Speak trustworthy.
Phoenix Mercury veteran Skylar Diggins-Smith apparently believes her own coach, Vanessa Nygaard, offended her in her recent comments about the WNBA All-Star Game.
“I reiterate that [Diana Taurasi] should be an All-Star,” Nygaard said after Phoenix defeated Indiana, 99-78, on Wednesday, a day after Diggins-Smith was named an All-Star for the July 10 Chicago festivities. Chicago, but it won’t be an all-star game because Diana Taurasi won’t play.
Diggins-Smith retweeted the video, tweeted by her own team, with a clown emoji on Thursday, indicating she took her trainer’s comments personally.
The Mercurys have since deleted their tweet.
During his pre-match availability, Nygaard a dit she’s “really, really happy” that Diggins-Smith was named All-Star, adding that it was a “great testament” for her to earn the honor.
Diggins-Smith, who signed with Mercury in 2020, was named All-Star last season, along with Taurasi. Her cryptic clowning tweet follows a tense exchange on the pitch between her and Taurasi on the bench in May.
The veteran stars had to be separated by their teammates when tempers flared during a timeout late in the first half of Phoenix’s 86-74 loss to the Aces. It’s unclear what led up to the fiery moment, in which cameras captured Diggins-Smith fuming on the bench before Taurasi got up from his seat and faced each other.
9-12 Mercury is also playing without star center Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February 17 after Russia’s Federal Customs Service claimed they found hash oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.
Griner, whose trial is ongoing, was arrested a week before Russia invaded Ukraine. The WNBA player appeared in court near Moscow on Friday on charges of drug trafficking, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The second trial hearing will take place on July 7.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in May that he was working “side by side” with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to try to bring Griner home.
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