SEA Στορμ

A gloomy start (2000–2001)

The Storm's predecessor was the Seattle Reign, a charter member of the American Basketball League (ABL), operating from 1996 through December 1998, when the league folded. Luckier than most localities that had an ABL team, Seattle was quickly awarded a WNBA franchise and began to play less than two years later.

The Seattle Storm would tip off their first season (the 2000 WNBA season) in typical expansion fashion. Coached by Lin Dunn and led by guard Edna Campbell and Czech center Kamila Vodichkova, the team finished with a 6–26 record. The low record, however, allowed the Storm to draft a 19-year-old Australian standout Lauren Jackson. Though Seattle did not make the playoffs in the 2001 season, Jackson's impressive rookie performance provided a solid foundation for the franchise to build on.

Sue Bird's arrival and the road to the WNBA Finals (2002–2004)

In the 2002 draft, the Storm drafted UConn star Sue Bird, filling the Storm's gap at the point guard position. With Bird's playmaking ability and Jackson's scoring and rebounding, the team made the playoffs for the first time in 2002 but were swept by the Los Angeles Sparks.

Coach Anne Donovan was hired for the 2003 campaign. In Donovan's first year, Jackson would win the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award, but the team had a disappointing season (with Bird injured for much of the year), and the Storm missed the playoffs.

The 2004 Storm posted a then franchise-best 20–14 record. In the playoffs, the Storm made quick work of the Minnesota Lynx, sweeping them in the first round. The Storm then squared off against an up-and-coming Sacramento Monarchs team in the West Finals. The Storm would emerge victorious, winning the series 2–1. In the WNBA Finals, the Storm would finish off the season as champions, defeating the Connecticut Sun 2 games to 1. Betty Lennox was named MVP of the Finals. The win made Anne Donovan the first female head coach in WNBA history to win the WNBA Championship.

A consistent postseason contender (2005–2009)

Key players from the Storm's championship season were not on the team in 2005. Vodichkova, Tully Bevilaqua, and Sheri Sam moved on to other teams. Also, the pre-season injury of Australian star and new acquisition Jessica Bibby hampered the team's 2005 season. While they matched their 2004 record and made the playoffs, the Storm's title defense was stopped in the first round by the Houston Comets, 2 games to 1.

In 2006, the Storm would finish 18–16, good enough to make the playoffs. The Storm put up a good fight in the first round against the Sparks but would fall short 2–1. In 2007, the Storm would finish .500 (17–17), good enough to make the playoffs in a weak Western Conference. The Storm would be quickly swept out of the playoffs by the Phoenix Mercury.

On November 30, 2007, Anne Donovan resigned as head coach, and was replaced by Brian Agler on January 9, 2008.

Although most of Seattle's major sports teams endured poor seasons during 2008, the Storm would be the only standout team in Seattle that year, posting a franchise-best 22–12 record and finishing with a 16–1 record at home, also a franchise-best. But the No. 2 seeded Storm lost to the #3 Los Angeles Sparks in the first round of the playoffs in three games and ended Seattle's season at 23–14 overall.

In 2009, the Storm were 20–14 and finished second in the Western Conference for the second straight year. In the playoffs, the Storm again lost to the #3 Los Angeles Sparks in 3 games, which ended their season in the first round for the fifth consecutive season.

A second championship (2010)

In the 2010 season, the Storm was almost unstoppable with a record-tying 28 wins and 6 losses in the regular season, including a perfect 17–0 at KeyArena. This was the most home wins in the history of the WNBA.

Along the way, Lauren Jackson was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week five times, and Western Conference Player of the Month three times, on her way to being named WNBA MVP for the third time. Agler was also named Coach of the Year.

In the playoffs, the Storm dramatically reversed their fortunes from the previous five seasons. They started with a sweep of the Sparks, the team that previously knocked them out of the playoffs every time they met. Then they swept Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury in the conference finals, and the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Finals. With two league championships, the Storm became Seattle's most successful pro sports team by that measure.

In June 2011, President of the United States Barack Obama invited the 2010 WNBA champion Seattle Storm to the White House. He stated that the franchise provided a good example for young girls with big dreams. He praised the Storm for the community service they perform and stated that being champions did not end when they step off the court. The Storm presented the President with a championship ring.

Postseason pains (2011–2014)

With the same lineup as the previous year, the Storm had much expectation for the 2011 WNBA season. But right in the second round a two-year home invincibility was broken by the Minnesota Lynx, who even left the Storm scoreless for the first seven minutes. Injuries hit multiple players, especially Lauren Jackson, who had to undergo hip surgery and missed most of the season. The regular starting five resumed play only in the last five games, but Sue Bird and Swin Cash kept the Storm competitive, finishing second in the WNBA with 21 wins and 13 losses. On the playoffs, a Mercury buzzer beater at the KeyArena eliminated the Storm in round 1.

In 2012, with Jackson absent for the early season training with the Australia national team and injuries to most of the team, including Bird, only Camille Little and Katie Smith played on all the games of the regular season. Upon her return, Jackson missed some games due to a hamstring injury but reached 6,000 points on her WNBA career playing against the San Antonio Silver Stars. The 16-18 record put the Storm fourth in the West, facing the Lynx, who posted the league's best record during the regular season, in the playoffs. While the Storm managed to force a game 3 by winning in the KeyArena at double overtime, a last-second attempt by Jackson went off the rim and the Lynx took the series-winning by just one point, 73-72.

