2023 Seattle Storm Schedule

[David]

The following is the complete 2023 Regular Season schedule for the Seattle Storm.

The Storm are entering their 24th Season as members of the WNBA. The Storm play in the Western Conference, along with the Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, and the Phoenix Mercury.

Seattle enters 2023 as a team with a new identity and something to prove after losing key members of its core; franchise icon Sue Bird, drafted by the team in 2002, finally hung the sneakers up after a 19 season career and 4 WNBA Championships. The biggest blow came with 2016 1st Overall Draft Pick Breanna Stewart leaving the team after seven seasons, opting to return home to New York than take over as the face of the Storm franchise. The Storm also lost a bulk of its roster due to expiring contracts and retirements. Only Jewell Loyd (G), Mercedes Russell (C) and Ezi Magbegor return from the 2022 squad.

A familiar face in Sami Whitcomb (G) returns to Seattle. Whitcomb returns to the Emerald City after spending the past two seasons with the New York Liberty. Whitcomb, a key member of the Storm's bench from 2017-2022 that contributed to 2 WNBA Championships, returns as a veteran starter, building up on her previous two seasons in New York. Seattle will also have the benefit of seeing last year's 3rd Round Pick, Jade Melbourne (G) join the team a year after being drafted.

Veteran moves were also made to make up for the loss and leadership of Bird and Stewart, including veterans Kia Nurse (G) and Theresa Plaisance (F). Nurse joins the Storm having spent the previous two seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, while the 6'5" Plaisance joins after a Championship stint with the Las Vegas Aces. A roster of young players looking to find a home and rookies fill out the roster for a team looking to prove it can survive without the presence of Bird and Stewart.

Noelle Quinn will return for her third season as the team's head coach after taking over for Dan Hughes in 2021 after Hughes retired after coaching six games and a 5-1 record. In Quinn's first full season with the Storm, Seattle went 22-14, finishing 2nd Place in the Western Conference. Seattle swept its First Round series against Washington Mystics (2-0), and stole Game 1 lead in the Semifinals against Las Vegas. However, three close defeats ended the Storm's season, as Las Vegas won the series 3-1, advancing to the WNBA Final and defeating the Connecticut Sun in 4 games (3-1).

Seattle will play a total of 40 regular season games (20 home, 20 away) in 2023. The 40-game season is the most games scheduled in a WNBA Season in the league's history, and an increase of 4 games (2 home, 2 Away) that was implemented in 2022. Prior to 2022, the league had been using a 34-game schedule from 2003-2019, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the league reduced games to 22 in 2020 in a bubble hub city at IMG Academy, then went to a 32-game season in 2021.

This season will also feature the third season of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. The Commissioner's Cup will see all 12 teams play 10 intra-conference games in the first half of the season before the in-season break. The top team from each conference with the best winning percentage in their cup (conference) games will go on to play in the Commissioner's Cup Championship, set to take place July 26th at Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix, AZ.  The total prize pool is valued at $500,000, with the winning team sharing the prize of $375,000 while the runner up shares a $120,000 prize.  Seattle won the inaugural Commissioner's Cup in 2021, defeating the Eastern Conference representative Connecticut Sun 79-57 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ. Last season, Las Vegas defeated Eastern Conference representative Chicago Sky 83-83 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL.

Seattle will tip-off their season on May 20th against the WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces, kicking off a 3 game home stand before making its first road trip on June 3rd at Los Angeles. The team's longest home-span will take place August 8-18 with games against Connecticut, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Minnesota. Seattle will endure two 4-game road trips, the first from July 6-12 at Connecticut, New York, Washington and Atlanta. The second trip will take place from August 31-September 8, with trips to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Dallas.

The WNBA will retain its Playoff Format implemented last season, in which the first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-3 series, followed by best-of-5 series in the semifinals and the WNBA Finals. Prior to last year, the WNBA playoffs consisted of two-round, single elimination playoffs before the semifinal series from 2016 through 2021. In essence, the WNBA returned to the bracket format the league used from 1997-2015, however the seeding will remain a 1-8 seed format and not a conference format.

