Skylar Diggins-Smith, who is on maternity leave, is unable to use the Phoenix Mercury’s practice facilities or any other team resources, she said Thursday.

The 33-year-old guard has been on maternity leave since the start of the 2023 WNBA season after giving birth to her second child earlier this year. While she has been seen practicing her game in social media videos, her return to the court this season remains an open question.

The six-time WNBA All-Star is under contract with the Mercury. Yet while coach Vanessa Nygaard – with whom Diggins-Smith had a tenuous relationship – was fired in June, the team and Diggins-Smith remain at odds.

In a series of social media posts Thursday, Diggins-Smith said she is barred from using the team’s facility and resources. The initial post came in response to fan, who noticed that the team had not wished Diggins-Smith a happy birthday. Diggins-Smith turned 33 on Aug. 2.

“They’re not gonna acknowledge me this year and it’s OK guys,” she said. “We’re not affiliated unless it’s the checks… per management. I can’t even use the practice facility or any resources.”

She then clarified which resources she is going without but which “EVERY other player has access to,” including massage therapists, chiropractors, chefs, strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists.

“I’m fine with being distanced… (because) now I can’t possibly be the villain anymore,” she wrote.

Local reporter Sarah Kezele reported that the lack of access for Diggins-Smith “is related to her personal relationship with the organization at the moment, not the fact that she is on maternity leave.”

Earlier this season, Phoenix players remained mum about her return, but several – including Brittney Griner – noted that they had spoken with her this season.

But Mercury general manager Jim Pitman, when asked directly if he would like to see Diggins-Smith in a Mercury uniform this season, said only that “she’s on maternity leave right now.”

Diggins-Smith missed the last four games of the 2022 regular season and Phoenix’s opening-round playoff series against the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces for personal reasons, the team said at the time. She averaged 19.7 points in 30 games up to that point.

“It was all good when I was leaving for personal time!! But when I’m leaving because I was having complications and scared of risking my child… while leading the league in minutes (pregnant). Trade her?” she wrote Thursday, alluding to issues with the team dating back to the 2022 season.

The status of Phoenix Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith remains up in the air for the 2023 WNBA season.

Diggins-Smith gave birth to her second child earlier this year, and she started the WNBA season on maternity leave. The 32-year-old has been seen on social media putting up shots, but whether she will sit out the season or return to the court (and to the Mercury) is an open question.

Diggins-Smith missed the last four games of the 2022 regular season and Phoenix’s opening-round playoff series against the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces for personal reasons, the team said at the time. She averaged 19.7 points in 30 games up to that point.

After the end of the season, she announced her pregnancy. She missed the 2019 WNBA season after giving birth to her son that spring, which sets a precedent for the guard missing the 2023 season after the recent birth of her daughter.

The relationship between Diggins-Smith and head coach Vanessa Nygaard was rocky, including when she tweeted a clown emoji in response to comments from the coach. But the team parted ways with Nygaard after a 2-10 start.

Still, players and team personnel have remained mum on her status.

“She’s one of the top players in the whole league and when you’re done having a child, who knows how long it takes your body to get back?” Mercury guard Sophie Cunningham said Saturday. “It’s up in the air. We know as much as you. And so that’s that.”

Mercury center Brittney Griner, who was recently named an All-Star starter, said Diggins-Smith congratulated her on the honor. But she did not speculate on a possible return date for Diggins-Smith.

“Above my paygrade, that’s a great question for the people above me,” Griner said when asked about Diggins-Smith’s status. “Last night, she hit me and told me congrats on the All-Star, and I asked her how the fam’s doing, how everything’s going. People get too tied up in basketball. We’re all human, we have families and we have other things that are bigger than basketball. It was good to talk to her.”

Mercury general manager Jim Pitman, when asked directly if he would like to see Diggins-Smith in a Mercury uniform this season, said only that “she’s on maternity leave right now.” Following this season, Diggins-Smith is a free agent.

The guard recently told Essence that she’s in no rush to get back, noting that returning from pregnancy is “a process.”

“Your body changes and everybody carries differently. You just have to really sit back and realize what you’ve done, what your body has done,” she said. “Give your body time to heal, give your body time to recover, give yourself grace during this time. It’s a process.

