Seattle Raised $11,000 For Therapy Fund Foundation Through Its 10 Cup Qualifiers

The Storm completed its 2023 Commissioner’s Cup game schedule and reaffirmed there can be more to the game of basketball than an orange ball and a stat line. Ten of Seattle’s initial 15 games held deeper meaning than wins or losses and contributed to a greater purpose.

In its third season, the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase is an in-season competition in which each team plays 10 “cup games” (first home/road game against fellow conference teams) during the first half of the season with teams. Over the course of the season, the two teams with the highest winning percentage in Commissioner’s Cup play will face off in a Championship Game on Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the home venue of the top team between the two.

While the players appearing in the Commissioner’s Cup Final receive significant bonuses, the WNBA and its teams also earn money for each win or loss in the cup qualifying games throughout the early season. For each cup game won, $2,000 is donated to the team’s chosen charitable organization. $500 is contributed per loss. The Seattle Storm ownership group has raised the bar, offering to match those donations, doubling the contribution for each game.

The Storm has selected the Therapy Fund Foundation, the leading organization in Washington state offering free mental health services to Black community members with equitable pay for clinicians.

“The Commissioners Cup was created to add more excitement to the regular season and increase the competitive edge in the league,” Seattle Storm Director of Community Engagement Crystal Langhorne said. “This year the focus is on women’s health. It could be anywhere from mental health, maternal health, cancer awareness, etc.,” I curated a list of nonprofits that fit that criteria and sent it to our social justice committee, which are a few of our players, and they chose the Therapy Fund Foundation.”

Therapy Fund Foundation’s mission is to provide free mental health care to the black community, with a primary focus on women. The non-profit provides desirable resources to those in need.

According to Therapy Fund Foundations website: “Our mission is to eliminate barriers to Black healing for those who have been historically excluded throughout the diaspora, by providing mental health education, advocacy, and therapeutic services at no cost to the client, that address those suffering from racial trauma, anxiety, depression, and other ailments due to systemic oppression, economic suffering, and intergenerational trauma that has not been addressed in the past.”

“A list of non-profits was brought to Jewell, Mercedes and I and Therapy Fund was what we ultimately decided on,” WNBA All-Star Ezi Magbegor said. “When us as players can offer opinions on these types of things, we really appreciate that and are excited that we’re playing for such a great cause this year.”

Seattle’s Commissioner’s Cup qualifier games were scattered throughout May and June, beginning with its home opener against The Las Vegas Aces and wrapping up with its final game in the home-and-home series against The Minnesota Lynx in Seattle on Jun. 29. Seattle finished 4-6 in cup qualifiers and raised a generous $11,000 for Therapy Fund Foundation.

“With the losses they matter a bit more because players are playing for these nonprofit organizations as well,” Langhorne said. “The more wins achieved, the more money that’s donated. Our ownership group has matched that, making it $4,000 for wins and $1,000 for losses that will be donated to Therapy Fund Foundation. It’s a very big incentive to play well for the nonprofit.”

This is the third season the WNBA has conducted its Commissioner’s Cup competition. The Storm won the first-ever Cup Championship, defeating Connecticut 79-57 in Phoenix on Aug. 12, 2021. Two years later and Seattle continues to value the importance of the cup qualifier games and their underlying meaning. Magbegor recalls giving back to the community in 2021 and appreciates the W’s mission to grow the charitable event.

“I think the Commissioner’s Cup is a great initiative that adds another level of excitement during the regular season,” Magbegor said. “Being able to raise money for nonprofit organizations by playing basketball is a great way to support external foundations.”