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Kevin Pelton
It was a play practically 20 years within the making.
With 6.1 seconds remaining and the rating knotted at 82, the Seattle Storm took a timeout. Within the huddle, coach Noelle Quinn referred to as a play for Skylar Diggins to take the final shot.
However because the guard walked onto the courtroom, she instructed teammate Nneka Ogwumike that the Washington Mystics had been aggressively defending pick-and-rolls. If Ogwumike went early and slipped the display screen as an alternative, she’d be open.
That is the way it performed out moments later within the Aug. 24 victory. Diggins discovered Ogwumike, who freed herself for a successful jumper from the free throw line.
It was the type of play the longtime pals envisioned after they lastly teamed up on the Storm in 2024 free company. It was the type of play they’d performed collectively years earlier at USA Basketball camps.
“Very potent pick-and-roll since teenage years,” Diggins instructed ESPN.
Their pairing the previous two seasons in Seattle has helped each gamers keep at an All-Star degree of their mid-30s. However because the Storm face an elimination recreation Tuesday (9:30 p.m., ESPN2) in opposition to the Las Vegas Aces and former teammate Jewell Loyd within the first spherical of the WNBA playoffs, Diggins and Ogwumike are nonetheless trying to translate their partnership into the staff success they anticipated.
“Within the quick time that we have been collectively, we have been by way of so much,” Ogwumike instructed ESPN. “Going by way of these instances of adversity, you find yourself leaning so much on one another, and I am simply hoping that I can present no matter help that’s mandatory for us to not simply get by way of these instances however to sit up for having extra constant wins and the way in which that we wish to really feel.”
DIGGINS AND OGWUMIKE do not fairly keep in mind after they first crossed paths. There was a Nike camp in Portland, Oregon, and so they had been each stars on the AAU circuit. However they made a memorable mark on one another whereas taking part in for USA Basketball.
“I used to be similar to, ‘I gotta step my recreation up,'” Ogwumike stated of her first impression of Diggins. “I do not suppose I had ever seen anybody that aggressive. … With Sky, it is all or nothing. It does not matter who’s in entrance of her. I simply keep in mind being in Colorado Springs and eager to be on her staff each time as a result of it is very uncommon to search out those that wish to win in any respect prices.”
Diggins had equal reward for Ogwumike.
“She simply performed like a professional,” Diggins stated. “She at all times appeared like a girl amongst women, anyplace she was at. Not a lot has modified in 20 years. How she moved on the ground, how electrical and dynamic she was as a participant. That is not one thing you see fairly often.”
They had been teammates for the primary time on the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 championships. A yr later, they helped the USA win the FIBA U19 World Cup in Thailand as starters, with Ogwumike placing up 22 factors and 20 rebounds in opposition to Spain within the last.
By then, their paths had already parted for faculty. Ogwumike, coming off her freshman season at Stanford, was on the cusp of changing into an All-American. Diggins was tempted to affix her in Palo Alto, the place Ogwumike hosted her official go to. All they will share about that weekend is that it was loads of enjoyable.
Diggins bought into Stanford, the place Ogwumike stated she “match proper in,” however in the end selected Notre Dame, saying she wanted to remain nearer to house in Indiana.
“I liked [Stanford],” Diggins stated. “If it wasn’t thus far. … It was an ideal scenario for Nneka after which it was an ideal scenario for me [at Notre Dame]. We did all the pieces to the eleventh hour to attempt to make it work.
“Ever since then, we had at all times been making an attempt to see if the timing labored for us exterior of USAB and people camps, if there was a risk that perhaps sooner or later we might play with one another.”
DRAFTED INTO THE WNBA a yr aside — Ogwumike No. 1 by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2012, Diggins No. 3 by the Tulsa Shock as a part of the star-studded “Three to See” 2013 draft — the 2 stored in contact and mused about teaming up as their careers blossomed.
Diggins hit free company in 2020 and requested a commerce from her staff, which had moved to Dallas and turn out to be the Wings. She was among the many first star gamers to reap the benefits of the alternatives to alter groups created by the WNBA collective bargaining settlement that Ogwumike was key to negotiating as president of the WNBPA. However the timing wasn’t proper for partnering.
Ogwumike’s Sparks, who had misplaced within the semifinals the yr earlier than, had a loaded roster that included All-Star level guard Chelsea Gray. Diggins as an alternative landed with the Phoenix Mercury to kick off the WNBA’s superteam period, becoming a member of Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi.
As each Diggins and Ogwumike approached free company 4 years later, the scenario was totally different. Diggins had already publicly cut up from the Mercury whereas sitting out the earlier season on maternity go away. Ogwumike was prepared for a change after watching Grey and Candace Parker depart Los Angeles in free company, leaving the Sparks mired within the lottery her last three seasons.
Diggins, who had thought-about Seattle a possible touchdown spot if Phoenix traded her in 2023 and constructed a relationship with Quinn, was the primary to signal on whereas Ogwumike determined between the Storm and New York Liberty.
Diggins spent that interval “calling her day by day and saying, ‘I am respecting your course of,’ however nonetheless calling her each single day,” she stated. “Everyone needs Nneka on their staff. If she was free, 10 groups would nonetheless ask for Nneka to at the present time.”
Mentioned Ogwumike: “I might say that Skylar was undoubtedly extra positive of the place she needed to go earlier than I got here right here. I used to be nonetheless making an attempt to combat the misperception that I used to be being disloyal as a result of I had been at that franchise for thus lengthy.
