After a 2016 campaign in which they led Seattle to a postseason berth, several members of the Storm are playing abroad this offseason. Here is an overview of where each of those players is located and details on the four veterans that decided not to play overseas.
China – Crystal Langhorne, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart
Three of the Storm’s starters are competing against each other in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, where Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles guided Beijing to the title last year. Other WNBA stars such as Maya Moore, Candace Parker and Tina Charles have also played in China recently.
Stewart is playing for Shanghai in her first offseason abroad, Loyd signed a one-year contract with Shanxi Flame, and Langhorne is playing for Heilongjiang. After her rookie year in Seattle, Loyd spent the offseason with Galatasaray in Turkey, where she ranked fifth in the league with 18.3 points per game. The second-year guard now joins a Shanxi Flame squad that recently won three straight WCBA titles (2013-15).
Langhorne is playing in China for the first time after previous stops in Slovakia, Turkey, Russia, Spain and Lithuania. She spent the last two years with Good Angels Kosice in Slovakia.
France – Abby Bishop, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
Now in her second year with Flammes Carolo, Mosqueda-Lewis is looking to build on a debut season in which she averaged a team-high 12.7 points per game for the French club. In 2015, Flammes Carolo lost to Jenna O’Hea and Lattes Montpellier in the semifinals.
After three seasons with Canberra Capitals in Australia, Bishop is now playing for Tarbes, which earned promotion this year by winning the French second division. Bishop, an Australia native, has also spent time in Hungary and previously played in France in 2012-13.
Turkey – Alysha Clark
Clark has played in Israel every offseason of her career, but this year she’s switching to Turkish club Adana ASKI. A number of WNBA players suited up for Adana ASKI last year, including New York’s Shavonte Zellous and Chicago’s Erika de Souza. In her last two campaigns overseas, Clark won back-to-back league titles and Player of the Year awards with Israel’s Maccabi Ashdod.
Australia – Monica Wright
Having completed her first full season with the Storm, Wright now plays for the Perth Lynx, marking her second stint in Australia. She was a member of the Dandenong Rangers in 2012-13 and has also played in Iceland, South Korea, Turkey and Poland. With the Perth Lynx, one of her teammates is former Oregon State and current Dallas Wings center Ruth Hamblin.
Japan – Ramu Tokashiki
Tokashiki remains with JX-Eneos Sunflowers, the team she has guided to six titles in the Women’s Japan Basketball League. She is a three-time MVP in her home country, and Tokashiki has led the WJBL in scoring back-to-back years (19.5 points per game in 2015-16).
Not Playing – Sue Bird, Jenna O’Hea, Noelle Quinn, Krystal Thomas
Bird hasn’t played overseas since 2013-14, the final of her 10 seasons in Russia. Quinn has spent time in several different countries during her 10-year career, such as France, Russia and the Czech Republic. O’Hea won the championship with her French club in 2015-16 before opting not to play this year.
Thomas, meanwhile, is spending the offseason as a coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix for the second straight year. She is an assistant with the women’s basketball team, focusing on both recruiting and player development.