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.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5][6] 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.[7] 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 them in an interview in May 2022.[8]
DeShields returned to play in the 2020 season, which was held in a bubble environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She did not start games, as she was recovering from a knee injury, and played in 13 games while averaging 6.8 points in 17.2 minutes per game.[9] DeShields suffered an apparent quadriceps injury in a game on August 21, and left the bubble a week later, missing the remainder of the season and the Sky's single postseason game.[10][9][11]
In the 2021 season, DeShields began as a starter and averaged 26.9 minutes and 11.3 points per game. Near the end of the season, she shifted to a role coming off the bench.[12] The Sky entered the playoffs as the sixth seed, and made their way to the 2021 WNBA Finals, winning the series in four games against the Phoenix Mercury. DeShields recorded 15.7 minutes and 5.5 points per game in the team's playoff run.
In the offseason, DeShields expressed admiration for the Sky along with a preference to play for a team where she would return to a starting role.[12]
Phoenix Mercury (2022)
As a free agent entering the 2022 season, DeShields took meetings with several teams across the league.[12] On February 3, 2022, she was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in a three-team sign-and-trade deal involving the Sky and the Indiana Fever.[13] She started 19 of 30 regular season games and both postseason games for the Mercury in the 2022 season, averaging 13.1 points in the regular season and 19.5 points per game in the postseason.
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