Skylar Diggins Talks Life as a WNBA Working Mom, Her “Gremlin” Reputation, and the Future of Women’s Basketball

“Nobody was taking our pictures when I first got into the league 12 years ago,” says Skylar Diggins, Seattle Storm point guard, six-time WNBA All Star, three-time All WNBA team member and Olympic gold medal champion. “Now, with so much attention on the WNBA, we have the ‘tunnel runway,’ people debut high fashion collaborations and products—you can use that entrance into a walking billboard.” Diggins, previously known as Diggins-Smith (she recently dropped the “Smith” from her uniform after filing for divorce from her husband of eight years) is considered one of the most fashionable and fiercely competitive WNBA veterans. “The biggest change in the WNBA now is accessibility,” she says. “We’re on national TV, there’s more branding, and the game stands for more opportunities for girls to want to play basketball globally.”

Here, Diggins, the number three pick in the 2013 draft, who, prior to joining the Storm, played for the Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury, talks to Lisa Robinson about the buzz around the sport, her “gremlin” reputation, her push for better resources for pregnant players (which led to a package of reforms unofficially known as “the Skylar clause”), Brittney Griner’s incarceration, and the new women’s Unrivaled league.

The WNBA has a new collective bargaining agreement coming up, and other than the extreme inequity in pay between the men’s and women’s leagues, what are some of the changes you want to see?

With the new CBA, we do have some power to capitalize on the success we’ve had. For the greater good of the league, salary is the number one thing we’re going to fight for, and collectively, figure out quality of life things. We’re 144 different people in this league and we prioritize different things. For me, I’m going to be talking about more benefits for moms. When you switch teams and move to a different city, trying to find resources; childcare, a pediatrician, a school, playdates.

Of all your many accomplishments and accolades, what are you most proud of?

The 2021 Olympic gold medal is what sticks out the most. Especially being a mom. I went to a lot of Olympic camps and didn’t make the team, so I tried again in four years. We had the Covid year, but then, when I was able to make the team, I had my son, and it wasn’t like I played a lot of minutes, but what I had to do to get myself on that team made me proud. Without sounding corny, I’ve gone through a lot in this league and I’ve labeled myself as an overcomer.

What was the hardest thing to overcome?

Coming back from the birth of my second child in 2023…After I had my son, when I came back to Dallas training camp, I had post-partum depression. I wasn’t really able to run around, I was breast feeding, I couldn’t travel, I wasn’t feeling good. I had to tell the team I couldn’t leave my baby; I had to take a leave of absence, and was gone from the team for a month. As the season went on, they told my assistant coach to stop working me out and started treating me funny. So, I asked to leave Dallas and in 2019 they traded me to Phoenix. In Phoenix, I told my coach I’m probably going to have another baby during that contract—then BG [Brittney Griner] got locked up in 2022. That year was wild, to say the least. BG and I were really close at the time, and trying to figure out what was going on with our teammate, trying to figure out how we could be a support to her—[with] nobody telling us a lot of information—that season was stressful. Then I got pregnant. Nobody really knew, but towards the end of that season, I had to take a leave of absence because of some complications with my pregnancy.

[Editor’s note: Reached for comment, a Dallas Wings spokesperson said: “We’ve always had the utmost respect and appreciation for Skylar Diggins. Our players’ well-being is our highest priority. We support our players, allowing them and the health professionals involved to guide recovery and return to play decisions.” A representative for the Phoenix Mercury did not respond to requests for comment.]

People thought you left because you had an issue with one of the players.

I never spoke out about this because there are so many layers. And in hindsight I think I might have handled some things differently. But Phoenix had been trying to trade me because I had a moment with the star player. Then, when they found out I was pregnant, they really wanted to trade me. I was eight months pregnant, and they had to pay me, but they were trying to move me. There were new coaches, no one contacted me, they wouldn’t let me park in the parking lot anymore….I think if you ask some of my peers they might categorize me as a bit of a gremlin. I’m very competitive, I’ve been an antagonist, and I get under people’s skin. But even if the coach, or players ask you to do something, like “Can you say something…?” you just don’t do it. So, for the rest of the year the relationship with me and the coach was rough. But players get into it, you get over it, you try to play through it and that’s what you try to do as a pro. I played at an extremely high level that year, and I was first team WNBA that year.