What to Make of the Player Mistreatment Investigation

A report by Annie Costabile states the Seattle Storm are under investigation.

This past Friday, November 15th, Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times put out a report that the Seattle Storm are officially under investigation for alleged claims of player mistreatment by the Storm’s Coaching Staff over this past season. You can read Annie’s report here.

Costabile stated, “A law firm hired by the team is looking into accusations of alleged harassment and bullying by the coaching staff tied to on-court performance during the 2024 season, a source said. The allegations stem from incidents that happened at practice and during games. An email from the law firm, obtained by the Sun-Times, showed the investigation has been active for at least two weeks.”

While this is certainly disturbing news it does not come completely out of left field. Back on October 29th, Brad Tesch, posted this in the Seattle Storm Crazies Facebook page.

At the time, this came across as false or at least misleading. Noelle has never given any indication of being abusive or disrespectful in any media interactions or during the practices that the media has access to.

However, there was evidence of issues occurring within the team, especially in the 2nd half as the season progressed. The Storm went 8-7 in their final 15 games (.533 win %) after the Olympic break after winning 17 of 25 games (.680 win %) in the first half of the season. Seattle was swept by the Las Vegas Aces two games to none in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs.

The Turning Point?

The team hit a breaking point on Monday, August 26th. After the Storm lost 74-72 at home to the lowly Washington Mystics. It was the team’s third loss in four games to start the 2nd half of the season.

Skylar Diggins-Smith famously released a profanity-laden response to the media after this game.

“In this league, if you aren't ready to play, you'll get beat every fucking night. They were ready to play and we weren't, on both sides of the basketball. They deserved to win the game if we're gonna play like that. We need to be hitting our stride right now. We're not there. It's unacceptable how we're playing on both sides of the basketball. And I fucked it up at the end. That's a terrible foul as a vet. You can't make that play, but it shouldn't come down to that. We all gotta step our game up. In this league, it only gets harder after the break. And that's fine. That's fine. But if we don't come ready to play from the start, we're going to fucking lose.” Diggins-Smith said in frustration after the game.

Coach Noelle Quinn was clearly frustrated with the effort level of some of the players during her post-game remarks.

“I'm not on the court. I'm not on the court. We're not on the court. So it has to come from within. There has to be accountability for that. I wish. I can implore it. I can't help them because I'm not physically on the court.” Quinn stated.

When pressed further, she elaborated.

“We are blessed to have these jobs. And so when you put on a Storm uniform... That should automatically engage pride and effort and all of the things, the intangibles. So yes, I could continue to encourage. Yes, I continue to implore. Yes, continue to give accountability to myself and set the example. But at the end of the day, we're hooping for a living. Stepping on a court should already ignite something within you. Period. It doesn't come down to schemes. It doesn't come down to actions. It just comes down to sometimes playing harder than your opponent. And we're not doing that right now. And we're not doing that together right now. But it's on me. Yeah, you're right. I've got to continue to coach it, figure it out, utilize people who energize us. But at the end of the day, you're putting on a Seattle Storm jersey. That should mean a lot.”

Those were some of the first signs that something wasn’t right. Things continued to sour.

Family Business

Jewell Loyd’s mother was very public with her criticism of Coach Noelle Quinn by the season’s end. Blaming Quinn for Jewell’s lack of production. Mama Loyd would state she couldn’t wait for the Storm’s season to end as they faced elimination in the playoffs. And then celebrated online when the Aces advanced past Seattle. Later she clarified she was just cheering for all WNBA teams and not rooting against the Storm.

Those public posts were a bit eyebrow-raising. While it’s not surprising that Mama Loyd would advocate for her daughter. It was surprising to see it so publicly and negatively regarding Coach Quinn.

It seems there is a rift between Loyd and Quinn. The question is what caused this friction? It wasn’t that long ago that Jewell was publicly praising Noelle and talking about the importance of her nieces seeing a black woman in a position of power as a Head Coach.

After the 2022 season, Sue Bird retired and in early 2023 Breanna Stewart abandoned the team to head back home to New York. That gave Jewell Loyd the keys to the Kingdom. The organization did not do a good job of putting a strong team around her in 2023. Loyd was given free rein on the court and was forced to take as many shots as possible. That ultimately led to her leading the WNBA in scoring with an average of 24.7 PPG. But this did not result in team success on the court. The Storm finished with an 11-29 record, their second-worst season in franchise history.

The front office did a much better job during the 2024 off-season. They brought in perennial All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. Those two additions were much-needed for Seattle and helped them go from 11 wins in 2023 to 25 wins in 2024.

However, as noted above, the team chemistry with all the players and the coaches was not always rainbows and sunshine. Loyd’s production dropped some but not significantly. She went from 24.7 PPG and 20 Field Goal Attempts per game to 19.7 PPG on just under 17 Field Goal Attempts per game. Most notably, Loyd struggled with her three-point shooting. She shot 27% from beyond the arc, the second-lowest of her career only next to her rookie season (21%).

From a team basketball perspective, it shouldn’t be surprising that Loyd’s shot attempts and production would decrease after the team added two additional All-Stars to the starting rotation.

During her career, Jewell has played with Championship and playoff-caliber teams. She’s well aware that it takes more than just one player to win in the WNBA. In the past, during the 2018 Championship run, there were times Coach Dan Hughes would play Sami Whitcomb over Loyd in late-game situations. Especially, if Sami had the hot hand.