“I’m not really worried about snapping back. I just want to enjoy this time with my daughter.”

Skylar Diggins-Smith just added another layer to her already impressive season for the Phoenix Mercury.

The WNBA star announced her pregnancy Monday via Instagram, posting photos of herself with the caption, “New addition loading.”

Diggins-Smith is expecting her second child. When she played for the Dallas Wings, she missed the 2019 WNBA season after giving birth to her son that spring.

While the Mercury star missed the final two games of the 2022 season and the playoffs for “personal reasons,” she averaged 19.7 points across 30 games before that point, the third-highest mark in the league this season and the second-highest mark of her career.

Diggins-Smith butted heads with coach Vanessa Nygaard at times this season, including when she tweeted a clown emoji in response to comments from the coach.

Still, she excelled on the court as a workhorse for the Mercury. She averaged 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals in a league-high 34 minutes per game. Her impressive campaign earned her an All-WNBA first team selection. She also garnered an All-Star nod in July.

Fellow WNBA stars Kia Nurse, Diamond DeShields, Arike Ogunbowale and Isabelle Harrison were among the players to congratulate Diggins-Smith on Instagram after her pregnancy announcement.

“Ommmggg WOMENS NATIONAL BABY ASSOCIATION… oomggg moreeee babbiiessss,” Dearica Hamby tweeted. Hamby announced her own pregnancy after she helped the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA title.

The WNBA’s new CBA, signed in 2020, guarantees that players receive their salary while on maternity leave, plus an annual child-care stipend of $5,000.

The Phoenix Mercury will be without Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi for at least the first game of their first-round playoff series against the Las Vegas Aces, the team announced Tuesday.

For Wednesday’s opener, Taurasi continues to deal with a right quad injury, while Diggins-Smith is listed as not with the team for personal reasons.

Diggins-Smith has not played since an Aug. 4 loss to the Connecticut Sun – a loss that came on the same day that teammate Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony. A league source told The Next Hoops that Diggins-Smith is not expected to return for the playoffs.

While Diggins-Smith is still under contract next year, Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said the guard’s future in Phoenix in the playoffs and beyond is unclear.

“I’m not too sure right now,” Nygaard said. “We’re not sure what that looks like right now. But [going into the playoffs], we’re going to prepare with the group that we have. And you know, get ready for anything.”

Diggins-Smith recently was named to the AP’s All-WNBA Second Team after finishing third in the league in points per game (19.7), seventh in assists (5.5), eighth in steals (1.5) and ninth in blocks (1.0).

Phoenix Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard apologized on Friday for her comments about the All-Star game in which she said that it “will not be an All-Star Game because Diana Taurasi is not there.”

Her comments further raised eyebrows when Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith tweeted out a clown emoji – the latest in a series of heated exchanges between Diggins-Smith, Taurasi and Nygaard.

“Didn’t mean to take away from Sky or any of the other All-Stars,” Nygaard said on Friday. “Our team is super excited for Sky. I apologize if my comments took away from that. If it was the other way around, I would stick up for Sky as well.

“We’ve addressed it as a team and we’re moving forward.”

The comments about the All-Star game on Thursday had been a departure from prior comments made about Diggins-Smith’s selection. On Tuesday the guard was named as one of 12 reserves for the game, which will take place in Chicago.

Ahead of the Mercury’s win on Wednesday night, Nygaard had called Diggins-Smith’s All-Star selection a “tremendous accomplishment” and that she was “really, really happy for Skylar.”

“She’s been having a great year statistically across the board for us, and everything she does for us battling every single game, I’m really happy to see Skylar being named an All-Star,” she said. “It’s a great testament not just to her, but our team.”

The turmoil in Phoenix continues, with Skylar Diggins-Smith taking her most recent qualms to Twitter on Thursday.

Diggins-Smith responded to a tweet from the Phoenix Mercury’s official account of head coach Vanessa Nygaard commenting on teammate Diana Taurasi’s snub from the 2022 WNBA All-Star roster.

