“Sylar is a player we have coveted for years. We are ecstatic to bring her to Chicago.’’— Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca
‘‘Diggins is the kind of player who elevates everyone around her. . . . [She] is a true veteran leader. . . . I can’t wait to work with her.’’ — Sky coach Tyler Marsh.
You can already see where this is going, right? Saw this coming four months ago, correct? And now we’re here. Trapped in another inertia. Sky v. ‘‘Sky,’’ Episode 1.
In the news release from April 11, when Skylar Diggins signed with the Sky and those words above were spoken about her, a new page had turned. The authors were different, subjects and subject matter different. The season started. Different. But we all knew (they did, too) how hard it was going to be for both of them to not be their same. It was just a matter of who was going to be themselves first.
****
‘‘That’s a Tyler question. Ask Tyler.’’ — Skylar Diggins
In the media availability June 7, after a 17-point loss to the first-year team from Toronto, Diggins swung. Seemed like a miss. No contact. Then the hit. A month later. ‘‘Now I’m coming off the bench?????? Cool.’’ Followed by the ever-so, not-so-subtle facetiousness: ‘‘And the crazy part about it all is I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been so good and quiet. I’ve been so good and quiet.’’
It was the dripping sarcasm in the third mention of the word ‘‘quiet’’ that hit the hardest. That was the one that woke everyone up not just to Skylar being Skylar but, more acutely, with the Sky quietly being who they’ve been as an organization for years and living up to their toxic reputation behind the curtains.
Because ‘‘Sky’s’’ second and third swings had nothing to do with the Sky’s handling of her benching. She was echoing every Elena Delle Donne-Kahleah Copper-Marina Mabrey-James Wade-Angel Reese voice from the past who at some point have said the quiet part about the Sky out loud. Skylar just happened to be the one who has said it last and sooner than all of the others who also regrettably have been associated with
Michael Alter’s franchise.
Maitreyi Anantharaman of defector.com straight center circled it in an extremely fair assessment of the Sky vs. Skylar situationship, while writing directly to Skylar: ‘‘Be careful trusting the Chicago Sky.’’
There always seems to be something surrounding this team, also always (seems to be) something surrounding this player. ‘‘Trying to make something shake’’ is how Skylar put it when she got here, speaking on what her basketball intentions were. Funny how ‘‘shake’’ and ‘‘shake up’’ can have two totally different meanings.
Only 3½ games out of the No. 8 seed entering play Friday. Nothing’s close to over, but somehow, right now, it feels like it is. And this ‘‘unserious organization’’ (Andraya Carter, ESPN) ain’t helpin’. Still, the Sky and sky have yet to fall.
The two factors working at the center of the Sky/Skylar misery are the unexpectedness of Rickea Jackson’s injury and the practice-facility relapse. The Sky’s inability to grow or even truly find themselves as a team this season can both be directly attached to those two [sic] ‘‘misfortunes.’’
† Jackson’s ACL tear in the fourth game of the season came out of nowhere (the Sky were 3-1 at the time, with Jackson averaging 22 points per game), and it was remarkably on-brand that the Sky were neither prepared for it nor have found a way to handle it since it happened.
† The continual failed promises and setbacks of an opening of the $60 million ‘‘Sky Town’’ complex that has forced the team to use Wintrust Arena, UIC and Loyola University as off-game homes eliminated any chance of this team finding any semblance of stability.
Forcing them to be literally superstar-less and technically homeless at the same time. A recipe for an inevitable clash between the outspoken and the inept. So as we look at the Sky’s history and Skylar’s history as the arguable reasons why they are where they are with one another, the fact is, those outside factors probably have as much to do with what’s falling apart for the Sky and Skylar as anything.
****
‘‘Players and coaches [alone] don’t win championships; organizations do.’’
— Former Bulls GM Jerry Krause
A term my nephew likes to use is ‘‘circumstantial grace.’’ So I ask, should there be circumstantial grace given to the Sky or Skylar?
In a battle of recent track records between player and organization, which way and with whom do you side? One is the Chris Paul of the WNBA, the other are the Bulls of the ‘‘W.’’
‘‘Players are aware of the negative things that get said. . . . Skylar’s been around this league a long time to know the fake from the real’’ is what Marsh once said. ‘‘The fake from the real’’ were the words he chose in referring to the Sky. You can’t make this up.
Success has enemies. Well, so does continual failure. And in the Sky’s case, so does a perceived and close-to-proven lack of everything. Including, at this point, integrity. Truth and trust are significant. Reasons and reasoning both significant. But don’t act like optics, when things begin to fall apart, don’t more than often matter more. Because if organizations are the ones that win championships, they must also be the reason championships aren’t won, either, right?
Latest on the Sky and WNBA
