Skylar Diggins-Smith Reveals How She Achieved ‘Favorite Version’ of Herself

The athlete worked through hardship to get to where she is now.

Skylar Diggins-Smith / Scott Eklund/Getty Images

After more than a decade of professional WNBA play, Skylar Diggins-Smith is brimming with confidence.

This past off-season, the 34-year-old left Arizona and the Phoenix Mercury for the Seattle Storm, where she has taken over guard duties in a bright yellow and Storm green uniform. So far this season, she’s averaging 13.8 points and 6.4 assists per game and establishing herself as a leading force on the experienced squad.

Her success is, in part, due to her immense talent and hard work. But she owes it to her self-belief, too. In a recent segment of ESPN’s Off Day, the athlete commented on her ability to block out external noise and to move past caring what other people think of her.

“This is my favorite version of myself, you know what I’m saying?” she remarked. But a thorough love for herself didn’t come without hardship—in fact, it resulted from that very difficulty, she explained.

Skylar Diggins-Smith was photographed by Adam Franzino in Guana Island / Adam Franzino/Sports Illustrated

“It’s also from winning a lot of battles people didn’t see,” she said. “I won. I came out on the other side. When I’ve had thoughts of whatever, you know, I came out on the other side. I survived all my hard days. And now I don’t feel like I’m just surviving anymore, I feel like I’m thriving.”

Diggins-Smith’s on-court play is a testament to her confidence. But it isn’t simply apparent on-court. It was the same sentiment that guided her PUMA collection, Reflections, and the attitude she brings to her tunnel fashion, too.