“As soon as I used to be in a position to go away that, I used to be actually in a position to perceive, ‘OK, I’ve alternatives.’ Not solely did I’ve alternatives, however I had the possibility to play with somebody who I take into account my sister, to play for those who have additionally been part of my life rising into this basketball profession.”
Enjoying collectively has solely strengthened that bond.
“You will see Nneka on the airplane holding my daughter and placing her to sleep,” Diggins stated. “No different girl on this world exterior of my mom can say that. I belief her with my youngsters. She’s considered one of my easiest pals on this world. You do not get loads of these on this league. Quite a lot of us cross paths, however to have the ability to join and keep related for that lengthy, it is a rarity and one thing that I undoubtedly do not take without any consideration.”
Now in very totally different phases of their lives than after they first met — Diggins grimaces for impact when she acknowledges they’ve gone from pals as youngsters by way of their 20s and now into their 30s — they proceed to search out their values overlap.
“It is superb when you may share the identical self-discipline and aggressive edge as any individual,” Ogwumike stated, “however then when you’re on the staff with them and it is somebody that I take into account like my sister as effectively, it virtually feels prefer it prompts one thing inside me that I did not know that I had or perhaps that I used to be scared to faucet into.
“She brings out type of the perfect in my potential.”
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Skylar Diggins with the ring & hurt
Skylar Diggins with the ring & hurt
THE INDIVIDUAL GREATNESS of Diggins and Ogwumike is tough to disclaim, and their connection has stored them each among the many finest within the WNBA. The Storm generated 372 factors out of Diggins-Ogwumike pick-and-rolls, which ranked fifth most of any mixture within the league this season, per GeniusIQ monitoring.
For Ogwumike, her 18.3 scoring common was the fourth-best in her WNBA profession. And Diggins has averaged at the least 6.0 assists each seasons in Seattle, having beforehand performed so solely as soon as (2018). Each gamers are making historical past. Ogwumike is as much as sixth on the league’s all-time scoring leaderboard — with No. 5 Tamika Catchings in her sights — and seventh in profession rebounds. Diggins has climbed to eighth in assists regardless of sitting out two full seasons due to maternity go away.
But the staff success they anticipated hasn’t adopted. And to maintain this season’s championship dream alive, they will must undergo their former teammate Loyd and the Aces.
“You will see Nneka on the airplane holding my daughter and placing her to sleep. No different girl on this world exterior of my mom can say that. I belief her with my youngsters. She’s considered one of my easiest pals on this world.”
Skylar Diggins on Nneka Ogwumike
When Diggins and Ogwumike met with Seattle reporters in February 2024 after signing their contracts, they did not hesitate to debate the goal of winning championships. Though Loyd wasn’t on stage, these lofty expectations had been largely as a result of Diggins and Ogwumike had been becoming a member of Loyd as a part of a Seattle superteam.
The lone holdover starter from the Storm’s 2018 and 2020 title groups that featured Sue Chook and Breanna Stewart, Loyd performed a key position in serving to recruit Diggins — her teammate as a freshman at Notre Dame — and Ogwumike. A yr later, Loyd is on the opposite aspect of Seattle’s collection with the Aces.
A promising begin to 2024, which noticed Seattle enter the Olympic break tied for the league’s third-best document at 17-8, got here aside amid Loyd’s unhappiness with how her position developed. Per league sources and first reported by the Seattle Times, Loyd requested the Storm to fireplace Quinn after the staff’s first-round sweep in opposition to Las Vegas. Diggins and Ogwumike supported Quinn maintaining her job.
“You wish to go to battle with individuals like that which have your again it doesn’t matter what, that maintain the principle factor the principle factor,” Quinn instructed ESPN. “Not saying it is at all times excellent or fairly — we’re a household and we undergo the ups and downs of that — however on the finish of the day, they’re superb individuals. Basketball is the icing on the cake. The best way that they’ve had my again by way of all of it, it is honorable and it simply makes me wish to go tougher for them.”
After an investigation into Loyd’s allegations of bullying and harassment by the Seattle teaching workers uncovered no violations of staff coverage, she requested a trade. The Storm despatched Loyd to the Aces in a three-team deal that netted the No. 2 decide on this yr’s draft, used on promising 19-year-old heart Dominique Malonga.
Regardless of the lack of Loyd, Diggins declared at media day that Seattle’s was “undoubtedly probably the most proficient roster I have been part of in my 13 years,” together with the 2021 Mercury squad she helped result in the WNBA Finals.
That appeared affordable at first of August. The Storm had a league-high three All-Stars, with Gabby Williams becoming a member of Diggins and Ogwumike in Indianapolis. Tied for fourth within the standings to start out the month, Seattle dropped six consecutive video games and ended up needing to win its season finale to safe a playoff spot.
Sunday’s lopsided loss was a bitter capsule for the Storm. According to HerHoopStats.com, the 33 factors by which Seattle was outscored with Ogwumike on the courtroom was the worst plus-minus of her WNBA profession, common season or playoffs. It left the Storm needing a win Tuesday to maintain their season, and maybe this period, going.
As she tries to keep away from elimination, Diggins would not need anybody else however Ogwumike by her aspect.
“I am good so long as I am along with her, you recognize what I am saying?” she stated. “For the remainder of my profession.”
