Tag: Skylar Diggins-Smith

Twitter reacts to Notre Dame’s embarrassing first half vs. Louisville

The Irish have been fed a jumbo slice of humble pie.

Notre Dame’s quest for perfection at home this season ended with an 86-64 loss to Louisville. However, the final score made the game seem much closer than it was. What if you were told that the Irish trailed, 31-3, after the first quarter and 54-15 at halftime? As crazy as it sounds for a game against two top-15 teams, that’s exactly what happened.

Twitter users soon caught wind of what was happening in South Bend and weighed in:

 

As if this wasn’t enough, it all happened on a day the Irish welcomed back Skylar Diggins-Smith:

Oh, and Notre Dame student Jerome Bettis was in attendance, too:

But through it all, the Irish fans somehow didn’t let Purcell Pavilion get quiet:

This game showed once and for all that while the Irish are back to being one of the better teams in the country, they haven’t returned to the elite status they enjoyed under Muffet McGraw. While that day might come soon enough, it hasn’t happened yet. Of course, a deep run in the NCAA Tournament might cause that thought to be revisited. Is anyone counting on that though?

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Watch: Skylar Diggins-Smith helps even up WNBA Finals

Skylar called game.

Skylar Diggins-Smith is no stranger to getting to the biggest stages in basketball.

At Notre Dame she helped lead the Irish to three Final Four appearances and played in two NCAA Championship games and she’s played in helped Team USA win gold in the summer Olympics.

Diggins-Smith now stars for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA who are playing in the league finals.  Trailing Chicago 1-0 in the series, the Mercury were in overtime in a game two they desperately needed to win.  Leading by three late in overtime Diggins-Smith put the game on ice.

With the series now even at one the teams head to Chicago for games three and four in the best-of-five.  Game three takes place Friday night.

Related:  The best still images of Skylar Diggins-Smith at Notre Dame

Skylar Diggins-Smith got so emotional when talking about making Olympic debut

Skylar Diggins-Smith is ready to go win a gold medal

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.

“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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Notre Dame in WNBA – Ogunbowale, Diggins-Smith, Earn All-WNBA Honors

Notre Dame stars from yesterday continue to tear up the track in the WNBA as a pair earned All-WNBA honors in recent days.

NEW YORK – Two Notre Dame women’s basketball alumnae earned All-WNBA honors over the weekend. 2019 Notre Dame graduate Arike Ogunbowale received a First Team nod, while 2013 graduate Skylar Diggins-Smith landed on the Second Team.

Ogunbowale earned her first All-WNBA award in just her second season. The Milwaukee native averaged a league-leading 22.8 points per game, thus claiming the 2020 WNBA Peak Award for scoring.

A 2019 WNBA All-Rookie Team selection, Ogunbowale scored at least 14 points in every game this season. She also recorded four games with at least 30 points, including a career-high of 39 against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 6.

Next, Diggins-Smith collected her fourth All-WNBA honor, previously being named in 2014, 2017 and 2018. The 5-9 guard, who did not play in 2019 following the birth of her son, averaged 17.7 points (seventh in the WNBA) and 4.2 assists (10th).

In honor of their accomplishments, each member of the All-WNBA First Team will receive $10,300 and each member of the Second Team will receive $5,150.

Below are the voting results for the 2020 All-WNBA Teams.

2020 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM

Position         Player, Team                                    1st Team     2nd Team      Total

Forward         A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas                         47                 0              235

Center            Candace Parker, Los Angeles            47                 0              235

Forward         Breanna Stewart, Seattle                     46                 1              233

Guard             Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago         43                 3              224

Guard             Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas                   29                 15           190

2020 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM

Position         Player, Team                                    1st Team     2nd Team      Total

Guard             Diana Taurasi, Phoenix                       12                 30           150

Forward         DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut          3                   40           135

Forward         Napheesa Collier, Minnesota             0                   41           123

Guard             Skylar Diggins-Smith, Phoenix           4                   27           101

Center            Myisha Hines-Allen, Washington       0                   20           60

— ND —

Pandora is launching UNINTERRUPTED …

Pandora is launching UNINTERRUPTED Radio, a brand new and exclusive station that features music selected by top NBA and WNBA players. With UNINTERRUPTED, listeners get access to the very soundtracks that top athletes listen to on and off the court, including those curated and used by LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Trae Young, A’ja Wilson, Draymond Green, Lonzo Ball, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tobias Harris, Angel McCoughtry and others.

