Seattle Storm star and franchise member Jewell Loyd has requested a trade from the team after recently filing a player abuse complaint, according to several reports.
Loyd, 31, was drafted No. 1 overall by the Storm in 2015 and remains the team’s biggest star following the recent retirement of Sue Bird and the departure of Breanna Stewart after the 2022 season.
The Seattle Times, Chicago Sun-TimesESPN and other media outlets reported Wednesday night that Loyd requested the trade after an internal investigation stemming from her complaint about player mistreatment found “no findings of rule violations or any discrimination, harassment or bullying,” according to the Storm .
The Storm announced the results of their internal investigation earlier Wednesday, just hours before it was announced that Loyd, a six-time WNBA All-Star, was looking to leave the team.
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Jewell Lloyd.
Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty
“The Storm recently received internal allegations of possible workplace misconduct,” the Seattle women’s basketball organization said in a statement, according to ESPN. “The organization hired an outside investigator to conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations. The investigation was completed and there were no findings of any policy violations or any discrimination, harassment or bullying.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Storm for comment.
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The Sun-Times reported that the Chicago native, who played college basketball at Notre Dame, was “at the center” of the investigation. The newspaper reported last month that Loyd was the player who filed a complaint against the team over alleged mistreatment of players by the team’s coaching staff. and Seattle Times reported Wednesday that Loyd’s relationship with head coach Noelle Quinn appeared to have reached an “impasse” after their relationship began to unravel during the last 2024 WNBA season.
Quinn, a former WNBA player, was teammates with Loyd in Seattle from 2016 to 2018. Loyd won two WNBA championships with Seattle in 2018 and 2020.
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Jewell Lloyd.
Steph Chambers/Getty
Loyd, who wore the late Kobe Bryant’s “Golden Mamba,” shot a career-low 36 percent from the field and missed the final three games of the season with a right knee injury. Meanwhile, the Storm posted a 25-15 record before being swept in the first round of the WNBA playoffs by the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
ESPN reports that Loyd is under contract with Seattle for one more season at a salary of $249,032, before becoming a free agent ahead of the 2026 season.
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