“She should be an All-Star and that there will be a game in Chicago, but it will not be an All-Star Game because Diana Taurasi is not there,” Nygaard said in the video of her press conference, to which Diggins-Smith responded with a clown emoji.

Diggins-Smith will be a part of the league’s All-Star Game after being named one of 12 reserves on Tuesday.

The social media callout comes after a series of heated exchanges this season between Diggins-Smith, Taurasi and Nygaard.

During a game in May, Taurasi and Diggins-Smith had to be separated by their teammates after a verbal disagreement escalated on the bench.

Last month, Skylar Diggins-Smith appeared disgruntled as she expressed her frustration to Nygaard during a game timeout.

In an unexpected turn of events, Tina Charles left the Mercury on Saturday via contract divorce after signing with the team in February. The star center, who had reportedly been unhappy with her role in Phoenix’s offense for most of the season, has since joined the Seattle Storm.

The Mercury, 9-12 and eighth in the league standings, have won three straight games since Charles’ departure.

A third of the way into the WNBA season, we have continued to see key signings, players activated to rosters, coaching changes and broken records.

The Las Vegas Aces have earned the top spot in this week’s JWS Power Rankings following a dominating win over the Los Angeles Sparks in their only game last week. The Aces are still without Jackie Young as she recovers from an ankle injury, but they have not skipped a beat on offense, leading the league in scoring at 91 points per game.

The Seattle Storm have now won three in a row, and yet it still doesn’t feel like they have reached their full potential. Meanwhile, not much seemed to change for the Sparks after they parted ways with Derek Fisher as head coach and general manager. In their first game under interim coach Fred Williams, the Sparks were routed by the Aces and fell to ninth in the league standings at 5-8. This team has the sheer talent to turn its season around, but finding stability and chemistry is the first step toward righting the ship.

The New York Liberty are getting reinforcements and looking more like a contender every day. Marine Johannès, added to the roster last week, gives the Liberty another playmaker and scoring option in the backcourt. Sabrina Ionescu became the first player in WNBA history to record a triple-double in just three quarters against the Chicago Sky on Sunday, giving her the second triple-double of her career and growing confidence as the franchise player many predicted her to be.

In Minnesota, the bad news keeps coming for the Lynx, who will be without Sylvia Fowles indefinitely due to a cartilage injury in her right knee. Minnesota heads into a new week on a three-game losing streak and last in the WNBA standings at 3-11. In better news for the team, Damiris Dantas has returned and Nikolina Milić continues to play well, finishing with 23 points in the Lynx’s heartbreaking loss to the Fever on Sunday.

Mercury: Taurasi and Diggins-Smith elevate their play

After raising the alarm bells with seven straight losses, the Phoenix Mercury have now won three in a row. The streak would be four if not for their heartbreaking 92-88 loss to the Connecticut Sun on June 3, when Phoenix was in control but the Sun stormed back down the stretch to take the game. As challenging as this season has been for the Mercury without superstar Brittney Griner, they seem to have found a bit of a rhythm that’s allowed them to grind out wins.

What’s changed? Offensively, the Mercury are averaging 90 points in their last three games compared to 79.8 points in their first 10. Much of that can be attributed to the increased production from Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi (who earlier in the season drew attention for other reasons, having to be separated after getting into a skirmish on the Mercury bench in May).

Diggins-Smith, leading the team with 19.2 points per game, has increased her output from 17.1 points to 24.6 points per game in Phoenix’s last three wins. After missing a pair of games with an illness, Diggins-Smith has raised her intensity, determined to do whatever it takes to keep Phoenix in the win column.

The same can be said for Diana Taurasi, who celebrated her 40th birthday last week. The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer continues to show us why she is arguably the greatest player in league history.

Below, we compare Taurasi’s numbers in the Mercury’s last four games versus the early-season stretch that included their seven-game skid. Not only is Taurasi playing more minutes now, but the Mercury have also increased their pace of play and are finding ways to get Taurasi more shot attempts.

