We may know why Phoenix Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith missed the final two regular season games of the 2022 WNBA season as well as the playoffs.
SDS announced on Monday that she’s expecting her second child, and showed off her baby bump with a few pics on Instagram.
Diggins-Smith had a great season. She scored an average of 19.7 points per game, which was third overall in the league. She had 5.5 assists, which was seventh overall. She also played an average of 34 minutes a game. Considering that the three month mark is when most pregnancies are announced to friends and family, it’s safe to assume she did at least some of that outstanding work while she was pregnant.
Diggins-Smith and her husband, Daniel, had their first child in April 2019. SDS actually played the entire 2018 season while pregnant (the season ended at week 14 of her pregnancy), and returned to the team nine weeks after giving birth. At the time, she said that not everyone in the organization was supportive of her pregnancy decisions. She also revealed she had dealt with more than two months of postpartum depression.
Things have changed since then, though. Pregnancy has become more normalized in the WNBA, at least to some extent. Napheesa Collier gave birth in May 2022, then made her WNBA debut with the Minnesota Lynx 74 days later. Las Vegas Aces forward Dearica Hamby revealed she played in the WNBA finals while pregnant.
And beyond that, this will be the first time Diggins-Smith will be pregnant and giving birth with the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement in place. The new CBA was passed in 2020, a year after Diggins-Smith had her first child, and she played an important role in shaping the section on mothers and maternity leave. Now, WNBA players are guaranteed full paid maternity leave as well as appropriate housing and a $5,000 stipend for child care.
