By Christan Braswell

Seattle, WA - For the first time since being drafted first overall in 2015, Seattle Storm superstar Jewell Loyd endured a season where her team failed to win 16 games and make the playoffs.

For the first time in the post-Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart era, Loyd faced unrestricted free agency. She had options to continue her career elsewhere, and that was widely known. That includes two-time Olympian and Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder.

“Jewell [Loyd] did have to take a leap of faith in committing to stay here with a roster that was not championship caliber that she was trusting our group, our staff, to build around her,” Gilder told Circling Seattle Sports.” In some ways, it’s a leap of faith, but in another way, you look at the strength of our leadership team, you look at the strength of our GM, our coaching staff; it’s not like you’re looking back and thinking, ‘hmmm, what have they done?’. You’re looking back at a certain history, so that brings you credibility. I think we felt Jewell was absolutely our number one priority. Once she was on board, she became part of the process.”

Coming off a career year, the five-time All-Star averaged 24.6 points per game, good for first in the WNBA. Once setting the Storm single-season scoring record on Sept. 8 against the Dallas Wings, Loyd focused her sights on the league record, which she broke in the season finale against the Los Angeles Sparks. In addition, she was named the 2023 All-Star MVP after dropping 31 points in the game. She broke the previous scoring record of 30 points held by Maya Moore and Aces guard Kelsey Plum.

In case it was lost in the mail, Loyd restamped her claim as one of, if not the best, at the two-guard position. Heading into unrestricted free agency, Loyd would’ve been the most sought-after player. There was growing sentiment that an immediate contender looking to dethrone the Aces or possibly Loyd’s hometown, Chicago Sky, could lure her talents away from the Emerald City.

In July, Loyd spoke about it with Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Of course [I’ve thought about it],” Loyd said. Every person wants to play in their hometown, whether it’s playing there for college, whatever it is. There’s always a different feel. I always say Chicago is one of my favorite places to play. At the same time, I’ve only known the Seattle Storm my whole [WNBA career].”

Once Phoenix Mercury guard Natasha Cloud left Washington for the desert, Loyd became the sole 2015 draftee remaining with their original team. For a player of her caliber who’s won two championships and is still vying for more, switching teams at this point of her career isn’t a decision to take as lightly as a less experienced player trying to make their place in the league.

“Obviously, you want to compete for a championship; that’s obvious,” she said. “And you want to have a competitive team and a competitive chance at winning.”

For the Sky, losing all but two members of their championship-winning team a season after cutting down the net sent shockwaves throughout the league. For several reasons, stars like Candace Parker, Courtney Vandersloot, and Kahleah Copper left the franchise for greener pastures. The most obvious was the lack of investment in the team and inadequate training facilities. 

As a hub, Chicago utilizes a public recreation center in Deerfield, Illinois, approximately 30 miles from Wintrust Arena. In Copper’s case, she bought into what the organization was selling in regard to an aggressive approach to free agency. The Sky ended up striking out, forcing Copper to request a trade.

Still, as Loyd said, players want to play in front of their home crowds. Knowing what plagues the Sky as a choice in free agency, she could’ve been willing to look past the present and see if Chicago could deliver in the immediate future. Fortunately for Seattle, they never got the chance. 

On Sept. 9, the day after setting the Storm single-season scoring record, the team announced that Loyd resigned on a two-year deal that includes supermax money in the first year, keeping her in the PNW through 2025.

That was a deal breaker for free agents Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike at this stage of their careers. During their introductory press conference, they also made it clear that they wanted to play with Loyd. Diggins-Smith also shared that the only team she visited was Seattle. 

Sights and scenes from the Seattle Storm press conference to introduce Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith to the local media, alongside head coach Noelle Quinn and general manager Talisha Rhea, on February 19th, 2024. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

“I want to play with Jewell,” she said. “I’m a vibes person. Coming in here, this is the only team that I talked to that I took a visit to. I'm just really intent on coming here and wanting to be here. I connected with one person very early in the process and that was Jewell. If I wasn’t talking to Jewell, I was talking to Nneka and those were the two players I talked to the most. I want to be around winners. I think its really important at this in my career to be around people that know me.”

The stars were perfectly aligned for the Storm. 

When Gilder said that Loyd trusted the organization to rework the roster into one that reflects a championship contender, she meant it in ways more than one. 

