Diamond DeShields
Diamond Danae-Aziza DeShields (born March 5, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the third overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft, and won a championship with the Sky in 2021. She is the daughter of former MLB player Delino DeShields and the younger sister of MLB player Delino DeShields Jr. College career DeShields graduated from Norcross High School in Norcross, Georgia. Playing for the school's basketball team, she was a part of three state champions and averaged 26 points per game in her senior year. DeShields enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she played guard for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball team in her freshman year of college. She set an Atlantic Coast Conference record for points scored by a freshman with 648. After her freshman year, DeShields transferred University of Tennessee, where she played for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team for two years after sitting out for the season after her transfer. In the 2016-17 season, DeShields led the Lady Vols with 17.4 points per game and was chosen to the All-Southeastern Conference's first team. Professional career European leagues Though DeShields graduated with her bachelor's degree after her second season at Tennessee, she retained a year of eligibility for college basketball. After initially announcing she would return for the 2017-18 season, she opted to leave Tennessee to play professionally in Turkey. DeShields signed with Çukurova Basketbol of the Turkish Super League, where she averaged 17.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. WNBA Chicago Sky (2018–2021) DeShields was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the third pick of the 2018 WNBA draft. In her first season in the WNBA, she averaged 14.4 points per game while starting in 33 of 34 games played. She was named to the All-Rookie Team. In 2019, her sophomore season, DeShields was named a WNBA All-Star. During the All-Star Weekend, she won the Skills Challenge, beating out Jonquel Jones in the final round. DeShields started all 34 games and averaged 16.2 points per game. On September 11, 2019, she played in her first career postseason game and scored 25 points, as the Chicago Sky defeated the Phoenix Mercury 105–76. It was the fifth-most points scored by a WNBA player in a postseason debut in league history. DeShields scored 23 points in the Sky's loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the second round of the playoffs. In December 2019, while playing overseas in Turkey, DeShields suffered a back injury. An MRI following the injury revealed that she had a tumor (a lumbar spinal schwannoma) in her spine, which posed a serious risk of permanent paralysis. After surgery to remove the tumor, DeShields suffered tremors and involuntary spasms and spent months rehabilitating without certainty about whether she would be able to return to play. She decided to keep her condition and surgery experiences private, until sharing