Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins at forefront of next era for Seattle Storm
SEATTLE (AP) — Shortly before the Seattle Storm broke for training camp, veteran guard Skylar Diggins exuded some bravado when assessing the franchise’s roster ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
“Hell yeah I feel confident! Did you see our roster?” Diggins said. “But no, this is definitely the most talented roster I’ve been a part of in my 13 years, 11 on the court.”
As Diggins, 34, astutely noted, she’s been around the block. The six-time All-Star has laced her sneakers up for some stellar teams, and the Storm have the makings of being one, too. Seattle is off to a 3-2 start, which includes a commanding 20-point victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
“It’s a great combination of players,” Diggins said. “Everybody knows what they’re good at. Our spacing has been great. People have been picking up really quickly on things.”
Suffice to say, year two of Diggins partnering with fellow superstar Nneka Ogwumike and playing under coach Noelle Quinn has gone well so far. The first year of that power dynamic wasn’t too shabby, either; Diggins assisted on a Storm franchise-record 570 points, and Seattle qualified for the playoffs after missing them entirely and going 11-29 in 2023.
Still, the Storm were bounced by the Aces in the first round, leaving significant room for improvement in 2025.
Ogwumike, 34, who inked another one-year deal in February, feels increasingly comfortable in Seattle. She also believes the duo of her and Diggins can shepherd the Storm – which has won four WNBA championships – back to its previous heights.
“I think we can take it pretty far, especially because not only are we both here again, but we were both here for the first time last year,” Ogwumike said. “So, we have a very shared experience and kind of memory of what we did last year and how we want to build off of it.”
Diggins and Ogwumike have known one another for two decades, but were exclusively opponents rather than teammates prior to last year. They combined to average 31.8 points per game last season, a collective total that very well could increase considering longtime guard Jewell Loyd was traded to the Aces this offseason.
So far, Diggins and Ogwumike have combined to average 37.4 points per game. Unsurprisingly, their comfort in Quinn’s offensive system only increases by the day.
“It’s easy playing with good players,” Diggins said. “A lot of us are very confident in who we are as basketball players and what we can do. And so, we kind of learn how we can complement each other and use each other to get what we want.”
In many ways, these two WNBA staples represent the next era of Storm basketball, and that particularly became the case when Loyd was traded to the Aces in January following some turmoil. Loyd, though, was part of each of the past two Storm championship teams in 2018 and 2020 that were paced in large part by Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.
Sure, there’s a different core in the Emerald City these days, but there are some familiar faces from that string of success as well. Forward Alysha Clark is back in Seattle after five years away, and fellow forward Ezi Magbegor has only taken on a more prominent role since she was drafted in 2019.
Adding 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga and her 6-foot-6 frame to the mix doesn’t hurt matters, either, though she’s been slowly brought along in the early stages of the season.
“What really sealed the deal for what could potentially be a new era was (Malonga) getting drafted here,” Ogwumike said. “So, being able to be a part of a little bit of the history, but also the future too.”
As Diggins pointed out, there’s a solid mix of both accomplished and young WNBA players on the scene in Seattle. But the buck stops with both her and Ogwumike, the latter of whom was a WNBA champion in 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Diggins, meanwhile, is still seeking her first title — and joined the Storm in large part two winters ago because of her belief in the franchise’s capabilities.
“It’s always been a great landing spot for free agents and winning basketball,” Diggins said. “We just want to continue to build off our plus-14 win (improvement) season last year that we did and just continue to position us where we want to be, and that’s contending for a championship.”
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
By ANDREW DESTIN
AP Sports Writer
