Sep. 11 – No one expected Skylar Diggins-Smith to become the Seattle Storm’s single-season assists leader in her first year with the team.
But that’s the reality after Diggins-Smith replaced the legendary Sue Bird on Saturday. The Storm will look to add to their goal total when they visit the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday night.
Diggins-Smith posted a career-high 227 assists this season, surpassing Bird’s record of 221 assists set in 2003 and 2018.
“Shout out to Sue Bird — you obviously know what an impact she has had and will continue to have on our game and our league,” Diggins-Smith said. “She’s one of our shoulders and one of our pillars in this league, and I realize that.
“I don’t take it lightly to be in the same category, to say the same words, to breathe the same breath as him. Hopefully I can keep building after this.”
Smith outdid Bird with 12 points and 11 assists in a 90-66 home win over the Phoenix Mercury. It was her second double-double this season.
Seattle head coach Noel Quinn was teammates with Bird during five seasons and two tenures. He then served as an assistant coach and head coach for the final four seasons of Bird’s career, until Bird retired after the 2022 season.
“Anybody who comes to Seattle and knows they’re following a legend like Sue, it’s tough,” Quinn said. “Skye isn’t Sue, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s actually a great thing for this organization to have another point guard who is so good and so eager to continue the legacy.”
The Storm (21-14) arrived in Los Angeles having won just four of their previous 10 games.
The Sparks (7-29) have the league’s worst record and have lost five consecutive games. They didn’t even get a break after losing 86-66 to the visiting Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night.
“We’re going to continue to work hard to prepare,” Los Angeles coach Kurt Miller said afterward.
The Sparks led by 2 points in the first quarter and then fell behind by 28 points. Los Angeles shot 38.8 percent from the field, while Connecticut shot 53.2 percent.
“I didn’t push the right buttons for this team,” Miller said.
Azura Stevens grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. Her previous high was 15 points in an 89-83 loss to Seattle on July 16.
Rickia Jackson scored a team-high 16 points on Tuesday.
The Storm are 2-0 against the Sparks this season. The two teams will play again in Seattle on Sunday to begin the final week of the regular season.
–Visual-level media
