What’s going on with the Seattle Storm?
Seattle Storm alleged investigation and trade request: everything we know
ESPN reported Wednesday there is no official investigation into the Storm by the league. Meanwhile, Li Yueru has reportedly requested a trade.
Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
The Storm, who are 4-4 to begin the year, are having a fairly normal season on the court. But over the last few days, we’ve seen rumors of a trade request and a reported investigation surrounding one of the WNBA’s most successful franchises. This comes after an offseason that was headlined by a Jewell Loyd trade request and the drafting of French phenom Dominique Malonga, and it’s once again the off-court reports that are dominating the news around Seattle.
It all began on Wednesday, when Khristina Williams of iHeart Women’s Sports reported: “Per sources: There is currently an investigation being launched into the Seattle Storm coaching staff by the WNBA and league security.”
Williams later followed up on that initial Tweet, adding that a source shared: “The league is reviewing a complaint from a former Seattle Storm player who alleges an assistant coach directed profanity at them.”
So, where do things stand one day later?
ESPN reports there is no investigation into Storm assistant
A few hours after the initial report by Williams, ESPN’s Michael Voepel and Alexa Philippou reported that there is not an active investigation into the Storm:
The WNBA followed up on an allegation that a Seattle Storm assistant coach cursed at a Las Vegas Aces player after the teams’ game Sunday in Seattle, a league source with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday. However, the source said there is not an investigation into the Storm.
ESPN’s reporting also made clear that the incident took place in Sunday’s game between the Storm and the Aces, in which the Aces came away with a 75-70 victory.
While there is still no explicit confirmation about which player made the allegation, Jewell Loyd is the only current Aces player who was previously on the Storm. Loyd, who was traded to the Aces in February, currently averages 10.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
If it were Loyd, it wouldn’t be the first time Loyd has filed a complaint against the Storm coaching staff this year. Loyd previously alleged that the Storm staff partook in “bullying and harassment,” which Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times reported in November.
In response, the Storm hired an external law firm to investigate those allegations.
ESPN reported in December that an outside investigation concluded without finding any wrongdoing.
“The Storm recently received internal allegations of potential workplace policy violations,” read a statement provided to 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.”
For now, it appears that there is no further investigation into the Storm in regards to Sunday’s alleged incident. The Storm and Aces next face off on June 20th.
Li Yueru requests a trade
In addition to yesterday’s reports surrounding an incident between the Storm and a former player, Storm forward Li Yueru reportedly requested a trade, which was first reported by Williams.
At Storm practice on Thursday, she further elaborated on where she stood with Seattle.
“I came to America only for one reason, to play basketball,” Yueru said at Storm practice on Thursday, per Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. “This team is really perfect… We have the best post player in the world, we have four post players, and I don’t feel I have enough time.”
Whether or not Yueru gets traded remains to be seen.
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