National broadcast information for games on ABC, the ESPN family of Networks, CBS Sports Network, NBA TV, Facebook Live, Twitter, and Amazon Prime Video are listed in parenthesis. All local games in the Puget Sound region will air on Q13 FOX (KCPQ). All local, and ION Television games in the team's viewership footprint can be seen on Amazon Prime. Game times are listed in Pacific Time (PST) and are subject to change, especially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Home games played at Climate Pledge Arena are listed in bold green. Updated results will appear bold for wins.

May
Sat., May 20 - Las Vegas Aces* (L 64-105)
Fri., May 26 - Dallas Wings* (L 91-95)
Tue., May 30 - New York Liberty (L 78-86)

June
Sat., June 3 - at Los Angeles Sparks* (L 85-92)
Tue., June 6 - Los Angeles Sparks* (W 66-63)
Fri., June 9 - Washington Mystics (L 66-73)
Sun., June 11 - Washington Mystics (L 65-71)
Tue., June 13 - at Phoenix Mercury* (W 83-69)
Thu., June 15 - at Las Vegas Aces* (L 63-96)
Sat., June 17 - at Dallas Wings* (W 109-103)
Tue., June 20 - Connecticut Sun (L 79-85)
Thu., June 22 - Indiana Fever (L 68-80)
Sat., June 24 - Phoenix Mercury* (W 97-74)
Tue., June 27 - at Minnesota Lynx* (L 93-104)
Thu., June 29 - Minnesota Lynx* (L 97-99) (OT)

July
Sun., July 2 - New York Liberty (L 66-81)
Thu., July 6 - at Connecticut Sun (L 73-93)
Sat., July 8 - at New York Liberty (L 76-80)
Tue., July 11 - at Washington Mystics (L 86-93)
Wed., July 12 - at Atlanta Dream, (L 75-85)
Sat., July 15 - 2023 WNBA All-STAR GAME
Thu., July 20 - Las Vegas Aces (L 63-79)
Sat., July 22 - Chicago Sky (L 75-90)
Tue., July 25 - at New York Liberty (L 82-86)
Fri., July 28 - at Chicago Sky (W 83-74)
Sun., July 30 - at Indiana Fever (W 85-62)

August
Wed., August 2 - Dallas Wings (L 65-76)
Sat., August 5 - at Phoenix Mercury (W 97-91)
Tue., August 8 - Connecticut Sun (L 69-81)
Thu., August 10 - Atlanta Dream (W 68-67)
Sun., August 13 - Phoenix Mercury (W 81-71)
Tue., August 15 - WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship
Fri., August 18 - Minnesota Lynx, (L 70-78)
Sun., August 20 - at Minnesota Lynx (W 88-74)
Tue., August 22 - at Chicago Sky (L 79-102)
Thu., August 24 - at Indiana Fever (L 86-90)
Sun., August 27 - Chicago Sky (L 85-90)
Thu., August 31 - at Los Angeles Sparks (W 72-61)

September
Sat., September 2 - at Las Vegas Aces (L 77-103)
Wed., September 6 - at Atlanta Dream (L 68-79)
Fri., September 8 - at Dallas Wings (L 91-106)
Sun., September 10 - Los Angeles Sparks (L 89-91)

* Commissioner's Cup games

AWAY VENUES
Atlanta Dream - Gateway Center Arena at College Park; College Park, Georgia
Chicago Sky - Wintrust Arena; Chicago, Illinois
Connecticut Sun - Mohegan Sun Arena; Uncasville, Connecticut
Dallas Wings - College Park Center; Arlington, Texas
Indiana Fever - Gainbridge Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, Indiana
Las Vegas Aces - Michelob Ultra Arena; Las Vegas, Nevada
Los Angeles Sparks - Crypto.com Arena; Los Angeles, California
Minnesota Lynx - Target Center; Minneapolis, Minnesota
New York Liberty - Barclays Center; Brooklyn, New York
Phoenix Mercury - Footprint Center; Phoenix, Arizona
Washington Mystics - Entertainment and Sports Arena, Washington D.C.

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[David]

Monthly Update: The post-Sue Bird & Brianna Stewart era began with a blowout, with the Storm falling to last year's WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces, 64-105 in the season opener at Climate Pledge Arena.

The Storm would play the next two games at home, both more competitive losses to the Dallas Wings and to the Breanna Stewart led New York Liberty. Seattle finishes the homestand 0-3 and begins June with a brief road trip to Los Angeles to take on the Sparks before returning home for another 3-game home set.

