The Basics
Position: Guard
Current Team: Seattle Storm | #24
Draft: 2015 | Notre Dame | 1st round (1st Pick)
Key Accolades: Rookie of the Year (2015); All-WNBA Second Team (2016); All-Star (2018, 2019)
The Pet
The Down Low
You can learn a lot about a person by the company she keeps, and Jewell attracts incredible cheerleaders. Her Gold Mamba nickname comes from her mentorship by Kobe Bryant ("He's the first person to ever believe in me before I got into the league"). She dedicated her 2020 WNBA Championship to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, and sported Gold Mamba edition Kobe sneakers for the final game. Her other biggest cheerleader is her mom, who is in fact the best cheerleader on the internet. Just look at her perfectly executed photo array to celebrate Jewell's championship.
So why do we all root for Jewell? Well, for one, she's very good at basketball. She's an elite scorer, wiley defender, and key fixture to a championship team. And she never appears to take her success for granted. Instead, she gives it back. She founded the Gold Mamba Army to empower the next generation of young players. She's also been open about growing up with dyslexia and seeks to inspire those who have also struggled with a learning disability. Finally, here is a very sweet story from fellow Chicago Sky ticket holder Eric Nemchock about how giving she is of her time.
Highlight Reel
Notable Quotables
People need people. It doesn’t matter if you’re the 1% or if you’re poor. You can see that now. We need to all come together to continue working to flatten the curve. We need people. We can’t do anything without humans — we’re the most precious, indecipherable, confusing, inspiring creation on Earth. So hopefully we’re all realizing our value as human beings. Life is nothing to be wasted.
[Source]
Merch
More on Jewell
- The Incomparable Journey of Jewell Loyd (Ben Pickman, Sports Illustrated)
- Jewell Loyd Is in the Gym, Building Her Game and a Community (Jonathan Abrams, New York Times)
- Emotional Jewell Loyd dedicates Seattle Storm's WNBA title to Kobe Bryant and his daughter (Michelle Voepel, ESPN)
- Jewell Loyd and Alysha Clark are the Lifeblood of the Seattle Storm (Owen Pence, Winsidr)
- Role Model (The Players' Tribune)
- The Iso: Jewell Loyd (The Players' Tribune)
- Seattle interview series #10: Jewell Loyd (CirclingSeattleSports)