that I can always control is the defensive side of the ball,” Carrington said. “You might have games where your shot’s not falling or where just something’s not going your way on offense or you’re not getting touches. You never know what the scenario is, but you can always impact the game on defense, and that’s just making it hard for the other team.

“It doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet in steals or in blocks or rebounds or whatever, but making it difficult for your opponent is something that I can actually control every single night,” she continued. “So I like to control the controllables.”

Her work ethic and evolving confidence aided Carrington’s transition from providing a spark off the bench to becoming a game-changing starter. Carrington’s breakout came during the 2024 season, when she averaged career highs in points (12.7), rebounds (5.0), assists (1.6) and steals (1.56) and earned the league’s Most Improved Player Award.

“I never have been caught up in accolades and stuff like that, achievements, but it feels good to feel like your hard work is being recognized on the biggest stage,” Carrington said. “I feel like I don’t receive awards a lot just throughout my career. So it was nice to be like, ‘Dang, somebody actually recognized that I am working on my game.’”

Now in her fifth season in the WNBA, Carrington is the veteran guiding Wings rookies Paige Bueckers, JJ Quinerly and Aziaha James, just like veterans Jasmine Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas did for her years ago after Carrington was drafted by the Sun. Despite the Wings’ current 8-20 record, she said their locker room chemistry is flourishing.

“It’s not going the way that we wanted it to go as far as wins and losses, but one of the best parts is that we all get along and that makes up for a lot,” Carrington said. “Honestly, I don’t think people understand how much time you spend with one another, so being able to have a good culture in a locker room and all the players get along is so big.

“We enjoy hanging out with each other. We enjoy playing with one another. We enjoy being around each other, and I think that that is such a huge piece when building a team.”

Now, as she embraces a new chapter in Dallas, Carrington spoke to Andscape about her childhood, the resilience college and professional basketball has demanded, and the emotional whirlwind of watching her girlfriend and closest teammate, NaLyssa Smith, get traded just as they were building something special together in Dallas.