Skylar Diggins-Smith's Status TBD amid Mercury's WNBA Playoff Push; Out Last 2 Games

Phoenix Mercury guard Skylar Diggins-Smith's status with the franchise remains up in the air heading into the team's two final regular-season games.

M.A. Voepel of ESPN reported the Mercury have not indicated whether the All-Star will suit up as the team vies for a playoff berth. Diggins-Smith has sat out Phoenix's last two games because of a non-COVID illness and for personal reasons.

Further details have not been made available, shrouding Diggins-Smith's future in uncertainty.

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard could not confirm Diggins-Smith would be playing for the team again despite the fact she's under contract through the 2023 season.

"We found out before the game," Nygaard said of Diggins-Smith sitting out. "We have gone through this earlier on Saturday. We're just one day at a time moving forward. We've seen everything this year, so whatever gets thrown at us, we're ready to just lace them up and go."

Diggins-Smith has been at the center of multiple controversies this season despite arguably having the best season of her career. She and longtime Mercury star Diana Taurasi got into an altercation on the bench in May. When Nygaard questioned Taurasi not making the All-Star team last month, the third-year Phoenix player responded to her first-year coach's quote with a clown emoji on Twitter.

It's unclear if the shade was being thrown at Nygaard, Taurasi or both. Diggins-Smith deleted her Twitter account Wednesday.