Last four games vs. first nine games

Points per game: 23.5 — 13.2
Minutes per game: 35.0 — 28.8
Shot attempts: 16.2 — 10.6
3-point shot attempts: 10.5 — 7.3

Here is a look at a quick action Phoenix will run in the half court out of the high post between Taurasi and Diggins-Smith. It forces defenses to pick their poison between the pair and gives Diggins-Smith the ability to isolate one-on-one against a switch. Diggins-Smith dumps the ball down to Taurasi and receives the quick pitch back. At the same time, Mercury center Tina Charles is looking to step in and screen for Taurasi cutting away from the ball, i.e. a flare screen.

In this scenario, the Mystics switch and Natasha Cloud is locked in on Taurasi as the flare screen is not actually set. Diggins-Smith briefly catches Alysha Clark on her heels, capitalizing on the defensive miscue with an open 3 and a crucial four-point play to help seal the game for the Mercury.

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While the Mercury are 10th in the league in scoring defense, allowing 86.5 points per game this season, they have improved slightly from 87.2 points per game allowed in their first 10 games to 84 in their last three. Phoenix’s ability to sustain this momentum will be tested on the road this week against the Mystics, Fever and Wings.

A frustrating stretch for the Dallas Wings

The Wings have lost five of their last six, including three in a row, after starting the season 5-2. Four of those five losses have come within six points or fewer.

Frustrations have seemed to mount during the stretch, with Arike Ogunbowale being issued a technical for kicking the scorer’s table against the Sparks and getting ejected for kicking a basketball into the stands on Sunday against the Storm. The Wings’ third-leading scorer, Marina Mabrey, has missed the last two games with a nose injury and health and safety protocols, and Satou Sabally went down with a knee injury mid-way through Sunday’s game.

Teaira McCowan has become increasingly involved in the Wings’ system over the last two weeks, averaging close to 13 minutes per game. Prior to that, the recently acquired 6-foot-7 center was playing only 7.5 minutes per game for Dallas. In the Wings’ loss to Seattle on Sunday, McCowan played a season-high 17 minutes and posted season-highs in points (13), rebounds (six), free throws made (7-for-7) and blocked shots (two).

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With McCowan on the floor, the Wings slow down a bit, forcing them to execute more intentionally in the half court and find ways to manufacture deep paint touches. McCowan grabbed five offensive rebounds for the Wings on Sunday, which led to the bulk of her scoring on putbacks.

With her size and strength, McCowan has the ability to duck in, establish two feet deep in the paint, turn and finish at the rim. Dallas should look to get the former No. 3 overall pick even more moving forward.

Week 6 Power Rankings

  1. Las Vegas Aces (11-2) +1
  2. Chicago Sky (9-4) +1
  3. Connecticut Sun (10-4) -2
  4. Seattle Storm (8-5) +1
  5. Washington Mystics (9-6) +1
  6. Atlanta Dream (7-6) -2
  7. Phoenix Mercury (5-8) +3
  8. Dallas Wings (6-7) -1
  9. New York Liberty (5-9) +2
  10. Los Angeles Sparks (5-8) -2
  11. Indiana Fever (4-12) +1
  12. Minnesota Lynx (3-11) -3

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

The Phoenix Mercury bench got heated Tuesday night during an 86-74 loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

During a media timeout, Skylar Diggins-Smith approached Diana Taurasi, who was sitting on the bench, and the two could be seen trading words. The players appeared agitated, and teammates stepped in to separate them.

At the time of the exchange, the Mercury were leading the Aces 38-32 in the second quarter.

Following the game, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard addressed the conflict between the two, saying that she would call it “passion.”

“People play sports with a lot of passion. We’re not the first team to have any kind of arguments or disagreements on the bench,” she said. “You’ve seen it throughout the NBA this season and other leagues. The players, they play hard, they play with passion. This is their lives, the game that they love.

“There’s a lot going on, our team has even more going on with the [Brittney Griner] situation, too. That isn’t something that goes away for us.

The Mercury led by as many as 12 points in the first half, taking a 36-26 lead following a Megan Gustafson 3-pointer. But as the Aces chipped away at that lead, tensions rose. Las Vegas scored 21 of the next 28 points to take a four-point lead early in the second half and didn’t trail again in the game.

