Loyd: Storm drama in past, 'at peace' in Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- Jewell Loyd said she is "at peace" heading into the Las Vegas Aces' first-round playoff matchup against her former WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, with whom she had an acrimonious split before being traded in February.

The Aces and Storm will meet in the first round for the second season in a row, with Game 1 set for Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Loyd played 10 seasons and won two championships with the Storm, who drafted her No. 1 overall in 2015. After the Aces swept Loyd and the Storm 2-0 in the first round last season, Loyd alleged harassment and bullying by the Storm coaching staff during the offseason and requested a trade. The Storm conducted an independent investigation into the allegations and did not find any violations.

Loyd said she is not thinking about the past and focusing only on helping the No. 2 seed Aces advance.

"As the season's gone on, it's just basketball, right?" Loyd said after practice Saturday. "I've settled that. It doesn't feel like anything. I'm at peace with everything."

Loyd returned to Seattle to face the Storm twice this season, with the Storm winning the first meeting in May and the Aces winning the second one in June. Loyd alleged that a Storm assistant coach swore at her during the second game in Seattle. The WNBA reviewed the complaint, but no disciplinary action was taken.

"The first time I went back, it was a little weird," Loyd said of playing in Seattle. "Being a vet in this league, I understand you go through ups and downs. You see a lot of change in the league and the dynamics. Here with the Aces, people see my value. They see who I am, my character and my reputation. I'm way more than just a basketball player here. I feel like I can be myself."

Loyd, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time All-Star, has started most of her WNBA career. She averaged at least 15 points per game in eight of her 10 seasons in Seattle, leading the WNBA in scoring at 24.7 PPG in 2023.

But she switched to coming off the bench in late July, not long before the Aces began what is now a 16-game winning streak in early August. Loyd suggested the change to coach Becky Hammon, saying she felt like she could better help the team in that role.

Hammon credited Loyd, who finished the regular season averaging 11.2 points and 3.2 rebounds.

"For someone with her resume, it's almost unheard of," Hammon said of Loyd volunteering to give up her starting role. "At first, I hesitated. ... I wanted her to know full well that my belief in her had not dropped a bit. After a couple more games, she came back to me, and at that point, I wanted to do what was going to ease her mind. You know, maybe I should have done it earlier. She was probably right all along."

Regarding Loyd's past issues with Seattle, Hammon said she and Loyd have not talked much about it.

"I knew there were some difficulties, but it's not like she is over here trashing the Seattle Storm," Hammon said. "We've had a few conversations here and there, but nothing in depth. She's never gone into any kind of detail. I can tell you she has been one of my easiest players to coach. She wants to do anything, whatever it takes to win, including moving to the bench.

"But in those situations [facing a former team], I feel like the first time you play them, there's going to be some stuff. No matter what I would have said, I knew some emotions would be there. I didn't want to make a thing of it, because it's probably already a thing. So I was just like, 'Go out and play solid.' If anything, I was pissed at us as a group because I didn't think we had her back with the way we played that first game in Seattle. We got our butts kicked."

A lot has happened since then, with the Aces moving all the way to the No. 2 seed after starting their winning streak with a .500 record.

When asked about Loyd on Saturday, the Storm spoke only about how difficult it would be to guard her and the other Las Vegas players. In Las Vegas' 105-75 win at Los Angeles in the season finale on Thursday, Loyd had seven of the Aces' WNBA regular-season record 22 3-pointers.

"You see how electric players can be off the bench," Seattle guard Skylar Diggins said. "We all know Jewell can shoot the basketball. We definitely have to defend the 3-point line. We saw [their] last game."