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Six-time WNBA All-Star Jewell Loyd has spent her entire WNBA career in Seattle since being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2015 draft. But now she wants out after a bullying investigation into the Storm coaching staff didn’t end how she hoped.
Alexa Phillipou of ESPN reports that has Loyd requested a trade on Wednesday after an external investigation into accusations of harassment and bullying by the team’s coaching concluded without finding any violations.
“The Storm recently received internal allegations of potential workplace policy violations,” the team told ESPN. “The organization retained an outside investigator to conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations. The investigation has been completed and there were no findings of policy violations or any discrimination, harassment, or bullying.”
Jewell Loyd Is Engrained In The Fabric Of The Seattle Storm’s History
Seattle entered the WNBA as an expansion franchise in 2000. Since then, the Storm has been one of the league’s most successful organizations. It holds the record for WNBA championships with four alongside the Minnesota Lynx and now-defunct Houston Comets, and Loyd is a huge part of that success.
Loyd helped Seattle to WNBA championships in 2018 and 2020 and has had a remarkable individual career along the way. The 31-year-old made one All-NBA first team, two All-NBA second teams and showed she’s still at the top of her game by winning the WNBA All-Star Game MVP in 2023.
But now it appears things are set to change. Seattle recently underwent a culture shift when superstar guard Sue Bird announced her retirement. That continued when league MVP Breanna Stewart left in free agency to join the New York Liberty. New York went on to win this season’s WNBA Championship. Now, it seems Loyd is heading out the door as well. And Storm fans will be looking at an almost unrecognizable organization at the start of the 2025-26 WNBA season.