Earlier this month, the Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd was in the Republic of South Africa to play and talk hoops with young African women as part of BAL4Her, the league’s platform for advancing gender equity in the African sports ecosystem and celebrating women in the sports industry who serve as role models to young women across the continent. During a short break between her obligations, Loyd found the time to answer a couple of our questions.
Last season in Seattle, even though it was your best year statistically, was it the hardest year of your career so far, just because it was the first time that you missed the playoffs since your rookie campaign?
A lot of things happened in Seattle in the last seasons, obviously Sue retiring, Stewie leaving, our team shifting a little bit. We knew that there were going to be some bumps in the road, but I approached it like, “No matter what’s going to happen team-wise, I’m going to produce and perform, because that’s what I get paid to do.” When I got to Seattle our team wasn’t very good [and] we didn’t make the playoffs either, so it wasn’t the first time that happened. Still, it isn’t a situation you want to be in.
