Florida’s top prosecutor says he would file criminal charges against a WNBA player over a hard foul, even though the WNBA has no team in the state.
Quick Take
- Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he would charge WNBA players with “assault and battery” for conduct like DiJonai Carrington’s flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham.
- The WNBA does not have a team in Florida, so the threat has no immediate legal teeth right now.
- No police report, criminal complaint, or charging document has surfaced tying the foul to an actual case.
- Florida has charged WNBA players before, but those cases involved off-court violence, not in-game contact.
What Uthmeier Actually Said
Uthmeier posted on social media after Carrington’s flagrant foul knocked down Cunningham during a game against the Chicago Sky. “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault,” he wrote. He later added the word “battery” to make his warning more specific.
Uthmeier holds Florida’s top criminal law job. Reports describe him as someone who often uses public statements to lay out how he plans to enforce state law, from open-carry rules to tech investigations. This fits that pattern. He turned a sports controversy into a public legal threat within hours of the foul happening.
A Threat Without A Case
No charging document, police report, or legal memo backs up Uthmeier’s statement. What exists right now is a public post, not an open criminal case. That gap matters. Florida law usually requires proof of intent, unwanted contact, and specific circumstances before assault or battery charges can stick, and none of that legal groundwork has been shown publicly.
Basketball also involves plenty of physical contact players agree to just by stepping on the court. No source has addressed whether a flagrant foul, even a rough one, could legally count as criminal assault once you factor in the fact that players consent to contact as part of the game. That legal question remains untested and unanswered.
Florida’s Track Record With WNBA Players
Florida has pursued WNBA players in court before, but those cases looked very different. Riquna Williams faced felony charges tied to a domestic violence case, and prosecutors later dropped the gun charge. Another player, Arike Ogunbowale, was arrested after police said video from a nightclub backed up a battery claim. Both cases involved off-court conduct, not something that happened during a game.
That distinction is central to this story. Supporters of Uthmeier’s stance can point to a real history of Florida charging athletes with violent crimes. Critics can just as easily note that every one of those cases happened away from the court, in nightclubs or homes, not during regulated athletic competition where contact is part of the sport.
Why This Story Spread So Fast
The quote spread quickly across social media, picked up by accounts with tens of thousands of views mixing sports outrage with political commentary. Because the WNBA has no Florida franchise, Uthmeier’s warning cannot be enforced anytime soon. That turns his statement into more of a political message than an active legal case, at least for now.
Florida AG @JamesUthmeierFL fired a warning at the WNBA after DiJonai Carrington was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham and later posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” from the locker room.
Uthmeier responded: “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida,… pic.twitter.com/USjBPLnbwK
— RULED (@ruledmedia) August 9, 2026
Neither the WNBA nor the players involved have issued a detailed public response countering Uthmeier’s claim. That silence lets his framing spread unchallenged, even though it rests on a hypothetical scenario rather than any actual charge. For now, this remains a war of words, not a courtroom fight, and whether an in-game foul could ever meet Florida’s legal bar for assault is still an open question nobody in power has answered.
Sources:
thegatewaypundit.com, espn.com, livemint.com, wfla.com, kcur.org
