Skylar Diggins-Smith has been through so many ups and downs throughout her WNBA career, but through it all, she’s remained one of the best players in the world.
Now, that’s being finally recognized in the way it should. At 31 years old, Diggins-Smith will make her very first Olympic team.
And it’s well deserved! She’s been incredible so far in her second season with the Phoenix Mercury, averaging 18.7 points and 5.2 assists per game. She absolutely deserves a spot on the USA Basketball team.
The wild part is she didn’t expect to make the team. She didn’t even think about it.
She was asked about finally making the team in a press conference and got so emotional.
A teary-eyed @SkyDigg4, on competing in her first Olympics:
“I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of everything that I will be representing.”#wnba | #wnbatwitter pic.twitter.com/s1zvljzDEl
— Khristina Williams (@Khristina2334) July 2, 2021
“It didn’t even sink it. I got it out of my mind so I wouldn’t be disappointed. I knew that either way, I felt great with the product that I put on the floor. I used to overthink when I went to USA I just hated it because I just wanted to know, ‘OK, am I on the team already?’ And then it got stretched a year and I was like ‘Oh, perfect.’ But just training. I remember all the work that I put in with everybody. That was something I would manifest. I would say it out loud…I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of everything I’m representing.”
She continued on to talk about the difficulties she’ll face being away from her son for so long. But she said she’s ready for the challenge and motivated to do whatever it takes to win.
“I want to be ready. I want to do whatever I’ve got to do for us to win. This s*** means a lot to me. I’m 31. I’m the youngest rookie, probably, ever, but I worked my ass off to get here. And I’m looking forward to getting gold.”
Yeah, I’m ready to run through a brick wall.
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