Watch: Skylar Diggins-Smith Swears at Chelsea Gray in Storm 90-83 Win vs Las Vegas Aces

Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray showed a textbook example of the amount of trash talking that happens in WNBA games.

Watch: Skylar Diggins-Smith Swears at Chelsea Gray in Storm 90-83 Win vs Las Vegas Aces

Chelsea Gray, Skylar Diggins-Smith (FS Image)

When the Las Vegas Aces took on Seattle in the 2024 WNBA playoffs, the Aces came out victorious. But since then, both teams have changed quite a few of their rotation members. Their point guards, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray, were once teammates on Team USA Basketball at the Tokyo Olympics. But there seems to be no love lost between the two of late, judging from how the former taunted Gray.

Chelsea Gray had a slow start to the 2024 WNBA season. She was recovering from a hip injury suffered during the offseason. Many believes that the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces would be back in full form when she returned. However, she hasn’t been close to her best self since taking the court for the Olympics team last year. Her reduced impact was a reason why the Aces lost to the Liberty in the playoffs.

Gray has had a full offseason to recover form, and has shown flashes of her best self. But after five weeks, it is clear that Gray is now on the back half of her prime. She hasn’t had a signature performance as either a playmaker or a scorer this year. To add insult to injury, her arch rival Skylar Diggins-Smith had a play when she forced a turnover off Gray in traffic.

This play took place in the third quarter of the Storm’s game against the Aces on Friday night. The five-time All-Star had Gray by the hip, forcing her to dribble into traffic. Gray’s handle betrayed her as she lost control, before knocking it out of bounds for a loss of possession. Skylar Diggins-Smith then looked away after walking away animatedly, chirping and calling Chelsea Gray a ‘fat f***’.

Diggins-Smith won her matchup by a large margin on the night. The former No. 1 pick had 24 points and six assists. She went 8-17 from the field and made two of her three 3-point attempts. Chelsea Gray, on the other hand, had only seven points and seven assists. She went 2-7 from the field and was targeted on defense due to her reduced lateral mobility.

Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray are being passed by the new guard

One of the reasons why the Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces seem a cut below the likes of Minnesota and New York this season is the fact that their offenses are run by two traditional point guards. Both Skylar Diggins-Smith and Chelsea Gray are capable of playing score-first. But neither of them are efficient at their style. Their tendencies are always to be pass-first players – something that has allowed both long and successful careers.

Team USA Wins Gold in Women's 3V3 Basketball
Team USA won gold at Tokyo 2021 (Getty)

But the WNBA has now had an explosion of offensive powerhouse guards. Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are both great playmakers, but also alphas who can be score-first players. They have often taken control as their teams’ go-to options and taken over games with their scoring at the pro level. Older guards like Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum also aggressively look for their own shots and put pressure on defenses.

Both the Storm and the Aces have well-rounded rosters on paper, with players willing to move the ball. But playoff basketball is about being able to get buckets on your own matchup, and both Diggins and Gray are now not the players they used to be. While the Storm are currently on a roll and in play to top the West, they will only be at their best when Diggins is aggressively scoring, as she was on Friday night.

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