WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 14, 2021

Brittney Griner

Skylar Diggins-Smith

TEAM WNBA vs. USA NATIONAL TEAM

Postgame Media Conference

Team WNBA All-Stars 93, USA Women's National Team 85

Q. Knowing how competitive both of you are on the floor, is it more difficult to take this as a loss or is it something that you enjoy playing because it was the All-Star Game game this year?

BRITTNEY GRINER: Definitely hate losing. I don't think anybody on this team will enjoy tonight. We are all going to think about different things that each and every one of us could have done a little bit better. But we've had just one practice, so just bear with us. We're going to get back in the lab tomorrow and fix some things that we didn't do so well in the game. But I think we're going to be fine. We're going to be fine.

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: Like we talked about at the beginning, there's going to be all these storylines whether we want them or not. We still have the same goal, and that's to win a gold medal. We go back to our preparation and we're going to get ready for the next game and we're going to continue to try to get better every day.

Q. You had the short amount of time with practices and being together and building chemistry. Are there any positives you can take from tonight's game moving forward as you guys continue to build practice and get ready for the Olympics?

BRITTNEY GRINER: I think on offense, we had really good looks. I think it's more on the defensive end where we can definitely improve, rebounding, second-chance points, hustle plays. I definitely would take that from this game.

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: For sure. And you have to give credit to the other side. They were playing free and playing like an All-Star Game, and we are trying to get our chemistry together on both ends of the floor. We know offensively we have enough in that locker room and everybody can do everything that needs to be done on offense, but just continuing to gain our chemistry on defense.

Q. Did you feel the intensity of more of a regular game as opposed to a fun All-Star Game?

BRITTNEY GRINER: It was fun, but your mindset was definitely different from your typical All-Star Game, where it's all offense and hardly any defense. We have different things in the front of our mind that we know we're here to do. We know we're here to get prepared and have a goal. It's not your typical "have fun and throw up some shots." We are here to work. It's definitely a different feel than a typical All-Star Game.

Q. Skylar, we've always said that the U.S. can have three teams that could medal. Obviously that team over there, not everyone is a U.S. player, but that's a really talented team you lost to?

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: We lost to All-Stars. We have a lot of players in our league that are capable. It's the toughest league to get into and stay into. I say it all the time. Yeah, hats off to them. Got to give credit. They played hard, made shots. Like I said, we're just focused on us and how we can do better and how we can continue to get better and prepare for Tokyo.

Q. The growth of women's sports has been amazing over the last several years, and most of the elite teams and the elite athletes going to Tokyo are women. What does that say about the growth of women's sports and popularity of women's sports? Is there a pride there?

SKYLAR DIGGINS-SMITH: It's always inspirational. I'm always inspired by women and people that do things that I can't do. It's amazing watching some of the best.

The Americans are representing throughout different sports, and hopefully we can represent USA Basketball and we can bring the gold home.