SEATTLE (AP) — Shortly before the Seattle Storm broke for training camp, veteran guard Skylar Diggins exuded some bravado when assessing the franchise’s roster ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
“Hell yeah I feel confident! Did you see our roster?” Diggins said. “But no, this is definitely the most talented roster I’ve been a part of in my 13 years, 11 on the court.”
As Diggins, 34, astutely noted, she’s been around the block. The six-time All-Star has laced her sneakers up for some stellar teams, and the Storm have the makings of being one, too. Seattle is off to a 3-2 start, which includes a commanding 20-point victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
“It’s a great combination of players,” Diggins said. “Everybody knows what they’re good at. Our spacing has been great. People have been picking up really quickly on things.”
Suffice to say, year two of Diggins partnering with fellow superstar Nneka Ogwumike and playing under coach Noelle Quinn has gone well so far. The first year of that power dynamic wasn’t too shabby, either; Diggins assisted on a Storm franchise-record 570 points, and Seattle qualified for the playoffs after missing them entirely and going 11-29 in 2023.
Still, the Storm were bounced by the Aces in the first round, leaving significant room for improvement in 2025.
Ogwumike, 34, who inked another one-year deal in February, feels increasingly comfortable in Seattle. She also believes the duo of her and Diggins can shepherd the Storm – which has won four WNBA championships – back to its previous heights.
“I think we can take it pretty far, especially because not only are we both here again, but we were both here for the first time last year,” Ogwumike said. “So, we have a very shared experience and kind of memory of what we did last year and how we want to build off of it.”
Diggins and Ogwumike have known one another for two decades, but were exclusively opponents rather than teammates prior to last year. They combined to average 31.8 points per game last season, a collective total that very well could increase considering longtime guard Jewell Loyd was traded to the Aces this offseason.
So far, Diggins and Ogwumike have combined to average 37.4 points per game. Unsurprisingly, their comfort in Quinn’s offensive system only increases by the day.
“It’s easy playing with good players,” Diggins said. “A lot of us are very confident in who we are as basketball players and what we can do. And so, we kind of learn how we can complement each other and use each other to get what we want.”
In many ways, these two WNBA staples represent the next era of Storm basketball, and that particularly became the case when Loyd was traded to the Aces in January following some turmoil. Loyd, though, was part of each of the past two Storm championship teams in 2018 and 2020 that were paced in large part by Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.
Sure, there’s a different core in the Emerald City these days, but there are some familiar faces from that string of success as well. Forward Alysha Clark is back in Seattle after five years away, and fellow forward Ezi Magbegor has only taken on a more prominent role since she was drafted in 2019.
Adding 2025 No. 2 overall pick Dominique Malonga and her 6-foot-6 frame to the mix doesn’t hurt matters, either, though she’s been slowly brought along in the early stages of the season.
“What really sealed the deal for what could potentially be a new era was (Malonga) getting drafted here,” Ogwumike said. “So, being able to be a part of a little bit of the history, but also the future too.”
As Diggins pointed out, there’s a solid mix of both accomplished and young WNBA players on the scene in Seattle. But the buck stops with both her and Ogwumike, the latter of whom was a WNBA champion in 2016 with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Diggins, meanwhile, is still seeking her first title — and joined the Storm in large part two winters ago because of her belief in the franchise’s capabilities.
“It’s always been a great landing spot for free agents and winning basketball,” Diggins said. “We just want to continue to build off our plus-14 win (improvement) season last year that we did and just continue to position us where we want to be, and that’s contending for a championship.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins (4) works toward the basket as Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) defends during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Tuesday, May 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
FILE - Seattle Storm guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (4) and Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike celebrate a made 3-pointer against the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of a WNBA basketball game, Sept. 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
