SEATTLE — Seattle Storm Chief Financial Officer and the franchise’s longest tenured employee, Tricia McLean, suffered a medical emergency on Monday and passed away at the age of 61.
Tricia recently completed her sixteenth season with the Storm. She was hired as the Vice President of Finance and Human Resources shortly after the Force 10 Hoops ownership group purchased the Storm to keep the team in Seattle, then was elevated to CFO in 2014. Throughout her Storm tenure, Tricia served in various roles including accounting, HR, financial analysis, information technology, legal, and facilities management.
Tricia, a graduate of Central Washington University and 2019 PSBJ CFO of the year honoree, guided the Storm through its most successful financial years in franchise history, while overseeing the team’s temporary relocation due to arena renovations, the 2020 WNBA Bubble season, and the move back into Climate Pledge Arena in 2022. As the franchise moved into its current growth phase, bringing on new minority investors and building its new home, the Center for Basketball Performance, Tricia worked to upgrade our operational systems and prepare us for an expanded, and expansive, future.
Ginny Gilder, co-owner of the Seattle Storm, released this statement on behalf of the Storm Organization:
“We are shocked by her unexpected passing, and profoundly aware of how important Tricia was to our Storm organization and the city’s sports community. She served as a member of our leadership team, but additionally Tricia was a dear partner and friend.
Tricia was an incredibly well-respected and highly regarded executive in professional sports. She joined our organization barely a month after Force 10 Hoops bought the team and was our longest-tenured employee. In her sixteen years with our franchise, she was involved in nearly every strategic decision made. She was involved in so many Storm ventures, including player matters, partner contracts, ticket pricing, merchandising, broadcasting, league reporting, lease negotiations, human resources, and the list goes on and on.
In addition, Tricia knew how to have fun. An avid skier, golfer, clam-digger, and yachting aficionado, with her family right at the center of her life, Tricia modeled an admirable approach to life: live it all with gusto. Love your work, love your work partners, and keep it all in perspective so you can maintain your focus on loving your family, friends, and doing the things you love. Of course, she had fun while juggling all her Storm duties; with her at our financial helm, we won three championships and became one of the most fiscally sound franchises in the WNBA. It was always a delight to see her and her husband, Chuck, at Storm games. We would exchange hugs and then, of course, she’d comment on some aspect of our business, how the crowd looked, how busy the team shop was, whether we were going to have a good game. That’s who she was: mixing business and pleasure routinely.
Tricia’s role at the Seattle Storm was only part of her vibrant and full life. She and Chuck raised three children, Chelsea, Charlie, and Julianne. Knowing how central Tricia was to our organization, we can guess how central she was to her family. We are heartbroken over their loss and offer our deepest condolences as they negotiate the painful road ahead.”
—— StormBasketball.com ——