SEATTLE (AP) — In the midst of her long retirement speech last weekend, Sue Bird took a moment to talk about the future of the only franchise she’s played for in her WNBA career.
And how that franchise – the Seattle Storm – is now in the hands of Jewell Lloyd.
“To see your game grow, to see you grow as a person, as a human being, as a basketball player, I’m still so excited to have a seat on the court and keep watching,” Bird said, words addressed to her former teammate. “I am so proud of you. You have truly become a great player to watch and a great captain to watch. I see how your team mate reacts to you and I am impressed.”
For more than 20 seasons, Bird was the face of the storm and for two separate stints she was joined by the best players in the world at the time in Lauren Jackson and Brea Stewart.
But Seattle has now entered a different phase of the franchise after Bird retired and Stewart signed with the New York Liberty in free agency. It’s a Lloyd-centric rebuild of Seattle, now in its ninth season.
And with it comes opportunity and responsibility that Loyd hasn’t been asked to take on in the past, especially with someone like Bird as her teammate.
“Jewel is fantastic when she scores for us and she’s very active in defence. And so what I’ve asked her this year in a leadership role is that she does that by example, how she shows every day, how she works, that this new team understands what it takes to be successful in this league, Seattle coach Noel Quinn said. And she did it at a high level. She came to camp in such a great place mentally and physically and I think she’s really excited about what it takes.”
So far, Lloyd’s example in court is what Quinn wanted. Lloyd leads the league She averaged 25 points per game, nearly 10 more than her career average. Her rebounding and assist numbers skyrocketed as she played 35 minutes per game, though that didn’t translate to much success with Seattle sitting at 2-6 after eight games.
But this is all the easy stuff for Lloyd, getting out and Play with confidence and vanity that made her a four-time all-star.
It’s the new driving piece for Lloyd, and in some ways outside of what she’s comfortable with. Whether it was Bird, Stewart, or a host of other veteran players who dotted Seattle’s roster in previous seasons, Lloyd simply raising her voice wasn’t necessary.
It’s becoming a need, especially with a team looking forward to a challenging season in the early stages of its development in the post-Bird, post-Stewart era.
“I’m definitely more vocal. We talk more, I think,” Lloyd said. “I mean, I don’t have to do anything crazy. I’ve always let my job do most of the talking, learning, and explaining. I think now he’s using my voice here and there, but I’m just not in the lead on this team.”
Loyd is quick to point out that Seattle has some other veterans like Mercedes Russell, Sami Whitcomb, Kia Nurse and Yvonne Turner who help round out a roster of seven players with less than three years of experience.
Whitcomb, Nurse, and Turner were all purposeful off-season additions from Seattle in part because they could take some of those intangibles off Loyd’s shoulders.
“It’s not just my burden, we all help,” said Lloyd. “It makes it easier because it’s not all up to me.”
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