Why Skylar Diggins-Smith joining Unrivaled Basketball League matters

The list of WNBA stars slated to participate in the Unrivaled Basketball League continues to grow. On Thursday, the league’s official social media accounts announced that Seattle Storm point guard Skylar Diggins-Smith will head to Miami during the WNBA offseason to participate in the brand-new 3x3 league for the sport’s top players.

Unrivaled is set to launch in January, run for 8 weeks, and include 30 of the WNBA best players — 17 of whom have already been announced. The league was founded by stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, and offers a minimum salary of $100,000, along with player equity. It will include six teams with five players each, and 3x3 games will be played on a compressed full court for four quarters.

Diggins-Smith is a six-time All-Star (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022) and has been named to the All-WNBA team six times as well. She’s one of the few veteran stars who have historically not played overseas during the WNBA offseason. For her career, she’s averaged 16.4 points and 5.1 assists per game.

This season, she’s averaging 13.8 points and 6.5 assists per game. The Storm are 19-11, good for fourth overall in the WNBA standings. Earlier this week, Diggins-Smith blasted her team’s effort in a loss to the Mystics.

For one, Skylar Diggins-Smith is a great get given the fact she’s consistently been one of the most prolific guards in the WNBA over the past decade. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Tokyo, and is already 33rd leading scoring in WNBA history.

Additionally, at age 34, Diggins-Smith becomes the oldest player to join Unrivaled (so far). Her participating indicates that Unrivaled may include other league veterans — not just the game’s young stars. Older WNBA All-Stars like Alyssa Thomas (age 32), DeWanna Bonner (age 37), Diana Taurasi (age 42), and Brittney Griner (age 33) have yet to publicly commit to Unrivaled. But, Diggins-Smith’s participation could signal that the older generation of stars will in fact partake in the the new offseason league.

Also of note is that throughout her WNBA tenure, Diggins-Smith was one of few stars who never played overseas. Now, she’s capitalizing on the opportunity to stay in the U.S. during the winter, while still getting the chance to build her brand domestically and compete at a high level. The fact that Diggins-Smith even has the opportunity to play in Unrivaled highlights just how much the landscape around professional women’s basketball has changed in the U.S.

With Diggins-Smith’s addition, 17 WNBA players have now committed to playing in Unrivaled this winter.

Over the coming weeks, 13 more players will be revealed as the league gears up to begin in January. Three of the players yet to be announced will be rookies, according to Napheesa Collier. Unrivaled also seemed to hint that a retired player could be in the mix.