The 32-year-old officially adds “award-winning broadcaster” to her ever-evolving list of titles after nabbing her first Emmy for the Phoenix Suns 2021-22 season.
Skylar Diggins-Smith is relentless in her pursuit of greatness, both on the basketball court and behind the microphone. On Thursday, the six-time WNBA All-Star reached new heights in the broadcasting realm, earning the 2022 Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy Award for her performance as a member of the Phoenix Suns’ broadcasting team.
Diggins-Smith, 32, joined the Suns broadcasting team back in March 2021, highly touted around the league for emphasizing the X’s and O’s of Suns basketball from the lens of an active player in professional basketball. She’s certainly no stranger to winning.
“Basketball is basketball, and that’s what we always talk about when we talk about the game,” Diggins-Smith said in April. “We do a lot of the same things (in the NBA and WNBA). When you’ve got a guard like Chris Paul who I’m very familiar with his game, and then me obviously being in that point-guard role and coming off screens, I know what he’s looking at and what he’s thinking. I know what the pressure of the moment is like. So I think that’s what I bring to the table. (I’m) just finding other creative ways to translate that content for fans that could be educational or entertaining.”
She’s a four-time All-WNBA member, 2014 Most Improved Player, six-time All-Star, and Olympic gold medalist. Off the court, she’s long be an activist for both equality and equity for women. In Nov. 21, she partnered up with Public.com — an investment platform to help promote financial education.
“She’s pulled it off flawlessly,” said broadcast partner, Tom Leander. “She’s just made it so easy I think on all of us — me especially. … She just lights up. There’s no question the camera is a friend to her. She’s just an incredibly vibrant and passionate person who has a personality that we’re starting to see on air.”
Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.