Seattle Storm investigating allegations of player abuse: Reports

On By Littum

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The Seattle Storm is investigating its coaching staff after allegations of player abuse, according to a story released Friday by Chicago Sun-Times.

The Sun-Times reported that the franchise hired an independent law firm to investigate alleged reports of the team’s coaches bullying and harassing players based on on-field performance. The alleged abuse allegedly happened during training and games last season. ESPN is also reporting the news.

USA TODAY Sports reached out to the Storm and the WNBA for comment.

Noelle Quinn was appointed head coach of the Storm in May 2021 following the retirement of former coach Dan Hughes. Quinn is familiar with the organization, playing five seasons in Seattle before joining Hughes’ coaching staff in 2019. Quinn served as associate head coach in the Storm’s 2020 WNBA title run, led by Finals MVP Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, before her promotion to head coach.

In his fourth season as head coach this year, Quinn led the Storm to a 25-15 record before Seattle lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs. Quinn’s coaching staff includes assistants Pokey Chatman, Ebony Hoffman and Perry Huang. Storm star Nneka Ogwumike is the president of the WNBA Players Association, a position she has held since 2016.

After the end of the storm season in September, Quinn said she planned to work with an executive coach in the offseason to “continue to work on my leadership skills and all the things that are important to me in my coaching journey.” Quinn added that she was proud of the team’s “turnaround season.”

Seattle is not the first team to face accusations of player abuse. In August, Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby filed a federal lawsuit against her former team, the Aces, alleging discrimination and retaliation over her pregnancy before she was traded in January 2023. aces coach Becky Hammon denied the allegations.

Starring: Lindsay Schnell

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