Newly acquired All-Star guard Skylar Diggins quickly emerging as team leader for Chicago Sky
After wrapping up the short two-game pre-season on Wednesday night, it was time to pose for the camera for the Chicago Sky on media day on Thursday.
One of the team's newest additions is bringing some extra focus to Photoshop last year's less-than-picture-perfect 10-win finish.
Seven-time All-Star Skylar Diggins has only been with the Sky for about three weeks, but it's clear she's already one of the leaders of the team.
"You take those rookies and say, 'Go girl,' like, two weeks after their season. But, you know, we have such a young group, and so I think my role in this team, a lot of questions asked towards me, a lot of eyes looking. We understand it's the honeymoon phase still. When we start the games, I might be a little more intense up here, but for right now it's feel good," she said.
Newly acquired forward Rickea Jackson said Diggins is "just a dog."
"You literally walk in the room and you feel her aura, you feel her energy, and she's not afraid to let it be known. I love to play with players like that, that's just confident in themselves," she said. "Learning with Skylar, building with her, I feel like has been fun thus far."
As Sky center Kamilla Cardoso, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2024, enters her third season, head coach Tyler Marsh said she can be one of the elite bigs in the WNBA. Cardoso thinks taking that step up is about self-belief.
"My teammates and my coaches, they always telling me how much they trust and believe in me. So I think that's something I've got to also start believing in myself and just go out there and do what my teammates need me to do to win games, because that's the main goal for me right now. I just want to win," she said.
Five-time All-Star guard Courtney Vandersloot is still working her way back from a torn ACL suffered last June. She said she's feeling really good, but didn't want to put any date on a return other than she will be playing this season.