Kelsey Plum had 20 points as all five of the Aces’ starters were in double-digits. Jackie Young had 19 points and four rebounds while Chelsea Gray added 14 points and nine rebounds. A’ja Wilson had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double.

Tina Charles led the Mercury with 17 points and nine rebounds. Diggins-Smith had 10 points, four rebounds and six assists, while Taurasi added eight points.

With the loss, the Mercury are now off to a 2-2 start to the season.

PUMA announced Tuesday that it has expanded the “She Moves Us” campaign, bringing on numerous star athletes including WNBA stars Skylar Diggins-Smith and Breanna Stewart.

Previously, the two had been involved in a fashion collection with the brand designed by June Ambrose.

The campaign is inspired and will be led by pop-star Dua Lipa and focuses on celebrating women “who have moved sports forward to inspire other women around the world.” Included amongst the list of athletes are golfer Tisha Alyn and Arsenal forward and English national teamer Nikita Parris.

Olivia Amato, Ingrid Engen, Fridolina Rolfö, Patricia Marmona, Naomi Schiff and Isadora Pacheco are also involved in the campaign.

“To me, She Moves Us, it’s like a community,” said Diggins-Smith. “I see it as a platform to inspire, a platform to educate, to empower, encourage women, to uplift women, to celebrate women, to showcase women, and our lifestyle and how sports and culture and values intertwine into those things.”

Through the campaign, She Moves Us hopes to empower young girls and women through inspirational stories. Additionally, joint efforts will be made by PUMA and those involved to help impact young girls and women’s rights globally.

“Sharing stories of success is all part of changing the narrative, especially in fields like sports and entertainment that have tended to amplify the accomplishments of men,” said Dua Lipa. “Women are already nailing it across the board and celebrating their achievements is exciting and empowering. It also encourages those rising up to aim for the stars.”

Skylar Diggins-Smith is going public.

The Phoenix Mercury guard announced a partnership with Public on Tuesday in an effort to bring to the forefront conversations about women’s pay equity, investing and money and help level the playing field off the court.

Diggins-Smith has long been an advocate for women’s sports, speaking out about the wage gap between the WNBA and the NBA and protections for athletes who are mothers. Diggins-Smith, 31, says her experience in the WNBA has been key to her financial literacy and understanding of investing.

Now, she wants to share that insight with others.

“My fellow players and I have thought a lot and spoken up about improving our pay equity,” she told Just Women’s Sports. “But I realized this is an important conversation to have off the court and outside of the sports world as well. Investing in the public markets can be a great way to build generational wealth, and women, and especially women of color, statistically invest less than men.”

As part of the partnership, Diggins-Smith will share her perspectives with the Public community through the company’s website, Public.com. She’ll also appear in a special edition of Public Live, the company’s live audio broadcast, to speak about her journey to the WNBA and her passion for helping women build wealth, both within and outside of the WNBA.

In conjunction with the announcement, Public is giving away free stock for fans of Diggins-Smith who start a portfolio on the platform and begin their investing journeys.

Diggins-Smith is partnering with Public partly because their community of investors is already diverse: Of the platform’s 1 million investors, 40 percent are women and 45 percent are people of color. She hopes to build on that foundation and help more women of color invest for the long term.

“It’s not about the quick financial wins. In the WNBA, we don’t make millions upfront,” she said. “I’ve been lucky to play with other inspiring women — small business owners, entrepreneurs, and women who have shared their own financial journeys and advice with me. I certainly lean on that network to continue learning and building my own financial literacy.”

In addition to her work within the Public community, Diggins-Smith will serve as an advisor to Public’s One Team, a program recently launched for NCAA student-athletes. The service brings financial literacy tools and training to student-athletes as they navigate the NCAA’s new interim policy allowing them to profit off of their name, image and likeness.

“The NIL opportunities are really exciting for student-athletes,” said Diggins-Smith, a former standout player at Notre Dame. “I wish I’d had that back in the day. I think it can be a great way for them to take ownership at a much earlier age and invest in their futures.

“The tough thing is navigating it all, but I am excited to share my own perspective as a college player who went pro through Public’s One Team program.”

Diggins-Smith’s profile and her financial literacy advice is available through Public’s app under @skylardigginssmith.