All is not well in Phoenix.
Mercury All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith appeared to feel slighted by comments from head coach Vanessa Nygaard. So she hit her with the clown emoji on Twitter.
Nygaard was irked that Mercury guard Diana Taurasi wasn’t named among the WNBA’s All-Star starters or the reserves who were announced on Tuesday. She addressed the subject during a news conference on Wednesday.
“I reiterate that she should be an All-Star,” Nygaard told reporters. “There will be a game in Chicago, but it will not be an All-Star game because Diana Taurasi’s not playing.”
Diggins-Smith is an All-Star. She appeared to take Nygaard’s comments as a personal affront. So she retweeted team video of Nygaard’s statement accompanied by a clown emoji.
Tell us how you really feel, Skylar.
This comes after Nygaard said she was “really, really happy” for Diggins-Smith being named an All-Star, which she called a “great testament,” according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. It also arrives on the heels of some tense on-court moments involving Diggins-Smith, Taurasi and Nygaard.
Taurasi and Diggins-Smith had to be separated on the bench after a heated exchange during a May game against the Las Vegas Aces.
Nygaard chalked up to the exchange to “passion” after the game.
During a game last week against the Dallas Wings, Diggins-Smith appeared frustrated on the court during an exchange with Nygaard.
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That didn’t look like much on its own. But the clown emoji isn’t used when everything is fine.
The Mercury finished 19-13 and made the WNBA Finals last season. With the All-Star break approaching, they’re 9-12 and fourth place out of six teams in the West. Meanwhile, they’re dealing with the ongoing absence of Brittney Griner, who remains detained in a Russian prison.
Last week, they abruptly cut ties with eight-time All-Star Tina Charles, alongside a statement from general manager Jim Pitman that “our season has not gone according to our plan.”
It certainly hasn’t.