Although early, Seattle's 0-3 start appears it could be a season of struggles for a Storm team trying to forge a new identity. Seattle sits in 5th Place in the Western Conference, and 11th overall in the league standings. They are one of only two teams with zero wins to begin the 2023 season. The other team? The Minnesota Lynx, who sit in the basement of the Western Conference and League standings with an 0-5 record.

[David]

Monthly Update: The post-Sue Bird & Brianna Stewart era of the Seattle Storm continues to be a mix of struggles and close losses.

The Storm began June with another loss, falling to the Los Angeles Sparks. Seattle would get its first win of the season in the home-and-home series against the Sparks. However, Seattle would continue to struggle throughout the month of June, with most of the schedule seeing 1-2 losses in a row, followed by a win, followed by another two losses and a win.

Entering July, Seattle ranks near the bottom of the league with a 4-11 record. They remain in 5th place in the Western Conference and 11th in the overall league standings, just above a surprisingly struggling Phoenix Mercury team (3-11). 

The Storm also appear to be a longshot in the Commissioner's Cup standings, sitting with a 4-6 record with a -52 point differential. The Las Vegas Aces (14-1 overall, 6-0 in the Commissioner's cup) appear as they will run away with the bid to represent the Western Conference in the Commissioner's Cup.

[David]

Monthly Update: A July to forget for the Seattle Storm showed signs of growth in the latter days of the month.

Seattle entered July on a two-game losing streak, which would continue with an additional five straight losses entering the All-Star break. The losing would continue after the All-Star game, as the losing skid would swell to a franchise worst 10-game losing streak. The tenth loss was a painful one, as the New York Liberty erased an 18 point deficit to win by 4 points. Seattle would bounce back two nights later, with convincing (and much needed) wins over the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever.


Entering August, Seattle ranks at the bottom of the league with a 6-19 record. They sit in 6th place in Western Conference, tied with Phoenix with 6 wins, but are edged in the win % column by virtue of the Mercury possessing a 6-18 record. The same story goes for the Storm sitting 12th in the overall league standings; despite a win over Indiana to finish the month, the Fever (6-19) maintain an edge by virtue of a split.

[David]

Monthly Update: In spite of a trying season, the Seattle Storm at one point found themselves mathematically still in play to contend for one of the final playoff spots. Including their final two games of July, the Storm won 5 of their next 7 prior to the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. However, a 78-70 trip-up at home against Minnesota would damage the positive momentum. Seattle would get revenge in the second game of a home-and-home set, defeating Minnesota in Minneapolis 88-74. However, Seattle would lose their next three games and find themselves eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2015.

Entering September with 4 games to go in the season, Seattle ranks 11 out of 12 in the overall league standings with an 11-25 record, 2 wins and a series sweep tiebreaker over the Phoenix Mercury (9-27). The same applies to the Storm's placement in the Western Conference, ranking 5th just above Phoenix.

[David]

Monthly Update: The Storm end September (and the regular season) losing all four games of the month, ending the season on a 4-game skid with a narrow 91-89 loss to Los Angeles on Seattle's home court. 

Storm F Jewell Loyd sets the all-time WNBA mark with most points scored in the WNBA regular season, with 939 points in 38 of a maximum of 40 games. C Ezi Magbegor also sets the Storm franchise record for most rebounds in a single season (318), edging ex-Storm F Breanna Stewart's mark of 317 rebounds set in Stewart's rookie season (2016).

The Storm end the season with an 11-29 record, the club's least amount of wins since the 2015 Season (10-24). The 11 wins is the 4th fewest in franchise history, just behind the 2015 team, the 2001 team (10-22), and the inaugural 2000 team (6-26). Seattle finishes 5th in the Western Conference and 11 out of 12 overall, both just ahead of the Phoenix Mercury (9-31).

The Storm are eligible for a Top 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft Lottery. However, the WNBA calculates lottery odds based on the combined records of the past two seasons. Due to Seattle going 22-14 in 2022, the Storm have the worst odds of landing the #1 overall pick with a 10.4% chance due to a combined 33-42 record, the best of the 4 draft lottery eligible teams (Indiana Fever (17-58), Phoenix (26-50), Los Angeles (29-46)).