Skylar Diggins Got Her Lick Back; No Call, No Parking Pass, No Mercy

Skylar Diggins-Smith pulled up to Climate Pledge Arena looking like someone who hadn’t forgotten a damn thing.

Not the disrespect.

Not the rehab rumors.

Not the way Phoenix let her rot on the shelf while her son turned one and her prime ticked away like a shot clock.

And then she dropped 24 points and 14 assists—tying Sue Bird’s franchise record—on the same team that ghosted her.

Seattle 77, Phoenix 70. But the scoreboard doesn’t do it justice. This wasn’t just a home opener. This was Skylar’s ghost story, and the Mercury were trapped in the haunted house.

THE REVENGE TOUR’S FIRST STOP

It was only a week ago that Phoenix punked the Storm by 22 in the desert. Seattle couldn’t buy a bucket that night—59 points, lowest total in four years.

And Diggins? She was still shaking off rust, trying to get back in rhythm.

Fast-forward to Friday, and she was in full maestro mode.

Pull-up jumpers. Cross-court lasers. Last-two-minutes lock-in.

Seattle scored the final seven points of the game. Skylar hit the go-ahead jumper. Then she fed Nneka Ogwumike for back-to-back layups, including the record-tying assist that probably made Sue Bird smile from whatever fashion tunnel she was strutting through.

“Any time you’re mentioned in the same sentence as Sue Bird that’s a really big deal,” Diggins said. “It just goes to show how much talent I have around me. Noey is putting us in the right spot and everybody in positions to be successful. It means a lot, especially with a decorated franchise. It’s why I came here. Just looking up to people like Sue Bird and trying to continue that legacy. But it shows the special group that we have. When you play with great players, you have a lot of options to pass it to.”

Then Skylar hit the final free throw to bury it. A three-possession game. Game, set, “you should’ve re-signed me.”

NNEKA’S THE TRUTH TOO

Speaking of Ogwumike—24 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Clean. Ruthless. Clinical. Nneka’s game is butter and bricks: smooth touch, hard elbows, quiet dominance. She kept Seattle steady when the offense sputtered, then sealed it when Skylar threw her the kill shot.

She’s averaging 22.3 points on 65% shooting through three games. If you’re not watching her in Seattle, you’re doing basketball wrong.

SEATTLE GOT THE STOPS WHEN IT MATTERED

Monique Akoa Makani—the Mercury’s rookie who plays like she aced every midterm and then dropped 14 on your head—tied the game at 70 with under five to go. But Phoenix didn’t score again. Zero field goals in the final 4:46. Two turnovers. Six straight misses.

Seattle’s defense buckled down. Diggins got a block at the rim. So did Ogwumike. Ezi Magbegor cleaned up everything on the back line like she had something to prove after that season opener.

“It’s our team’s commitment to the goal that they’ve set to be a really good defensive team in this league,” coach Noelle Quinn said. “We have really good defensive players. When I’m coming to them in timeouts, they’re constantly communicating, constantly taking accountability for a lot of things. By the time I’m sitting there, it’s just about adjustments or whatever. This group is really bought in.”

“When you play with great defensive players, I have to step up to the plate,” Diggins said. “I don’t have to be the best defender in our lineup.”

“It’s crazy that she’s not been on an all-defensive team in this league,” Quinn added. “It’s crazy because she’s the head of the snake. She’s guarding multiple actions and multiple (players), and she really sets the tone and the table for us.”

No Sue. No Stewie. No Jewell. Doesn’t matter. This team can still strangle you in the halfcourt.

SKYLAR’S NOT JUST BACK. SHE’S HUNTING.

The narrative wanted to move on. It made space for Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Sabrina Ionescu and every new face the league could slap on a billboard.

But Skylar Diggins-Smith isn’t done. She’s not a nostalgia act. She’s not here to smile and retire gracefully. She’s here to torch you. To break your ankles and your PR strategy.

To beat her former team while tying Sue Bird’s record in front of a sold-out Seattle crowd and barely break a sweat doing it.

She played 37 minutes. She missed nearly two years and still played 37 minutes like she never left. There’s no minute restriction. No training wheels. Just buckets.

And there’s context.

Diggins spent three seasons with the Mercury from 2020 to 2022. Then sat out the 2023 season after giving birth. That relationship didn’t just sour—it spoiled.

“Phoenix had been trying to trade me because I had a moment with the star player,” Diggins told ESPN in 2023. “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.”

That’s not just disrespect. That’s organizational rot. And Skylar didn’t forget.

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK. CALL IT A CORRECTION.

This wasn’t just a win for Seattle. It was a reset. The league tried to bury Skylar. Friday night, she put the whole damn league on notice.

If you’re the Mercury, you’re kicking yourself.

If you’re the Storm, you’re grinning like a villain.

And if you’re anyone else?

You better get your perimeter defense in order.