If it was just about Jewell not getting enough shot attempts or plays drawn up for her, she’s been through that before. Why would that now cause major rifts between her and the coaching staff?

It has to be more than that, right? That’s why complaints were filed and the team is now being investigated for player mistreatment.

If the coaches were abusive. What led to this? Why were they so frustrated? With Coach Quinn’s comments about needing to play for pride. It likely involves certain players playing with poor effort or maybe not putting in as much time in the practice gym.

One thing that stood out to me during Jewell Loyd’s post-season press conference was her comments about basketball being just 10% of her life.

“My job is to get better every year and this was the first year that I felt I really didn’t get better. But I definitely had a growth. It was different. Maybe the basketball wasn’t there but my leadership and the person I am has grown. For the people that know me, my parents as well, you want to see that growth as a person. You want to see that evolution because that’s what’s going to sustain you. Basketball is only 10% of my life. But if I’m not growing as a person, then something isn’t right.” Loyd said.

You can watch all the interviews below.

Mercedes Russell is another player who may have outed herself as one of the players who had issues with the Storm’s coaching staff. During a recent social media exchange in late October, Russell was laughing when one of her friends responded to a WNBA-related post about how six of the 12 teams were changing coaches, and the friend questioned why Seattle wasn’t one of them. When people called Russell out for being “messy” and unprofessional, Mercedes responded by saying her contract ended on September 25th and that (Quinn) wasn’t her coach anymore.

Some of these remarks are a stark contrast to a player like Skylar Diggins-Smith. Diggins-Smith is all gas, no brakes, and wears her heart right on her sleeve. If you watch Diggins-Smith, you know she gives 110% effort every time she’s out on the court. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t make mistakes or take bad shots at times. But one thing that’s hard to deny is her passion and effort.

Jewell Loyd and Mercedes Russell have already won two WNBA Championships with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020. I think it is certainly possible for players who have already tasted the ultimate success at the WNBA level to not be as hungry as those who have never experienced those moments before.

If you have certain players that aren’t putting in the full effort or they’re more nonchalant about everything; that could easily conflict with a player that is hustling their butt off and wanting to do everything they can to win at all costs. I could see why that could cause inner turmoil between players like Jewell Loyd, Mercedes Russell, and Skylar Diggins-Smith (among others).

During those same exit interviews, Quinn reiterated that she wants players who want to be in Seattle and hold themselves accountable.

“We have enough resources as a coaching staff to understand who we want here. Seattle has a standard of excellence. Not just winning championships, but how you approach your craft. How you show up to work. Who you are as an individual. Being a great teammate. And really, really being disciplined. Those are the types of players that we want here. High character. That are going to add value to the locker room. Not only add value on the court but in the community. And to the organization in ways that’s not only seen by putting the ball in the hoop or winning games. That’s who I want here. People who want to be here. People who are bought in to a standard of excellence that doesn’t waver during the good and the bad. Lock arms with everyone in the locker room to obtain a goal. It’s difficult to go through a season to try and do something amazing but if you have high character, high-quality people in your locker room, then it is that much more rewarding because you know everyone is standing 10 toes down and committed to the process. Just utilizing our resources. Continue to ask management to get players and staff that just want to rock out in a positive way and really show who Seattle is.” Quinn stated.

The Question I had for Coach Quinn was 'Can the relationships be repaired?’

“Sometimes when I talk to you guys (the media), it’s immediately after a high-emotional situation. Even today, I don’t feel I’ve had time to evaluate thoroughly. So I don’t want to speak out of just high emotion. There is some reality that our team has to change because of the expansion draft and free agency. Every year, the team looks a little bit different. The hope is to continue to bring in players that have that mindset that we’ve been harping on all year. The players that are going to be here and remain here, to make sure, that’s never the top topic anymore. Pride, effort, those things should always be on top of mind and on our hearts. And how we show up to play because we can’t take an opportunity like this for granted. We can’t waste time. We can’t waste moments. I think that will continue to be the sentiment.” Quinn told me.

If things are beyond repair, we are looking at a couple of different scenarios. The Seattle Storm will either fire Coach Quinn and her coaching staff. Or they will look to move on from players that don’t want to be here. Whether that’s Jewell, Mercedes, Skylar, or anyone else who doesn’t share the same vision as Quinn and the front office.

Penalized by the WNBA?

If the investigation comes to the conclusion that the Storm’s Coaching staff was abusive to the players beyond the acceptable “tough love” and standard stern coaching of players, will the WNBA step in and penalize the franchise?

We have a recent history of this with the Las Vegas Aces situation with Coach Becky Hammon and Dearica Hamby. In that instance, the league concluded that the Aces and Coach Hammon had violated league rules. This led to Becky Hammon being suspended for two games without pay and the Aces were stripped of their 2025 first-round draft pick.

Depending on how long this investigation lasts, the league could decide to rescind a draft pick from Seattle either for the 2025 or 2026 WNBA Drafts.

Final Thoughts

At the end of this season, I stated that there would be big changes coming for the Storm soon. Between the inner turmoil, chemistry issues, Coach’s frustrations, social media outbursts, etc. there were a lot of red flags. That adds to the fact that the league will go through an expansion draft next month and that the team has just three guaranteed contracts for next season.

Now with the reports of this investigation taking place that just further solidifies my thoughts.

Notes:
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