Storm Fall Short to Mercury 72-68 Part 2
Additional thoughts, discussion, and interviews from Seattle's loss to Phoenix.
The Seattle Storm (3-8) narrowly lost at home to the Phoenix Mercury (3-8) on Wednesday night. There were a lot of bright spots in this game despite Seattle losing their 4th game in a row. If you missed it, you can read the full game recap at the link below.
In Part 2, I wrote about how Seattle and Phoenix have similar records but much different long-term outcomes. I discussed the comparisons between Flau’jae Johnson and Kahleah Copper. And questioned whether or not Awa Fam is already Seattle’s best player after just five games in a Storm uniform. I’ve included the post-game audio interviews with players and Coach Raman.
Similar Records But a Major Difference
Both the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury find themselves near the bottom of the WNBA standings. However, how they’ve gotten there is with two very different paths.
After failing to get out of the first round with an older veteran core, Seattle’s front office decided it was time to go in a new direction. They let Coach Noelle Quinn go and didn’t try to bring back their veteran stars. Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler signed with the LA Sparks. Skylar Diggins joined the Chicago Sky. Brittney Sykes headed north of the border to the Toronto Tempo. And Gabby Williams went a little further south to the Bay Area to join the Valkyries. Seattle was left with a very young roster. A rebuilding roster. They embraced building around much younger players that included 20-year-old Dominique Malonga, 19-year-old Awa Fam, 22-year-old Flau’jae Johnson, 23-year-old Jade Melbourne, 25-year-olds Jordan Horston and Zia Cooke, and 26-year-old Ezi Magbegor. The vast majority of Seattle’s new core is 25 or younger.
The Phoenix Mercury made some major moves in the 2025 offseason. They swung a major trade for Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, added veterans Sami Whitcomb and then DeWanna Bonner mid-season. They also had surprise additions in Kathryn Westbeld and Monique Akoa Makani. They finished last year with a 27-17 record, which was good for fourth-best in the WNBA. That gave them home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Liberty. Something they needed as they outlasted New York 79-73 in the winner-take-all Game 3 of the opening round. They surprisingly took down the #1 overall seed, the Minnesota Lynx, in four games (3-1) in the semi-finals before ultimately being swept by the Las Vegas Aces (0-4) in the WNBA Finals one year ago.
Fast forward to this season, and the Mercury are off to a very rocky start. It started before the season even got underway. They lost Satou Sabally in free agency to the Liberty. Kathryn Westbeld tore her ACL in the final game overseas in Hungary in late April. Sami Whitcomb injured her knee in training camp and has missed the first month of the season. Similar to Awa Fam, Monique Akoa Makani didn’t join the Mercury until late May due to her overseas commitments. DeWanna Bonner is turning 39 later this season, and Father Time remains undefeated. Her production has dropped over the past couple of years, and she can no longer be counted on to produce 20+ point performances regularly. All of this has resulted in the Mercury starting the season (3-8).