Seattle Storm Player Appears to Endorse Head Coach Noelle Quinn's Firing
The most fascinating story by far during this (brief) WNBA offseason has been the seismic shift in head coaching positions across the league.
Since the 2024 regular season ended, seven of the WNBA's 12 teams (the Dallas Wings, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Chicago Sky, the Atlanta Dream, the Washington Mystics, the Indiana Fever, and the Connecticut Sun) have parted ways with their head coach. The new Golden State Valkyries expansion team also announced their new head coach earlier this month.
Perhaps the most notable of these changes is that of the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun. Not only were these both playoff teams, but Connecticut's Stephanie White is expected to take over for former Fever coach Christie Sides.
One coach who doesn't appear likely to get let go of is Seattle Storm head coach Noelle Quinn. Although one of her players seems to wish she was.
On Monday, the @espnw Instagram account posted a graphic conveying six of the recent WNBA head coach firings (before Connecticut announced they were parting ways with White).
User @quantz.s commented, "& the storm is not one of those teams why!?"
This prompted a response from current Storm player Mercedes Russell, saying, "😂😂☕️!!!"
laughing at a comment calling for your coach to be fired, a coach you still play for is...a choice. pic.twitter.com/ruLOdKgmFu
— SYD FMVP❀A'JA M'V3❀PAIGE ROTY (@kamila_wbb) October 29, 2024
While Russell didn't directly endorse Quinn's firing, she certainly seemed to find the idea entertaining.
Russell has been with the Storm organization since 2018. She averaged 3.9 points per game on 15.8 minutes per game played in 2024, which marks a decrease from the 5.0 points and 19.1 minutes per game she amassed in 2023.
It appears that there may be some unspoken tea brewing in Seattle.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.