Seattle Storm

Team information

Inaugural season: 2000

Home court: University of Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena

Owner: Force 10 Hoops LLC

Team colors: dark green, bright green, yellow

Overview

The Seattle Storm are a professional basketball team based in Seattle Washington. They play in the Western Conference in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). As of 2021, the Storm have won four WNBA championships (2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020). The team was founded in 2000 by Ginger and Barry Ackerley, who also owned the NBA team the Seattle Sonics. Since then, the Storm have changed hands several times.

For its anniversary, the WNBA released its W25, a list of its top players during its first twenty-five years. Eight of the players on the W25 have donned Storm jerseys. They are current players Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart, and retired player Lauren Jackson. Also on the list are Swin Cash (3 seasons: 2008–2011); Yolanda Griffith (1 season in 2008); Katie Smith (2 seasons: 2011–2012); Sheryl Swoopes (1 season in 2008); and Tina Thompson (2 seasons: 2012–2013).

The team’s name reflects Seattle’s rainy weather, as do many of its icons. These include their mascot, Doppler; their theme song, AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”; and their newsletter, Stormwatch.

History

Women’s basketball became popular in the 1990s, largely because of Chris Gobrecht, then head coach of the University of Washington women’s basketball teams. Gobrecht’s teams regularly advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champion tournament, inspiring interest in the sport nationally. The success of Gobrecht’s Huskies led to the creation of professional women’s basketball leagues. In 1996, the American Basketball League (ABL) made its debut. Around the same time, the National Basketball Association (NBA), a men’s league, was about to create the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The ABL paid higher salaries than the WNBA and signed more of the country’s best players. However, the WNBA benefited from its affiliation with the NBA, especially when it came to television revenue. In December 1998, the ABL abruptly declared bankruptcy.

The WNBA then expanded into Seattle. Ginger Ackerley, who along with her husband Barry owned the NBA Seattle team the SuperSonics, hired Karen Bryant as senior director of the NBA. Bryant was a former player for the University of Washington and the general manager of the Seattle Reign, which had been a charter member of the ABL. Bryant hired Lin Dunn as the head coach of a new Seattle team. Dunn had coached at Purdue University and was the 1998 ABL Coach of the Year. Dunn worked with Bryant to create the Seattle Storm in 2000.

The Storm had a difficult first year, ending the season with 6 wins and 26 losses. The 2001 season was somewhat better for the Storm. The Ackerleys sold the Storm and the Sonics to a group led by Howard Shultz, then the chair of Starbucks. With a much larger budget, Shultz was better able to market the team. The Storm was given the first pick in the drafts and chose Lauren Jackson, a nineteen-year-old Australian player who was 6-foot 5-inches tall. Jackson led the team, helping it improve its record during its second season to 10 wins and 22 losses. The Storm once again had first pick in the draft—this time choosing the legendary Sue Bird, who had led the University of Connecticut to the NCAA championship.

With both Bird and Jackson on the team, the Storm had its first winning season in 2002, finishing with 17 wins and 15 losses. Dunn’s contract ended after the season and was not renewed. Hired in her place was Anne Donovan, who was already in the Basketball Hall of Fame. During Donovan’s first season in 2002, the team finished with 20 wins and 14 losses. The Storm had also earned a place in the WNBA finals. After the Cleveland Rockets franchise went bankrupt in 2003, the Storm hired Betty Lennox, a high-scoring guard.

The Storm had a great season in 2004, ending with 20 wins and 14 losses. After playing in the semifinals, the Storm moved on to the WNBA finals where they played against the Connecticut Sun. The Storm lost the first game by 4 points and won the second game by 2. During the third game, the Sun focused its defense on Jackson and Bird. However, Lennox scored 23 points, leading the team to a 74–60 third-game victory and championship win.

In 2006, the Storm was sold to a group from Oklahoma City headed by Clay Bennett, a businessperson. When Seattle refused to spend $300 million of taxpayer money to build a new arena, the group decided to move the team to Oklahoma City. However, three months before the move, Bennett sold the Storm to four women for ten million dollars. Known as Force 10 Hoops LLC, the group originally included former Seattle deputy mayor Anne Levinson, Microsoft executive Lisa Brummel, Microsoft employee Dawn Trudeau, and business executive Ginny Gilder.

