Alanna Smith spoke about Diamond Miller after practice on Thursday, after Miller’s most impactful game of the season in the 76-62 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
“She’s experienced as much as she can early on in her career and she still shows up every single day and works her ass off every single day,” Smith said.
“It’s one of the hardest things in the game of basketball to be honest, showing up every day with a smile on your face, and knowing that you’re probably not going to get on the court… and then still working your butt off, it is so hard to do. … It’s built so much resilience in her too… shout out to Diamond, she’s done an incredible job.”
It helped shed light on what happens in the background and why Miller was overcome with tears after the Tuesday night victory.
“I’m just a fighter,” Miller said as tears welled in her eyes. “I have gone through a lot of stuff, so this moment means a lot to me.”
In a way, Miller and that moment are the perfect example of why the Lynx have been a 10-1 juggernaut this season. Smith calls it resilience. Miller calls it being a fighter. You could call it grit, my grandma would call it chutzpah.
Whatever it’s called, the Lynx have it in spades, and it is their superpower.
Cheryl Reeve often discusses the disease of me, a self-centered basketball style in which players play for themselves rather than as a team. The Lynx purposely bring in players who aren’t afflicted by that disease. They focus on players without ego. They want fighters and survivors of adversity.
For example, the Phoenix Mercury took Smith eighth overall in 2019, but she never really found her footing in Arizona. She never started a game or played more than 19 games during her first three years.
The Sun cut Smith after the 2021 season, and she signed with the Indiana Fever. Nine games into the season, Indiana cut her again. Two years later, she signed a one-year deal and played for an 18-22 Chicago Sky team that fired their coach 16 games into the season.
After that season, she considered giving up on her WNBA career before signing with the Lynx. However, she started 39 games last year, won second-team all-defense honors, and cemented her status as a top-tier three-point-shooting defensive center.
Or, as Miller might call it, she’s a fighter.
Smith’s current and former Stanford teammate, Karlie Samuelson, has also had a hard-fought journey. Samuelson was undrafted in 2018, and multiple teams have cut her. She signed with the Los Angeles Sparks three times, three teams have traded her, and she took the entire year of 2020 off to play overseas. Now she’s a crucial member of Minnesota’s bench rotation.
Samueson is a fighter.
Courtney Williams is Minnesota’s starting point guard and emotional leader. She has played for five teams in her nine WNBA seasons, including two stints with the Sun. Phoenix drafted Williams as a shooting guard, but she switched to playing point guard six years into her career. She’s a mid-range specialist who has had to adapt every season to continue to thrive in the league.
Kayla McBride has been outspoken about her mental health battles. Alissa Pili made it from a small town in Alaska, and Bridget Carleton battled from the end of the bench to a starting role. Natisha Hiedeman is rebounding from a down season and has become the team’s most impactful player. Jessica Sheppard played overseas last season to get more playing time.
Ola Kosu is a 20-year-old Russian rookie. She’s showing that fighter’s mindset by taking English classes, changing positions from power forward to wing, and fighting off everyone for the last roster spot in training camp.
The Lynx recently signed Masha Kliundikova, who the Los Angeles Sparks let go in 2019. She fought back into the league and is firmly entrenched on Minnesota’s bench as the backup center.
Ultimately, this leads to Napheesa Collier, the head of Minnesota’s snake. She also battled to get to where she is in the WNBA, and is perhaps the most selfless person on the team.
“She’s never too high or too low,” said McBride. “Even when people say, ‘Wow,’ she’s just like, ‘I don’t know, I’m just playing really hard and trying to win every possession.’ That’s the best thing about Phee.”
When the entire roster has stories of overcoming adversity, they’re less likely to succumb to the disease of me. They are all fighters. Whether it’s Miller having a breakout game or Collier putting up career numbers every night, the players’ resiliency due to their individual pasts has combined to be the Lynx’s best attribute.
