The Storm have a rough road ahead to make the 2025 WNBA playoffs, and their off-court issues are threatening to derail that goal.
The Seattle Storm started the 2025 WNBA season as one of the league’s premier teams and a potential challenger to the dominant Minnesota Lynx in the Western Conference. But ever since the All-Star break, the Storm have been nearly unrecognizable. The team has been free-falling through the W’s standings in the second half of the campaign, highlighted by the most recent 85-75 defeat against the Atlanta Dream to cap off a now-six-game losing streak.
The Storm were at best inconsistent down the stretch before the skid, and in an attempt to remedy their on-court issues, they made a trade deadline move to acquire Brittney Sykes from the Washington Mystics for Alysha Clark, Zia Cooke, and a 2026 first-rounder. However, it might be the off-court aspect of the franchise that’s responsible for its woes. Reports have emerged that “verbal altercations” between players have been taking place in the Storm locker room, which is one reason Clark actually requested to be included in the trade that sent her to Washington.
Mystics beat writer Kareem Copeland took to X, formerly Twitter, to reveal what he learned about the problems in the Storm’s locker room from the recently traded WNBA veteran.
“Asked Alysha Clark if she had conversations with Seattle before the trade, and she said she requested to be moved,” Copeland’s post began. “Things hadn’t worked out as they envisioned, and she told herself at 38 years old, she was going to stay in control of her career. Wanted to play and be utilized.”
The rumors were doubled down on by another WNBA insider, who apparently heard even more details from behind the scenes of the situation.
“Can confirm Kareem’s reporting on Alysha Clark’s trade request,” Off The Record WNBA reporter Christan added. “According to multiple sources, there were verbal altercations in the locker room with teammates that also led to the trade request.”
Rumors of a storm brewing in Seattle are nothing new
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The rumors of these off-court incidents are reminiscent of the issues that surfaced for the Storm during and after the 2024 season involving now-Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd and behind-the-scenes disagreements. Loyd alleged that Seattle’s coaching staff was guilty of “bullying and harassment,” which led the team to hire a third-party law firm to launch an official investigation. The external inquiry ended in December without the firm finding any wrongdoing to report.
“The Storm recently received internal allegations of potential workplace policy violations,” a statement provided to ESPN read. “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.”
Seattle has also been rumored to have left multiple players disgruntled throughout the 2025 WNBA season as well. In June, iHeart Women’s Sports’ Khristina Williams reported that the league was once again launching an investigation into a complaint allegedly made by a former Storm player who claimed “an assistant coach directed profanity at them” during a game. Since Loyd was the franchise’s only former player on the opposing Aces squad, many believe Loyd was the accuser yet again.
The rumor was quickly contradicted by ESPN, which definitively said the W was not officially investigating the Storm.
Center Li Yeuru requested a trade from the Storm the same week and expressed similar unhappiness with her role in Seattle as Clark has. “I came to America only for one reason: To play basketball,” Yueru said at the time. “We have the best post player in the world. We have four post players, and I don’t feel I have enough time.
“When I only play with three-four minutes in a game, that’s a bit sad for me,” she continued. “I hope I can feel happy and excited every day, and I hope I can get some more time.”
The Storm made a trade deal to send the Chinese national star to the Dallas Wings not too long afterwards, receiving 2026 second-round and 2027 third-round draft picks in exchange.
“I’m so glad that I can play here,” Yueru told reporters after the move. “And, you know, play more minutes. “That’s my dream… The first dream here is that I can play more minutes.”
With Loyd, Clark, and now Yueru seemingly happier playing for any team but the Storm, it brings up a question of whether the current problems leading to their downward turn are a one-off or a result of a pattern. Either way, if Seattle doesn’t get to the bottom of the challenges the team is facing, both on and off the court, it could become a problem that ends up having a long-term negative effect on the franchise.
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