Skylar Diggins spills bean on embracing her true personality after signing with Jay-Z's Roc Nation

Six-time All-Star and Seattle Storm superstar Skylar Diggins was one of the first athletes to sign with Jay-Z’s marketing agency, Roc Nation. Today, the agency boasts around 200 athletes from a plethora of sports including basketball, soccer and baseball. Diggins bought into the idea at a time when the agency was largely seen as operating in the entertainment industry.

Becoming the first female athlete to ever be associated with Roc Nation, Skylar Diggins has often talked about the attention that the move initially got.

However, recently speaking on "How I Got Here with Chris Paul," the 33-year-old claimed that Roc Nation was the only agency that dared to understand who she truly was:

"When I talked to Jay, before I signed with Roc Nation, he was just telling me, it’s like, I will meet with other agents, and they will be like, 'woah.' And I will ask them about marketing opportunities, and well usually, a basketball player just doesn’t get that.

"I was put in a box, so okay, I need somebody with some forward thinking. I need somebody that can embrace that perspective, of highlighting my versatility, and that I am not just a hooper. I am not trying to blend in, I wanna stick out.”

Talking about how a range of other athletes followed suit, Skylar Diggins claimed that Roc Nation was the only agency that understood her talents outside of basketball. While Diggins had the option of signing with other agents, none of them stood out as being right for her:

“And then when I came on, KD, Geno Smith, and then it kind of blew up from there. But it was avant garde when I signed with them. It was like, what? They are an entertainment agency, and then you see me in music, fashion, little bit of everything coz that’s what I am, I have other talents outside of it.”

Skylar Diggins did not need convincing to join Roc Nation

Jay-Z boasts an incredible career as a mentor/music producer and rapper, becoming the first billionaire associated with hip-hop in 2019. According to USA Today, Diggins did not even need convincing to sign with Roc Nation.

Speaking in an interview, she talked about how everything the rapper touched "would turn to gold," and shared that he was an incredibly down-to-earth guy:

“We just talked for 20 minutes,” she said. “He was the most down-to-earth guy ever … it didn’t take a lot. He didn’t have to convince me. Everything he touches turns to gold and it was a lot of talk about Roc Nation and him joining the sports agency sector. Like I said how do you say no to that?”

The deal has since resulted in a range of collaboration deals with a number of brands, including Nike and Sprint. Diggins has in recent years been featured on the covers of Vogue and Sports Illustrated and has become a truly global icon.