After nearly two months of missed games and knee rehabilitation, the Chicago Sky made it official on Tuesday. Skylar Diggins will miss the rest of the 2026 season with a knee injury she reaggravated in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince I\u2019ve been out, [I\u2019ve been] rigorously working on trying to get back on the floor,\u201d Diggins said in a media availability Tuesday. \u201cTrying to get back to practice, trying to get back with my teammates, been pretty much working parallel with the team. We\u2019ve been in lockstep as far as communication this whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diggins had surgery on her knee in October 2025. She played for Unrivaled in the offseason, then became one of the Sky\u2019s biggest offseason signings.<\/p>\n
Once the season started in May, Diggins averaged 14.2 points and 4.9 assists per game. For most of the time she played, the Sky\u2019s longtime point guard Courtney Vandersloot was rehabbing an ACL tear.<\/p>\n
Vandersloot returned on June 26. On July 6, Diggins posted on Instagram \u201cNow I\u2019m benched???\u201d She was added to the injury report for the Sky\u2019s July 7 game in Las Vegas, and didn\u2019t play again this season.<\/p>\n
She called the timing of her injury and rehabilitation \u201clayered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had been playing through a lot. Obviously, we had already been doing testing [on her knee] well before that road trip. I was very limited in practice. I was limited in shootarounds,\u201d Diggins said. \u201cI was supposed to be on a minutes restriction even before that road trip, and so I see how a lot of those things could seem like [the timing was related to the benching] after reflecting. But you know, I hadn\u2019t been feeling like myself out there, and our situation, whatever that was, whatever decision Tyler was making for me and and with the organization has always been prioritizing my health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diggins is far from the only Sky player to miss several games due to injury. The IX Sports\u2019 Lucas Seehafer found that Chicago leads the league in games missed due to injury with 123. Only two Sky players, Jacy Sheldon and Elizabeth Williams, have played in all 40 of the Sky\u2019s games.<\/p>\n
Rickea Jackson played in just four games before tearing her ACL. Gabriela Jaquez missed four games with an injury, and Sydney Taylor missed seven.<\/p>\n
Beyond injuries sustained this season, the Sky chose to sign three players who started the season on the injured list: Vandersloot, Dijonai Carrington and Azur\u00e1 Stevens. All three are veterans who could have provided the leadership the team needed.<\/p>\n
Diggins pointed out how that many missed games, especially from veterans, can affect a team\u2019s chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just players being out, but who is out and and those vets, and how we could use their voice on the floor, and how it changes,\u201d Diggins said. \u201cObviously, your impact that you can make. When you\u2019re off the floor, you try to do as best as you can. But obviously, we talk about ability and its availability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vandersloot missed 17 games, Stevens missed nine and Carrington has only played in 11 games. Each has made an impact on their return, but the Sky\u2019s record had taken too much of a hit to make the postseason a real aspiration.<\/p>\n
Instead, the team is looking to next season, when its practice facility is expected to be open. Diggins did most her rehab at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., her alma mater and home town that\u2019s just an hour and a half from Chicago.<\/p>\n
The Sky\u2019s practice facility was originally supposed to be open before the 2026 season, and then was pushed back to midseason before the team announced it wouldn\u2019t be ready until after the conclusion of the current season. <\/p>\n
Not having a facility means the Sky had to use area colleges and Wintrust Arena for practices. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of us were promised that we thought that [the facility would open this season], and so that would be the biggest frustration with this season, just never feeling like we had a home base with that,\u201d Diggins said. \u201cSometimes we have limits or restrictions or how many hours we could be there [at other practice venues], and that affects everything. When you\u2019re trying to be a pro and get in what you need, and so I don\u2019t anticipate that next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diggins says she expects to be back with the Chicago Sky in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never had any talks with the organization or about trades or wanting a trade or anything like that during this process. We\u2019ve been really close in communication with everything that\u2019s been going on and everything that I\u2019ve been doing, and so we\u2019ve talked about one of the big reasons why we\u2019re shutting this down is to prioritize my health and for the future and for the future with this organization,\u201d she said. \u201cBut no, I haven\u2019t had any or expressed any desire to not talk about me in a Chicago Sky jersey next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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