In the middle of an era of Unprecedented growth for WNBA and women’s basketball, the Connecticut Soleil had struggled to follow the battle increasingly competitive for free agents. Based on the smallest market in the league without advanced facilities or resources, the franchise quickly became one of the least attractive destinations for veterans of the big name.
But when the seventh year custody Diamond Deshields Hit a free agency This offseason, her priorities were simple: all she wanted was time to play, the chance to recover as a caliber talent of the stars to which she looked like when she entered the League. After TRATUAL ROTATION OF THE LIST And with an extremely young nucleus entering 2025, the sun was a perfect fit.
“I have had a rocky in recent years … and things have not passed as I wanted in terms of stability in a team,” said Deshields. “I knew that I had to come somewhere that I was just going to be on the ground, and a lot of space opened here during the free agency, and it was to my advantage. I see this as a great opportunity for me. I am really delighted to be able to come here and enter a role that I have not necessarily had in the moment. ”
Deshields was chosen n ° 3 in total by the Sky of Chicago during the WNBA 2018 WNBA behind A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Mitchell, who have since evolved since superstars of the league. Deshields seemed to be on the same trajectory during its first two seasons, making the All-Rookie team in 2018, then winning its first stars and all-wba selections in 2019. She collected on average 14 points, 4.6, 2.4 assists and 1.3 interceptions per game in her second year campaign, starting 34 games to help the Sky Playoff Drought after two games.
But in December 2019, when he played in Türkiye during the WNBA offset, Deshields had an MRI for what she thought was a back injury. The scan discovered a rare tumor of the size of a grape which exerted pressure on its spinal cord. It took new surgery to remove the tumor and the procedure has left the Deshields with significant damage with sensitive nerves around its spine.
Deshields has faced serious tremors throughout her body and has felt frequent pain and numbness in his feet because of nerve lesions behind his back during an exhausting rehabilitation process. She had to relearn basic functions like walking, and there were stretching where she did not know if she would never find the ability to play basketball at the level of the elite.
“I have the impression of being fair in an evolution season in the past five years to face my own deficits and overcome them, physically, mentally, spiritually,” said Deshields. “I have the impression of having grown so much thanks to the instability of all this … I have the impression that everything that met to form the current moment in which I am.”
Deshields always wanted to be with his team in the middle of the recovery and returned to the sky for the 2020 season held in the bubble due to Covid-19, although it appeared in just 13 games before leaving the campus in quarantine for personal reasons. In 2021, she found a place again, starting 22 games and on average 11.3 points to help Chicago win her first WNBA championship in the franchise history. Deshields played with several WNBA legends on this list, including the MVP twice Candace Parker, the five-time All-Star Courtney Vandersloot and the second sixth woman of the year Allie Quigley, and she said that she hoped that the lessons she learned of them will serve well as a veteran chief with the Sun.
“Being part of each phase of establishment of this championship culture, I think, offered me a lot of wisdom, but in addition to that, I was the star of a team, then I fell into the ranks and then leaves the bench,” said Deshields. “I feel like I had such a great richness of experiences which … contributed to me as a leader, so I can’t wait to take all this experience and assemble them here in Connecticut.”
Deshields has struggled to find his place in the League in recent years, appearing in 30 games for the Phoenix Mercury in 2022, then seated in the 2023 season due to a knee injury. She returned to Chicago in 2024 and has an average of 13.8 minutes per game of the bench, but Connecticut needs Deshields to immediately become a centerpiece on her list. The sun lost its head coach and all the starting program in 2024 this offseason, and they added another major free agent in addition to Deshields in eight Tina Charles stars. Connecticut currently has only four players with at least five years of WNBA experience, and half of its training camp list will never have played a match in the League.
Deshields is ready to assume this pressure, even after the adversity it was confronted with. In fact, it welcomes it.
“I have never given everything I had wherever I am, and it will not be different here,” said Deshields. “I just want fans to know that they are allowed to have expectations towards me. I do not necessarily want the charitable organism of” Oh my God, we are just happy to have you. It’s just a miracle, and everything you do is quite good “… I’m really waiting to be challenged this year. I really expect to establish the standard for the way we do things here in Connecticut.”
