June 8, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET
Skylar Diggins‘ frustrations with the Chicago Sky are reaching a boiling point.
Chicago began the season with a 4-1 record and looked like it had turned the corner from a disappointing 2025 season. Unfortunately, after a hot start, the team lost newcomer Rickea Jackson for the season to an ACL tear in her left knee. Since Jackson’s injury, the team has lost six of its last seven, including an 85-68 loss to Toronto on June 7.
Following the Tempo game, Diggins and teammate Azurá Stevens took roughly four minutes of media availability. While Diggins did answer questions, there was a clear curtness to her answers as she sat with her sweatshirt hood over her head and her hand on her face.
“We gotta have more maturity and more leadership on and off the floor,” Diggins said. “If it was just versus one team, I’d understand that, but now it’s been struggles. That’s a trend of ours. It’s disappointing. Really is. It’s frustrating.
“The games ain’t gonna slow down, and teams gone keep getting better and better around us, so we gotta figure out how we’re gonna turn this corner here. It’s been an extremely frustrating experience.”
Diggins and Stevens were asked about Chicago’s execution of its half-court offense and what the message was to the team at halftime, but Diggins sidestepped the questions. The Sky veteran told on-site media to ask head coach Tyler Marsh about those topics.
Later, Stevens was asked about the Sky’s rebounding efforts. She gave her thoughts, and then Diggins jumped in, expressing more frustration while placing some of the weight of Chicago’s woes on her shoulders.
“Rebounding’s pretty simple. Just gotta turn and hit your man,” Stevens said. “I don’t know. It’s pretty much effort. I don’t think there’s a lot of skill behind rebounding. Just gotta hit your man and push back.”
“Like (Azurá) said, effort all around needs to go up, and we have to get out of that loser mentality that we have,” Diggins added.
“‘Aw, here it goes again. Here it comes again.’ You know, we’re pros. We have to all step up being pros, starting with myself and figure it out because the games are gonna keep coming … That’s a heart thing, and that’s what we lack right now.”
