Skylar Diggins-Smith Calls Out WNBA Over Travel Standards

Skylar Diggins-Smith did not hold back in her thoughts about the WNBA’s unpleasant travel standards.

Coming off an 83–65 loss to the Mystics on Tuesday, Diggins-Smith and the Mercury (5–9) hopped on a plane Wednesday morning to Indianapolis to face the Fever (4–12) in their third of a four-game road trip.

The five-time WNBA All-Star tweeted that flying the same day “will never sit well” with her.

“Back-to-back away games should never be scheduled, considering we fly commercial (with no security),” Diggins-Smith tweeted. “The [WNBA] wants quality/high level basketball, but doesn’t (seem to) value quality of life for the players.”

Medgal: How Airplanes Became the WNBA’s Biggest Scandal

Diggins-Smith’s frustration to the league’s travel standards comes as no surprise. The WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement bars teams from making such travel accommodations, saying that is an unfair competitive advantage. In addition, in March, the WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league was not financially in a place to fund team charter flights for an entire season, according to ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel.

However, the league has previously implemented the use of charter flights during the WNBA playoffs when teams have only one day in between games and when teams travel across time zones.

Engelbert’s response about travel came after a Sports Illustrated report by Howard Medgal revealed that the Liberty was nearly terminated because New York’s owners chartered flights for players.

While Engelbert has gone on the record to say she would like to see the league carry out the idea of chartering flights, players like Diggins-Smith and others will continue to experience difficult travel accommodations. 

Currently, Phoenix sits at No. 5 in the Western Conference and a half-game behind the Sparks at No. 4.