2002 Record 17-15, .531 (4th in West) Points Scored 2188 (6th overall, 4th in West) Points Allowed 2103 (4th overall, 2nd in West) Scoring Differential +2.7 (4th overall, 3rd in West) Offensive Efficiency 98.8 (6th overall, 3rd in West) Defensive Efficiency 95.0 (3rd overall, 3rd in West) Possessions per 40 min. 68.6 (8th overall, 6th in West) What are these stats? Award Winners & Honorees All-Stars Sue Bird Lauren Jackson All-WNBA, First Team Sue Bird 2002 Draft Recap Rd. 1 – 1, Sue Bird Rd. 2 – 19, Lucienne Berthieu Rd. 2 – 28, Felicia Ragland Rd. 3 – 35, Takeisha Lewis Playoff History One of three years Last Appearance 2002, lost in first round

The 2002 season got off to a great start for Seattle when they won the inaugural WNBA Draft Lottery. With the number one overall pick, the Storm selected Connecticut’s Sue Bird.

Bird

All Bird did was get elected as one of the starting guards on the Western Conference All-Star team, finish second in rookie-of-the-year balloting and earn All-WNBA, First Team accolades. For the year, Bird averaged 14.4 points and 6.0 assists while connecting on 40.1 percent of her three-point field goal attempts and 91.1 percent of her free throw attempts.

Jackson

Lauren Jackson improved upon her excellent rookie campaign averaging 17.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.89 blocked shots while hitting 35.0 percent of her three-point field goal attempts.

The Storm made the playoffs for the first time in the team’s three-year history after winning seven out of its last nine to overtake the Portland Fire for the fourth seed in the West. Jackson averaged 20.1 points and 7.7 rebounds during that stretch, and Bird chipped in with 15.1 points and 6.2 assists including a 33-point effort vs. Portland. Seattle’s stretch run coincided with the trade that brought Kate Starbird to the team from Utah. Starbird averaged 5.9 points while hitting 45.5 percent of her three-point field goal attempts after the trade.

Improving from six to 10 to 17 wins wasn’t enough to keep head coach Lin Dunn in Seattle. She resigned at season’s end.

Seattle’s second round draft pick in 2001, Sameka Randall, was unable to stick with the Storm. The team’s second-leading scorer from the year before at 9.4 points per game, Randall started 16 of the team’s first 18 games in 2002, but averaged just 7.3 points on 34.8 percent shooting in that span. Seattle traded her to Utah on July 23.

Outside of Simone Edwards (84-of-158, .532), the Storm lacked any inside scoring presence. The remainder of the club shot just 39.7 percent from the field. Seattle was outscored by an average of five points per game in the paint as a result.

Head Coach Anne Donovan 2002 Starting Line-up G Sue Bird G Adia Barnes C Kamila Vodichkova F Lauren Jackson F Amanda Lassiter Key 2002 Reserves C Simone Edwards G Felicia Ragland

Who on the current roster can be the third member of Seattle’s version of the Big Three? The Storm has two of the best young players in the game in Bird and Jackson, but they need one additional player to give them a triumvirate that can challenge for a WNBA Championship. Kamila Vodichkova was the team’s third leading scorer in 2002 at 9.4 points per game, but she’s 30 years of age. Edwards averaged 7.0 points, but she’s 29. Nobody else on the squad at season’s end averaged more than 5.9 points.

How will new head coach Anne Donovan do out on the West Coast? Donovan led the Charlotte Sting to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons including a trip to the WNBA Finals in 2001. But those Sting squads were largely a veteran group. The Storm is one of the younger teams in the league.