Storm investigating coaching staff, source says
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Michael Voepel, ESPN Senior Writer
The Seattle Storm coaches are being investigated by the organization for alleged player mistreatment, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on Friday that the Storm are investigating the coaching staff. According to the report, Seattle has hired a law firm to look into accusations of harassment and bullying by the coaches regarding player performance.
The Storm were 25-15 this season and lost to Las Vegas in the first round of the playoffs. Noelle Quinn just finished her fourth year as Seattle’s head coach. Quinn, a former WNBA player, took over early in the 2021 season when Dan Hughes opted to retire.
Quinn’s assistants this past season were former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman, longtime head coach and assistant Pokey Chatman and Perry Huang. Huang was with the Storm for seven seasons then left last month to become an assistant to Zach Guthrie for the Los Angeles Lakers’ G League team.
The Storm have won four WNBA titles, with guard Sue Bird on each of those teams. She retired after the 2022 season, while two-time champion Breanna Stewart also left Seattle for New York in free agency. The Storm were 11-29 in 2023, with guard Jewell Loyd leading the league in scoring at 24.7 PPG.
Seattle brought in veteran free agents Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith for this season and had a big turnaround results-wise. Five players averaged in double figures scoring, including Loyd (19.7 PPG), Ogwumike (16.7) and Diggins-Smith (15.1).
But Quinn expressed disappointment with the team’s effort at different points in the season. After being swept by the Aces in the playoffs in September, Quinn talked about it again in her postgame news conference.
“I will be better. Our team will be better,” Quinn said then. “Effort will never, ever be a thing for us again.”
Loyd and Diggins-Smith are both signed with the Storm for the 2025 season, but Ogwumike is a free agent.
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Kevin Pelton contributed to this story.