WNBA players are now putting themselves and the longevity of their careers first regarding free agency decisions more than ever. Amenities that professional athletes should have unrestricted access to year-round set franchises apart from others when attempting to recruit the best the league offers.

“It’s all women around making the decisions,” said Diggins-Smith on Seattle’s commitment to safe spaces for its players. “What we need, what I need at this stage of my life, the one-stop shop where you don’t have to share it with an NBA team or G-League affiliate team. You come in, and you really feel like it’s yours. So yeah, resources. We need all those resources; this team had the best of the best, from top to bottom. It was no doubt from that sense. I felt supported. Obviously, we’re at the beginning of our relationship, but they have a plan, and that’s what I like.”

The plan Diggins-Smith spoke about was the Storm’s very own practice facility. When it comes to giving the players the treatment they deserve, it’s a race in which very few have picked up their batons.

“If your ownership is investing, that’s one thing, but if they are engaging, that’s where you really see stuff happening,” Ogwumike said when asked about the gap between Seattle and other franchises. “That’s when you really feel like the players are being taken care of. We can talk about all of these other resources, but the teams that have investment and engagement from ownership is the difference maker, and I really feel like Seattle is at the top of that.”

The two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces made history when they opened their facility, built from the ground up solely for their team, in 2022. Since 2020, the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, has played gameday and practice host to the New York Liberty. The Phoenix Mercury are set to open their own this summer after sharing with their NBA counterpart, the Phoenix Suns. Diggins said it perfectly. Players want to walk into their buildings and feel that it is theirs, not just for the moment.

This week, however, the Seattle Storm crossed the finish line and opened their new state-of-the-art building to the media.

Storm Unveil New Performance Center

When the Storm was established in 2000, they practiced at The Furtado Center, a facility built and owned by the Sonics on a parking lot across from the Seattle Center. In 2009, Seattle signed a five-year agreement with Seattle Pacific University to use the Royal Brougham Pavillion as a practice facility and have been there since. Over the years, there have been improvements, yet it never felt like a true home. Starting next month, that all changes.

“It’s more of a sense of disbelief, even though I’ve been involved since the birth of the dream,” said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder on the new digs. Somehow, seeing it, I’m still in this place, and you’ll have to pinch me. Is this real? It is so beautiful.”

The Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance will open next month before training camp. The $64 million facility will be a hub for everything on and off the court. The two-story, 50,000-square-foot building is dedicated solely to female athletes and uniquely crafted to give WNBA players everything they need daily.

“This facility reflects our franchise legacy and our athletes’ success and aims to promote and grow the women’s game and expand youth access to play," said Lisa Brummel, co-owner of the Seattle Storm.

The building was built for the greater Seattle community, not just the Storm. In addition to public courts on the property, fans can tour it and attend events throughout the calendar year.

“We built a home. We built a home for our players, we built a home for our staff, and we built a home in this community for the Seattle Storm,” Brummel continued. I hope you will feel that as you go through the building.

On your way to the main area of the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance lies the hardwood from the franchise’s old Key Arena court, which has been sanded down and painted with the new logo. Above it sits the sneaker wall, as each sneaker tells a different story. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

Upon walking into the building, a tribute to Storm history in the form of a staircase built with actual floor boards from Key Arena greets you. The “shoe wall” showcases one-of-a-kind styles and stories from players from the past and present.

“We’re just in a good location and had good ownership that really wanted to push for it and build something that was truly us and meant something to the city of Seattle,” Loyd said.

The two main basketball courts inside of the facility are the centerpiece of the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

The player level includes the practice courts, locker rooms, athletic training and performance areas, strength and conditioning rooms, recovery spaces like the hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, and kitchen and dining spaces. The player areas are on the first floor with coaches’ offices and conference rooms on the upper level. One of them has a table made out of floorboards from Key Arena.

The different workout and recovery areas within the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance. (Photos by Liz Wolter)

“This is both a nod to our past and all the people who helped bring us here, as well as a promise for the future, and that’s what I love about this place,” said Gilder of the intentionality in the process of building the facility. “You see it with the sneaker wall and the championship floor from the Key [Arena]. That’s some of our history. So you get that history, and it centers and locates people. We are not a fly-by-night organization; we know we are here solidly in a way we weren’t. Wow, what does that make possible for the future.”

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Check out previous Circling Seattle Sports articles with photos by Liz Wolter here, and her portfolio here.

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