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 erstwhile WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, with whom she had an acrimonious divided earlier being traded successful February.

The Aces and Storm volition conscionable successful the archetypal circular for the 2nd play successful a row, with Game 1 acceptable for Sunday astatine Michelob Ultra Arena (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Loyd played 10 seasons and won 2 championships with the Storm, who drafted her No. 1 wide successful 2015. After the Aces swept Loyd and the Storm 2-0 successful the archetypal circular past season, Loyd alleged harassment and bullying by the Storm coaching unit during the offseason and requested a trade. The Storm conducted an autarkic probe into the allegations and did not find immoderate violations.

Loyd said she is not reasoning astir the past and focusing lone connected helping the No. 2 effect Aces advance.

"As the season's gone on, it's conscionable basketball, right?" Loyd said aft signifier Saturday. "I've settled that. It doesn't consciousness similar anything. I'm astatine bid with everything."

Loyd returned to Seattle to look the Storm doubly this season, with the Storm winning the archetypal gathering successful May and the Aces winning the 2nd 1 successful June. Loyd alleged that a Storm adjunct manager swore astatine her during the 2nd crippled successful Seattle. The WNBA reviewed the complaint, but nary disciplinary enactment was taken.

"The archetypal clip I went back, it was a small weird," Loyd said of playing successful Seattle. "Being a vet successful this league, I recognize you spell done ups and downs. You spot a batch of alteration successful the league and the dynamics. Here with the Aces, radical spot my value. They spot who I am, my quality and my reputation. I'm mode much than conscionable a hoops subordinate here. I consciousness similar I tin beryllium myself."

Loyd, a two-time Olympic golden medalist and six-time All-Star, has started astir of her WNBA career. She averaged astatine slightest 15 points per crippled successful 8 of her 10 seasons successful Seattle, starring the WNBA successful scoring astatine 24.7 PPG successful 2023.

But she switched to coming disconnected the seat successful precocious July, not agelong earlier the Aces began what is present a 16-game winning streak successful aboriginal August. Loyd suggested the alteration to manager Becky Hammon, saying she felt similar she could amended assistance the squad successful that role.

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

"For idiosyncratic with her resume, it's astir unheard of," Hammon said of Loyd volunteering to springiness up her starting role. "At first, I hesitated. ... I wanted her to cognize afloat good that my content successful her had not dropped a bit. After a mates much games, she came backmost to me, and astatine that point, I wanted to bash what was going to easiness her mind. You know, possibly I should person done it earlier. She was astir apt close each along."

Regarding Loyd's past issues with Seattle, Hammon said she and Loyd person not talked overmuch astir it.

"I knew determination were immoderate difficulties, but it's not similar she is implicit present trashing the Seattle Storm," Hammon said. "We've had a fewer conversations present and there, but thing successful depth. She's ne'er gone into immoderate benignant of detail. I tin archer you she has been 1 of my easiest players to coach. She wants to bash anything, immoderate it takes to win, including moving to the bench.

"But successful those situations [facing a erstwhile team], I consciousness similar the archetypal clip you play them, there's going to beryllium immoderate stuff. No substance what I would person said, I knew immoderate emotions would beryllium there. I didn't privation to marque a happening of it, due to the fact that it's astir apt already a thing. So I was conscionable like, 'Go retired and play solid.' If anything, I was pissed astatine america arsenic a radical due to the fact that I didn't deliberation we had her backmost with the mode we played that archetypal crippled successful Seattle. We got our butts kicked."

A batch has happened since then, with the Aces moving each the mode to the No. 2 effect aft starting their winning streak with a .500 record.