The Impact of the Storm’s Center for Basketball Performance
By Christan Braswell
Seattle, WA - Training camp is underway for the Seattle Storm, who will play the Washington Mystics in the season opener on May 14. First, they have two preseason games, with the first against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 4. Expectations couldn’t be higher for Seattle after signing superstars Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins this offseason, joining forces with franchise cornerstone Jewell Loyd.
Seattle’s state-of-the-art nucleus for basketball operations, the Center for Basketball Performance, ushers in a new beginning on and off the court. The facility boasts several lounge areas, a nutrition center, and a fieldhouse-sized locker room. Designed to focus on high performance, the center features the latest strength and conditioning equipment, health and wellness suites, and an aquatics center.
Sights and scenes from the Center of Basketball Performance on Thursday, April 18th, 2024. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Such a building with these amenities comes as a welcome to players and staff in training camp. Owning it outright has also allowed the team to get a jumpstart to start the season.
“That chemistry building is happening now,” Storm head coach Noelle Quinn told Circling Seattle Sports prior to the start of camp. “We’ve got players coming into market and working out individually but also together. I think that is the start of the foundation where chemistry comes in. Training camp is very short, and having a building like this helps with chemistry because they’re in the lounges together, in the locker room, etc. Availability on the court is so open because it’s ours. Those intangibles help with that as well.”
At the core of Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith’s decision to join the Storm, their desire to play with Loyd in a prestigious organization was among the main selling points. Another critical detail they were enamored with was the impending grand opening of their home away from home, the Center for Basketball Performance.
With just over two weeks before the season begins, time is scarce for teams looking to gel on the fly. For Seattle, the script is the same. Retaining the talents of Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike is one thing, but integrating them into the team’s system within a limited time frame is another. A facility like the Center for Basketball Performance will aid in the process as a hub for an assortment of needs all under one roof.
“I think I went through a stage in my free agency of being okay with saying things like that aren’t important,” Ogwumike said about teams having their facilities. “We’ve [WNBA players] been pushed into such a corner ‘you have to make more money, you have to do this and that.’ I do think when I had taken my visit here, let me tell you, they were working in there. They [Storm leadership] were like, ‘This is going to get done.’ I felt the energy of its completion, I felt the energy of its investment, I felt the energy of its engagement.”
Aside from playing with Loyd, Seattle offered Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith a solid foundation from day-to-day operations to ownership. Their only concern as a “Stormie,” as Ogwumike warmly put it, is to focus on their craft. With everyone on one accord, the mission is simple. Provide professional athletes with amenities that should come standard and compete for a WNBA championship.
Lynx guard Courtney Williams left the Chicago Sky in free agency and mentioned how she felt embraced by Minnesota’s organization during training camp.
“They showed they wanted me…then getting here and seeing the facilities,’ she said. “I’ve been on a couple of teams, you know, not going to take it there, but this is top tier. It makes you want to get in the gym. It makes you want to get better.”
Teams that either share facilities with their NBA counterparts (Fever, Liberty, Lynx) or own theirs outright, like the Las Vegas Aces and now Storm, will remain top destinations for free agents until other organizations seize the moment and join the party. The Phoenix Mercury will open their own this summer.
“Also, being around people telling me this is yours and what you deserve, she continued. “It was a feeling I’ve never felt before. I think when I was able to see it and hear Talisa [Rhea] talk about it, I realized that it was something that should be a priority on my list. We are elite athletes. We’ve been playing in such a transitional period of this league that I think, most times, what we want and deserve is heavily buried by this collective movement and selflessness of it all. I’d say now hindsight is 20/20 because that is important. I honestly never thought I’d play in a facility that was my own. Seeing that that’s now reality, I realize that I’m stepping into a physical representation of my worth.”
It tugs at the heartstrings for a former league MVP and WNBA champion to express such sentiments after 12 years as a professional athlete. Feeling that it took 12 years to be seen and treated with dignity and respect shines a light on how long franchises have functioned without the necessities to compete and replenish at the highest level.
During Sue Bird’s press conference after joining Seattle’s ownership group, a reporter asked Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel about Storm rookies experiencing the new facility.
“I would say I’m as excited for Nika Muhl to see it as I am for Nneka Ogwumike to see it,” she said. “To me, it’s not about if you had it before or if you didn’t; you all have it now. That’s what really matters. We’re going to go forward from this point where you all have it. So I have to say that as much as I love the rookies coming in and seeing it whether they appreciate how hard it was to get here. I look at Skylar, Nneka, Jewell, and some of the other players, and I’m so thrilled that we were able to give them this opportunity.”
The thoughtful wording of Brummel’s response is yet another example of why Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith speak so highly of Seattle’s leadership. In a moment meant for rookies, Brummel centered three phenomenal Black women with 19 All-Star appearances, an MVP award, and three WNBA championships between themselves. Three of the most polarizing talents the league has seen are receiving what they are owed, which was long overdue.
“I started in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for three years,” said Skylar Diggins-Smith. “We didn’t even have a weight room. It was the same as Nneka. You try to grow the game; you try to be positive. It’s kind of hard to criticize it when you’re in it. That’s the only way it’ll get better. I can’t say enough about how important that was for me being a mom times two trying to figure it out everyday. Just having that [the facility], its very considerate of your time, and thats very important to me. Time with my kids. It all just aligned for me and to be able to play with great players. It wasn’t a hard sell for me here.”
After her ordeal with the Mercury, Diggins-Smith dealt with it all in stride when most would not have. Away from the team and unable to use their training facility, she felt ostracized. Throughout their careers and before, players have accepted less for the betterment of all, whether tolerating subpar working conditions, outright mistreatment, or taking pay cuts to round out rosters. The days of professional athletes in this league continuing with the status quo are behind us.
“This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance,” said Ginny Gilder, co-owner of the Storm. “It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports.”
The Aces, Storm, and Mercury have taken strides to provide their teams with the tools to be the best people and players possible. The day has arrived for other organizations to step up to the plate.
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