
Courtside
By Anthony L. Cuaycong
To argue that the Storm have not had a good season would be to understate the obvious. They were, to be sure, pegged to have a down campaign from the outset. After coming close to the title anew in 2022, they prepped themselves for a rebuild following the retirement of icon Sue Bird and the departure of perennial Most Valuable Player award candidate Breanna Stewart. That said, they were only too keen to compete for a playoff spot, what with five-time All-Star Jewell Loyd still in the fold and expected to lead the charge.
Twenty-eight games into the season, it’s clear that the Storm are hard-pressed to meet their objective. For all their resiliency, they simply do not have the talent and depth to get within distance of mediocrity, let alone keep pace with the league elite. At seven and 21, they’re five games out of the eighth spot in Women’s National Basketball Association standings. And although they still have a mathematical chance of claiming a postseason berth with 12 matches left in their schedule, conventional wisdom has pegged their capacity to escape from their next-to-last position as doubtful at best.
As if the Storm needed any more challenges along the way, they found themselves absorbing yet another setback with the loss of starter Gabby Williams due to injury. She had previously joined them midstream following a stint in France, and could well have been barred from playing in the league had she continued to ply her trade outside of the United States after the May 19 cutoff, per prioritization rules. And she was effective, too; her improved play coincided with their modest gains of three victories in four starts just before the fateful set-to against the Sun that had her sidelined the other day.
Considering that Williams has a stress fracture in her left foot, the Storm would be fortunate to see her back in action before the end of the regular season next month. Needless to say, her absence makes their goal even more difficult to accomplish. In any case, their problems will extend to 2024, when she will again face prioritization prohibitions due to commitments in France. Which is just too bad. Fans in the Emerald City, among the most loyal in the WNBA, deserve better.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.