WNBA Player Diamond DeShields Privately Dealt With a Career-Threatening Tumor

After growing up in a sports family, Diamond DeShields was destined for athletic greatness. Following in the footsteps of her father, MLB player Delino DeShields, Diamond started playing sports at a young age. By the time she graduated high school, she had already been part of three state championships and was averaging 26 points per game in her senior year. Naturally, she’d go on to become a star WNBA player. But a rare tumor got in the way of her legacy.

In college, Diamond played for the North Carolina Tar Heels during her freshman year, setting the ACC record for points scored by a freshman at 648. She then played for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers team but after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree (while retaining college basketball eligibility), she decided to play overseas in Turkey. She was then signed to the WNBA’s Chicago Sky before a brutal life event occurred.

Diamond’s career WNBA started off hot — she was picked third overall in the draft by the Chicago Sky, starting 33 out of 34 games during the 2018 season. She was even named to the All-Rookie team, and in the 2019 season, Diamond started every game, averaged 16.2 points per game, and scored 25 points in her debut postseason game against the Phoenix Mercury, so she was en route to greatness.

In fact, Diamond was supposed to play for the U.S.A. Women’s Basketball team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but her medical surprise got in the way. She played once again in Turkey during the WNBA’s off-season and collided with a player, which led to a back injury. Upon an MRI scan, doctors discovered that Diamond had a rare tumor attached to her spine. However, she didn’t speak about the experience until 2022.

In 2022, Diamond spoke with ESPN about the truth of what was really going on behind the scenes. She went through the process of her injury, surgery, and recovery in private before rejoining the NBA in 2021. Basically, the tumor she had was a lumbar spinal schwannoma, which is extremely rare. Spinal tumors aren’t common, and a schwannoma only accounts for “about 5 percent of the tumors we see in the spine,” Diamond’s neurologist, Dr. Edwin Ramos, explained.

The benign tumor was about 2–2.5 cm and could potentially paralyze Diamond if not operated on. However, the operation was extremely risky, as it could also cause paralysis. Diamond knew there was a chance she may never play basketball again when she went into the surgery, which was supposed to be three hours but ended up being nine.

Although Dr. Ramos was able to successfully remove the tumor, Diamond’s nerves were severely damaged. "Think of it like a grape pushing on this nerve," Dr. Ramos said. "We have to peel that grape-sized mass from that nerve, from that spinal cord and from the surrounding nerve roots, the nerve branches, without causing damage or too much irritation to them."

Two of the Sky’s head figures, Ann Crosby and Meghan Lockerby, stayed by Diamond’s side through her quiet recovery. One of the damaged nerves was in Diamond’s feet, so she was hypersensitive to even the touch of a feather. Her recovery at times included uncontrollable and painful body tremors that could last up to nine hours at a time. “I remember being in so much pain,” Diamond shared. “My whole body went into contraction. I had no control over my arms.”

She had to relearn how to walk and play basketball, and although her recovery felt long, especially during COVID-19 times, she was back on the court for the 2021 season, assisting the Sky to a season victory. She was then traded to the Phoenix Mercury for the 2022 season and the Dallas Wings in 2023, but she had to miss the season due to a knee injury.

While her numbers have been improving since her recovery, Diamond isn’t up to quite the same standard she used to be at. In March 2024, Diamond shared in Women’s Health that she feels “stronger” and has more appreciation for playing basketball. “I want to get back to having fun playing basketball. I also want to go to the Paris Olympics,” she said.

Although she won’t be playing in the Olympics, Diamond is back with her original WNBA team, the Chicago Sky, tearing it up and improving every day.