After losing in the first round of the 2013 playoffs to the Lynx following a .500 regular season, the Storm missed the playoffs in 2014. This was the first time the Storm missed the playoffs since 2003.

Loyd/Stewart Era, third and fourth championships (2015–2022)

Following seven-year head coach & GM Brian Agler's hiring in Los Angeles, the Storm elevated President Alisha Valavanis to President & GM, and two weeks later, hired Jenny Boucek as the fourth head coach in franchise history. Valavanis and Boucek promptly got to work, trading Shekinna Stricklen and Camille Little to the Connecticut Sun for the #3 and #15 2015 WNBA draft picks, along with Renee Montgomery. Storm free agent Tanisha Wright signed with the New York Liberty, and a month later, Valavanis shipped the #15 pick to the Mystics for Quanitra Hollingsworth and the #20 pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft. Valavanis also signed Australian forward Abby Bishop that month.

Fast forward to April 2015, the month of the WNBA Draft, where Seattle now held the #1, #3, #20 and #26 picks. Days before the draft, Notre Dame guard Jewell Loyd and Minnesota center Amanda Zahui B. shook up the draft order, both forgoing NCAA eligibility and declaring for the WNBA Draft. On April 16, 2015, Seattle drafted Jewell Loyd #1, UCONN sharpshooter Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis #3, Vicky McIntyre #20 and Nneka Enemkpali #26 in the 2015 WNBA Draft. In the 2015 WNBA season, despite missing out on the playoffs with a 10-24 record, the number-one drafted Jewell Loyd would win the Rookie of the Year Award.

After having the worst record in the WNBA, the Storm ended up with the first overall pick again using it to select Breanna Stewart from the University of Connecticut. In the 2016 WNBA season, Stewart immediately emerged as one of the young rising stars in the league, winning Rookie of the Year, averaged an impressive 18.9 ppg and broke the record for most defensive rebounds in a regular season. Loyd would statistically improve, averaging 16.5 ppg, birthing a new, young dynamic tandem as the "Next Great Storm Duo" after Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. This would lead the Storm back into playoff contention as they finished as the 6th seed with a 16-18 record under the league's new playoff format, but would lose to the Atlanta Dream in the first round elimination game.

In the 2017 season, both Loyd and Stewart continued to get better and lead the Storm into playoff contention. Loyd averaged 17.7 ppg and Stewart 19.9 ppg. Stewart would become an all-star for the first time in her career and was one of two all-stars representing the Storm in the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game along with Sue Bird. The Storm finished as the 8th seed with a 15-19 record but would lose yet again in the first round elimination game by the Phoenix Mercury.

In the 2018 season, the Storm would elevate from a mediocre playoff team to a title contender. In the offseason, they made some slight changes to the roster. They traded for Natasha Howard and drafted Jordin Canada. Bird, Loyd, and Stewart were all voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, creating a "big three" on the Storm's roster. Bird also broke records in 2018 by becoming the franchise leader in scoring and the league's all-time regular-season assists leader. With Bird's leadership and the continued development of Loyd and Stewart, the Storm finished 26-8 with the number 1 seed headed into the WNBA Playoffs. They would receive a double-bye to the semi-finals. Stewart who averaged 20.0 ppg and 8.8 RPG won the 2018 Most Valuable Player award. They faced the Phoenix Mercury in the semi-finals where Stewart averaged 24.0 ppg and Loyd added 11.0 ppg. They would defeat the Mercury in a hard-fought five-game series, advancing to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2010. In the Finals, the Storm would sweep their opponent, the Washington Mystics, winning their first championship in eight years, Stewart was named Finals MVP.

Even before the season started, 2019 was a year defined by health issues for the Storm. On April 15, Stewart ruptured her Achilles tendon playing in a Euroleague game for Dynamo Kursk when she collided with Brittney Griner, putting her out for the entire 2019 season. Four days later, head coach Dan Hughes was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his colon; he had it removed in May and missed the entire season, with assistant Gary Kloppenburg taking over in an interim role Later that month, after the Storm finished their preseason schedule, it was announced that Bird would have to undergo knee surgery, sidelining her too for the year.

With Bird out, Canada stepped into the starting point guard role, finishing 2019 third in the WNBA in assists per game (5.5) and second in steals per game (2.3). Meanwhile, without Stewart and with Loyd missing seven games with an injury of her own, Howard became the focal point of the Seattle offense, scoring a career-high 18.1 points per game. The shorthanded Storm finished the season 18-16, earning the No. 6 seed in the 2019 WNBA playoffs. Seattle won its first-round matchup against the Minnesota Lynx, 84-74, and then lost in the second round to the Los Angeles Sparks, 92-69.

The 2020 WNBA season was atypical, played entirely inside Bradenton, Florida's IMG Academy, dubbed the "wubble," the WNBA's version of the NBA's Bubble. The Storm entered the wubble with Bird and Stewart back, but without head coach Dan Hughes, whose cancer diagnosis made him a health risk. Bird missed several games with a left knee bone bruise, but came back for the playoffs, in which the Storm didn't lose a single game. The Storm closed out the top-ranked Las Vegas Aces in three games en route to their fourth championship, with Stewart again named Finals MVP. The Storm remained at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett for the 2021 season with limited capacity due to COVID guidelines.

The Storm moved to their new home at Climate Pledge Arena for the 2022 season and played their regular season game there on May 6, 2022. Sue Bird announced that she would retire at the end of the season and drew a franchise record crowd of 18,100 spectators for her last regular season game.