Wings' DiJonai Carrington, Chris Koclanes respond to immense backlash amid challenging season
ARLINGTON, TX — It has been a long first half of the 2025 WNBA season for the Dallas Wings. Between injuries and underperformance, the Wings have certainly not played up to their expectations. Paige Bueckers, Aziaha James and the rookies have been a bright spot for the most part, but overall the '25 campaign has been challenging for the 6-16 Wings. The Wings have dealt with immense backlash as a result of their struggles.
New head coach Chris Koclanes' first season has not gone according to plan. Many fans have criticized his performance. So, how has he been able to ignore the outside noise and focus on the team?
'I pour into our players and I lean on our staff,' Koclanes told reporters after practice on Tuesday. 'I don't worry about it. If I start worrying about it, that's not healthy… I'm worried about how I can be better every single day. Everybody is going to have an opinion… The only opinions that really matter are, you know, my boss.'
Koclanes is doing everything he can to help the Wings through a difficult campaign. Fans have questioned his methods at times — but the Wings head coach confirmed that the 'only' opinion he is concerned with is his 'boss.'
Wings forward DiJonai Carrington, who has missed time due to an injury, also discussed the subject of ignoring the criticism.
'It's hard, it comes with the territory and we know that,' Carrington told reporters. 'But like I've been saying all year, the locker room is the best thing about this program right now. And I love that. You know, a lot of times there's a lot going on outside, we're losing games, we're winning games, people are in and out… It's easy to point fingers or to start to become bitter or bicker with one another because things aren't going right. But grateful that this hasn't happened here. We've stuck together as a team. We've never pointed or tried to say it's any one person's fault or we're better with or without somebody.
'You know, we just all come together and we want to just keep getting better for each other. So I think it's just, like, the locker room staying together has been a huge piece. I mean, you've seen the transition from the first half of the first half of the season to the second half of the first half of the season, and I know you saw that we had to put things together. But, at no point are we on the court going our separate ways, bad body language towards each other. We get frustrated with ourselves but not towards each other.'
It remains to be seen if Carrington will return from her rib injury for the Wings' final game before the WNBA All-Star break on Wednesday against the Las Vegas Aces. She was a full participant in practice on Tuesday, though, so she is clearly trending in a promising direction.
Related: Where ESPN ranks Paige Bueckers midway through rookie season
Related: Epic Caitlin Clark-Paige Bueckers photo goes viral after Fever beat Wings
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