WNBA: Skylar Diggins-Smith is able to remind of her excellence

Editor’s Word: That is one in all a collection of tales rating the highest 30 gamers within the WNBA as a part of Quickbooks’ “WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy.” Take a look at the remainder of the rankings right here.

Skylar Diggins-Smith has been a star since she was drafted No. 3 general within the 2013 WNBA Draft to the Tulsa Shock (the franchise that will turn out to be the Dallas Wings). All through her profession with the Shock, Wings, Phoenix Mercury and now Seattle Storm, Diggins-Smith has been one of many league’s most impactful gamers.

She is a type of gamers who’s simply thrilling to observe on the court docket. She performs nice basketball, however it is usually simply actually stunning basketball. Her footwork, pace and high-arching pictures all make her sport entrancing. Her potential to drive to the basket, blended along with her energy, sends her to the free throw line loads. She can also shoot the three, defend and cross effectively. She is an extremely well-rounded participant.

Diggins-Smith has additionally pushed the boundaries for WNBA gamers by at all times talking up for what she believes in and the way she thinks gamers ought to be handled. She is aware of her value and doesn’t accept much less—a lesson we may all be taught.

Now a WNBA vet, Diggins-Smith, who’s beginning recent this season with the Storm, ranks No. 11 within the WNBA Hoopers Hierarchy, Swish Enchantment’s rating of the league’s prime 30 gamers.

Turning into a Notre Dame nice

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Coming from South Bend, Indiana, Diggins-Smith opted to decide to her hometown faculty for her faculty profession, heading to Notre Dame as a freshman in 2009.

She was a part of an epic lineup of gamers at Notre Dame, together with Jewell Loyd and Natalie Achonwa. Diggins-Smith was a two-time Huge East Participant of the Yr winner and a two-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner, which is given to the nation’s finest level guard. She additionally was named to the AP All-America First Group twice in her faculty profession. The Preventing Irish made it to the championship sport twice throughout Diggins-Smith’s tenure, the primary time Notre Dame had made it that far in almost a decade. Sadly, each of Notre Dame’s championship runs resulted in a loss, and Diggins-Smith left faculty and not using a nationwide title.

Turning into an All-Star within the WNBA

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After being drafted No. 3 general to the Shock, Diggins-Smith went on to make the WNBA’s All-Rookie Group. She then turned in an unimaginable sophomore season in 2014, being named an All-Star for the primary time in her profession. From her first to second season within the WNBA, she went from averaging 8.5 factors per sport to scoring 20.1 per sport, a leap that helped her earn the WNBA’s Most Improved Participant award.

Diggins-Smith can be voted an All-Star once more within the 2015 season, however solely ended up enjoying 9 video games your entire season due to a torn ACL. Nonetheless, she was in a position to get better and make it again on time to begin the 2016 season with the relocated Dallas Wings. She would have a slower season in 2016 as she recovered, however nonetheless managed to common 13.1 factors per sport.

Diggins-Smith returned to the All-Star Sport in 2017, averaging 18.5 level per sport all through that season. She earned her fourth All-Star look in 2018, averaging 17.9 factors per sport. She performed at her normal customary for the whole lot of the 2018 season, regardless of later revealing she had been pregnant along with her first baby for your entire season. She had her baby, and missed the 2019 season attributable to postpartum restoration.

In between the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Diggins-Smith additionally revealed her dissatisfaction with how the Wings group handled her throughout her postpartum restoration. She had suffered from postpartum despair, and the strain for her to return to the court docket from each the followers and the group made it in order that Diggins-Smith wished to maneuver on. With not many gamers having been moms at that time within the WNBA’s historical past, Diggins-Smith taking a stand and demanding higher remedy for postpartum moms was an enormous step in the direction of gamers now receiving extra help.

Previous to the 2020 WNBA season, Diggins-Smith was traded to the Mercury as a part of a sign-and-trade between the Mercury and Wings.

A shot at a championship in Phoenix

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Upon getting into the Mercury lineup, Diggins-Smith created a “Huge 3” with Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. Although Griner ended up opting out halfway by the 2020 “Wubble” season for psychological well being causes, the Mercury nonetheless made it to the second spherical of the playoffs that yr.

In 2021, the Mercury had been poised to be among the many prime groups within the WNBA. They’d a improbable season and made it to the WNBA Finals earlier than arising quick towards the Chicago Sky. That yr, Diggins-Smith scored 17.7 factors per sport, making it to the WNBA All-Star Sport for a fifth time. She additionally represented the US on the Tokyo Olympics, successful an Olympic gold medal.

The 2022 season was fairly tumultuous for the Mercury. The crew had parted methods with head coach Sandy Brondello previous to the beginning of the season, hiring rookie head coach Vanessa Nygaard. Then, Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in February and ended up lacking the entire season earlier than returning again to the US in late 2022.

The Mercury got here into the season with a robust roster. Not solely had been hopes excessive that Griner would quickly return from Russia, the crew had additionally signed Diamond DeShields and Tina Charles to affix Taurasi and Diggins-Smith. Whether or not it was a scarcity of chemistry between coach and gamers, a scarcity of chemistry between teammates or the truth that the crew was coping with the heartbreaking Griner state of affairs—it was a nasty yr. Whereas Diggins-Smith averaged 19.7 factors per sport and made her sixth All-Star look, the Mercury went 15-21 on the season, simply barely making the playoffs and dropping within the first spherical.

Diggins-Smith ended up taking a depart of absence from the crew to finish the season, later revealing she was pregnant along with her second baby. She didn’t play the whole lot of the 2023 season, as she and the group appeared to be at odds with one another. She once more spoke out a few lack of help throughout her being pregnant and postpartum interval.

Diggins-Smith went into the 2024 offseason as one of many leagues most wanted free brokers. She ended up signing with the Seattle Storm, becoming a member of Nneka Ogwumike and Jewell Loyd.

A recent begin in Seattle

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Diggins-Smith begins recent this season on the Seattle Storm because the group additionally appears to be beginning new. After dropping Sue Fowl to retirement and Breanna Stewart to New York in free company, the crew was in a transition section and missed the playoffs in 2023.

Jewell Loyd signed an extension with the franchise with the hope that the tides would flip for the Storm. That occurred with the signings of Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike, and there are excessive expectations for this crew.

Diggins-Smith already has raved concerning the remedy she has acquired from the group and the companies and amenities they supply for his or her gamers. Although the crew had a tricky begin to the season with back-to-back battles towards the Minnesota Lynx, they recovered to get their first win towards the Washington Mystics, and will proceed to construct chemistry.

One factor is for certain—don’t depend Skylar Diggins-Smith out. She is again and able to take over the WNBA.