WNBA announces return in Florida with ‘commitment to social justice’

While everyone is waiting on the NBA to finalize a plan to return the WNBA announced their plan to play in Florida on Monday.

While the NBA and the NBPA continue to finalize details about their own return to play later this summer, their WNBA counterparts announced on Monday a commitment to a return to play with a focus on ‘social justice,’ including full salaries paid to every player in the shortened season, which will be played on the IMG Academy campus in Bradenton, Florida, which is near Tampa.

“In our discussions with the league, we emphasized and they agreed that a strong commitment to a 2020 season will give the WNBA the chance to show the world that it’s taking the steps needed to secure our livelihood and well-being, while also providing the opportunity to amplify our collective voice,” said WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike in a press release from the WNBA.  “We have always been at the forefront of initiatives with strong support of #BlackLivesMatter, #SayHerName, the LGBTQ+ community, gun control, voting rights, #MeToo, mental health and the list goes on.  This is not only necessary from a humanitarian perspective, but it may be one of the biggest opportunities that this league has and will ever have.”

There were reports that some WNBA players were part of Kyrie Irving’s phone call on Friday questioning the merits of a restart, it appears that the union has agreed with the league to move forward with the 2020 season. Just like with the WNBA, a season doesn’t mean that every player will play and we’ve already seen Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore forego multiple seasons in committing her life to focus on freeing Jonathan Irons, a man she believes was wrongfully convicted, prior to the current political climate.

Per the WNBA’s release, the 12 WNBA teams will report to Bradenton for training camp in early July.

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The organization, called More Than a …

LeBron James and Maverick Carter helping fund ‘More Than a Vote’ non-profit

LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and several other athletes are hoping to combat voter suppression and apathy among Black voters.

LeBron James has been using his massive platform and the incredible attention paid to him to call attention to social justice issues, racism, a lack of equity in education, as well as national politics. But now LeBron James, with the help of his friend Maverick Carter, as well as other major sports figures like ESPN’s Jalen Rose, Atlanta’s Trae Young, and the WNBA’s Skylar Diggins-Smith, are starting a non-profit organization aimed at helping Black Americans get the vote out in larger numbers, whether it’s combating voter suppression or apathy, according to Jonathan Martin of the New York Times.

“Yes, we want you to go out and vote, but we’re also going to give you the tutorial,” Mr. James told the Times. “We’re going to give you the background of how to vote and what they’re trying to do, the other side, to stop you from voting.”

According to the report, James and Carter are going to put up the initial funding for the non-profit, which will not be designed to help any single party but to inspire, educate, and empower Black voters. On Tuesday, James discussed the topic of voter suppression after voters in predominantly black neighborhoods were forced to wait in long lines to vote.

While it’s far from the first time LeBron has waded into politics, it’s the first time that LeBron and his business partners have created an organization for explicitly political reasons.

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Skylar Diggins-Smith Traded to Phoenix in WNBA Blockbuster

“Players with Skylar’s skill set and ceiling don’t become available in free agency often” Mercury General Manager Jim Pittman said.

All-time Notre Dame great Skylar Diggins-Smith may not have won a national championship in her time with the Fighting Irish, but she’s easily one of the best to ever wear the blue, gold, green, white and whatever other colors that have been donned under Muffet McGraw.

Since graduating in 2013 Diggins has been starring in the WNBA where she is a two-time all WNBA first-team selection and a four-time All-Star.  She’s averaged 15.9 points and 4.9 assists for her career with Tulsa and Dallas (the team moved after the 2015 season).

Wednesday saw Diggins-Smith being traded from Dallas to the Phoenix Mercury where she will be part of their big three featuring herself, Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.

The cost for Diggins-Smith you ask?

Substansial.

Two of the first round draft picks Dallas gets back are the fifth and seventh overall in this upcoming WNBA Draft while the other is for the 2021 draft.

“Players with Skylar’s skill set and ceiling don’t become available in free agency often” Mercury General Manager Jim Pittman said.

Diggins-Smith did not play in 2019 after giving birth to her first child that April.

The Mercury begin their season on May 17 against the Seattle Storm.