Two Former Mercury Players to Participate in Skills Challenge

Chris Harrison | Jul 18, 2025

Jul 6, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins (4) dribbles the ball defended by New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud (9) and forward Kennedy Burke (22) during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

WNBA All-Star Weekend is here, with many of the league's best and most exciting players heading to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana to showcase their talents on national television.

The lineups for the All-Star Weekend events are all set and, while there will not be any current Phoenix Mercury players participating in the three-point contest or skills challenge, there will be two former Phoenix fan favorites competing to wrest the skills challenge title away from reigning champion Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream.

The participants will be Gray, Courtney Williams of the Minnesota Lynx, Erica Wheeler (Seattle Storm), Natasha Cloud (New York Liberty), and Skylar Diggins (Storm).

Seattle is the only team to have two representatives in the contest. Gray, Williams, and Diggins were all named to the All-Star game as well, with Diggins and Williams as reserves and Gray as a starter. Gray will be participating in the three-point contest as well, where she is also last year's winner.

The Mercury acquired Skylar Diggins in a sign-and-trade in 2020 and she played in Phoenix for two seasons (she sat out the 2023 season with maternity leave).

Despite a contentious exit from the team, she was a fan favorite during her time in Phoenix and was the team's best player during a difficult 2022 season with Vanessa Nygaard at the helm. She willed the team to the playoffs, scoring a team-high 19.7 points per game while adding a team-high 5.5 assists per night.

Diggins was named an All-Star in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons in Phoenix. Since her departure from the Mercury in 2024, she has played for the Storm, where she has once again been one of the league's top guards.

Natasha Cloud played just one season (2024) but quickly established herself as the starting point guard, allowing Diana Taurasi to move off the ball to shooting guard and enjoy one of the most productive seasons of the tail end of her career. She led the team in assists with 6.9 per game, rebounded very well for a player her size (4.1 per game at 5'10") and was named to the second All-Defensive Team.

Cloud was part of the massive four-team trade that sent Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally to Phoenix this year and was shocked at the news. She had intended to stay in Phoenix and was even (somewhat jokingly) pitching potential free agents on social media. The trade landed her on a rebuilding Connecticut Sun team, but she was soon re-routed to the defending champion Liberty.

The skills challenge will be held at 8:00 p.m. EST tonight and will broadcast on ABC.

For more Mercury news and analysis, follow us on Facebook and X!

feed