In 2007, a year after the sale, Donovan retired as coach and was replaced by Brian Agler, whose experience included being the assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Agler brought in an influx of new talent, including Swin Cash, who was a two-time All Star and a two-time WNBA champion.

Agler led the Storm to a great season in 2010. The Storm finished with a record-breaking 28 wins, and Agler was named Coach of the Year. During this season, Jackson was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the third time. The Storm won the league championship that year, defeating the Atlanta Dream.

The Storm struggled during the next few seasons with more losses than wins, mainly because its players had suffered injuries. Agler was replaced by Jenny Boucek in 2015, who was fired in 2017. The team’s management was also undergoing changes.

However, by 2018, the Storm had rebounded, winning its third league championship. Its starting lineup included Breanna Stewart, a three-time national Player of the Year. Bird also remained with the team, despite having suffered injuries. The Storm defeated the Washington Mystics 98–82, with Stewart scoring 30 points.

While both Bird and Stewart missed the 2019 season because of injuries, they returned in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire league had to stay in one place—Bradenton, Florida—and play a delayed and shortened season. With a record of 18–4, the Storm made it to the semifinals. The team then progressed to the finals, where they played against the Los Vegas Aces, who had defeated the Storm twice during the regular season. The Storm’s 92–59 win was the most lopsided in the history of WNBA Finals.

The Storm finished their 2021 season with a 21–11 record. Other highlights during the year included defeating the Connecticut Sun 79–57 to win the WNBA’s first Commissioner’s Cup championing. The team also visited the White House to celebrate their 2020 WNBA Championship win. They were the first team to be invited by President Joe Biden.

Notable players

To commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary, the WNBA named the 25 best players in the league’s history. Among them were Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and Lauren Jackson. As of 2021, Bird was forty-one years old and still playing with the Storm. A guard, Bird has spent her entire twenty-year career in Seattle and is the only WNBA player to appear in 500 career games. Among her many accomplishments is being a twelve-time WNBA All-Star. She is the all-time assists leader, finishing the 2021 season with 3,048 assists. In 2015, Bird became the first player in WNBA history to score 5,000 points.

As of 2021, Breanna Stewart has played with the Storm for five seasons. A forward, Stewart was selected first overall by Seattle in the 2016 WNBA Draft. Among her many achievements are being the fastest WNBA player to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. She is a three-time USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year. In 2018, she broke the Storm’s franchise record for 20-point games in a single season. Stewart has been named WNBA’s Most Valuable Player, Finals Most Valuable Player, and All-Star Starter.

In 2021, Seattle Storm’s Lauren Jackson was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Australian forward-center played with the Storm from 2001 to 2012. Her achievements include being a five-time All-Star in the WNBL, a four-time MVP, and a four-time Grand Final MVP. Jackson retired from play in 2016 because of injuries. Her number, 15, was retired by the Seattle Storm.

Also in 2021, the team released a new logo to replace its original, which featured a silhouette of Seattle’s space needle with a storm cloud in the background. In the new logo, the Space Needle is linked with the ribs of a basketball while being hit by a small lightning bolt.

Bibliography

Gentry, Dorothy, J. “The Seattle Storm Have Even more Weapons Than You Think.” The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/sports/basketball/wnba-finals-seattle-storm.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

Martin, Jill. “Seattle Storm Win 4th WNBA Championship.” CNN, 19 Aug. 2021, www.cnn.com/2020/10/06/sport/seattle-storm-win-4th-wnba-championship-spt-intl/index.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

Pelton, Kevin. “Inside the Seattle Storm’s Slump: Shots and Defensive Drop-Off Have Defending Champs Spiraling.” ESPN, 2 Sept. 2021, www.espn.com/wnba/story/‗/id/32124082/inside-seattle-storm-slump-fatigue-missed-shots-defensive-drop-defending-champs-spiraling. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

Savell, Jim. “2021 WNBA Season Preview: Seattle Storm Look to Be Contenders.” Swish Appeal, 11 May 2021, www.swishappeal.com/wnba/2021/5/11/22429860/wnba-preview-seattle-storm-breanna-stewart-sue-bird-jewell-loyd-candice-dupree-jordin-canada. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.

“Seattle Storm to Visit White House, Celebrate 2020 Title.” Sports Net, 19 Aug. 2021, www.sportsnet.ca/wnba/article/seattle-storm-visit-white-house-celebrate-2020-title/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2021.