Can Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith maintain the Storm’s standard of success?
As Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith sat side-by-side Monday morning at the Seattle Storm Champions Center, the Space Needle loomed from the window to their left. While Seattle’s star signings spoke, the needle’s golden elevator traveled the same 41-second, 520-foot track.
Up. Down. Up. Down.
The Storm, of course, are familiar with the view both from the ground floor and the observation deck.
One’s a whole lot easier on the eyes.
To date, Seattle has spent considerably more time at the top — with 18 playoff appearances, 14 winning seasons and four WNBA championships in 24 years. The champions center overflows with evidence — a quartet of title trophies protected by glass; a basketball honoring Sue Bird’s 2,000th career assist; framed jerseys of Bird and current Storm star Jewell Loyd; a wall featuring photos of Bird, Loyd and former Storm MVP Breanna Stewart peering past the aforementioned Space Needle.
There is an expectation in place here that some people may find intimidating.
For others, it’s a selling factor.
“I have participated in the construction of a home,” declared Ogwumike, who was formerly an eight-time All-Star forward and the Los Angeles Sparks’ 2016 WNBA MVP. “I’ve lived in a house that was built by the Lisa Leslies, DeLisha Milton-Joneses, and a host of other people. It was therefore very vital to come here because this place has a rich legacy. That legacy is not something that is taken lightly. It has expectations and a standard attached to it.
“I don’t really use the word ‘pressure,’ per se, unless you’re making diamonds. But I think the standard and the expectation and the history and the legacy that comes with considering a team like this — with a team welcoming us in like this, and us continuing to build off of that — is what really drew me here.”
In the Storm’s first season since Bird’s retirement (and Stewart’s relocation to the New York Liberty), that house took some hits. Seattle plummeted to 11-29 in 2023, finishing next-to-last in a 12-team league and delivering its lowest winning percentage since its inaugural season in 2000.
And yet, the offseason signings of Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith alter the franchise’s immediate trajectory — forming a super team to rival the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces and Eastern Conference champion New York Liberty.
