When the Sky played the Aces earlier this month, Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon was asked her impression of rookie guard Sydney Taylor.
Hammon needed only one word to make her point.
“Stud,” she said.
It was high praise from the coach of the defending champions. And Hammon isn’t the only basketball legend taking notice.
During All-Star weekend in Chicago, NBA champions Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant approached Taylor and told her they had noticed her game.
She’s kind of hard to miss. The 5’9 guard has the kind of bounce that once allowed her to dunk a tennis ball and the burst to beat almost anyone off the dribble.
Taylor went undrafted out of college and came off the bench to begin the season. She was not an All-Star this year. But over the course of the weekend, she got a taste of the star treatment that could be in her future.
She interviewed with ESPN at WNBA Live and met with AAU players in town for the Nike Classic. The weekend’s most memorable introduction came during a private gathering, when Taylor and her teammates met former President Barack Obama.
“I told my parents his presence, when he walked in the room alone, was very breathtaking,” Taylor said. “I feel like I had to straighten up and act right.
“He’s a big part of history.”
Taylor’s rise could hardly have come at a more important time for the Sky.
They are in their third consecutive losing season, and for the first time in the organization’s 21-year history, they went without an All-Star.
They need to find their next generation of stars.
Before tearing her ACL, forward Rickea Jackson appeared ready to become one of them. Third-year center Kamilla Cardoso has also taken a significant step forward and came closest to earning an All-Star nod.
Taylor’s emergence gives the Sky another possibility.
She is already tied with veteran Skylar Diggins for the team lead at 14.2 points per game.
But maybe the most important thing about Taylor is that she always wants more.
When she was coming off the bench, she was unafraid to say she wanted more minutes. Now she is just as comfortable acknowledging that she wants more opportunities to close out games.
“I love doing that,” Taylor said. “It’s who I am. I enjoy taking those type of shots. I like the ball in my hands late in the game, being able to create, not just for myself but for my teammates.
“Growing up, I’ve always been that kind of player. You stay in the driveway and you’re counting down, 3, 2, 1, and you throw up a crazy shot.”
As her profile has risen, Taylor said former coaches from childhood have reached out. None have been surprised to see her thriving at this level.
Since moving into the starting lineup midway through the season, Taylor is averaging 17.9 points while shooting 48.1% from the field and 39.4% from three-point range. She’s already made multiple last-second three-pointers to give the Sky a chance to win.
It’s all still a relatively small sample. But coach Tyler Marsh said this week he wants to give Taylor more chances to become the team’s “closer.” And if she continues playing this way, her All-Star case will write itself.
Taylor is not afraid to say it.
She wants to be an All-Star next year.