“We wouldn’t be nearly where we are without her,” Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams told The Next on Friday at shootaround. “She’s just such an important piece of this team, and there’s so many things that she does on and off the court, especially for me, that don’t show up on the stat sheet, and things that she won’t get credit for. But she’s just such a special person that those things don’t bother her. She just wants to do what’s best for the team, what’s best for the people that she cares about. I just hope people know that she’s quiet, but there’s so many things that are very loud that she does that aren’t necessarily vocal.”
It is a kind of selflessness that Magbegor feels allows her to play freely and confidently on the court.
“I think it’s different on the court,” Magbegor told The Next on Saturday at practice. “Yes, I shy away from the spotlight in terms of media like this, but I think when you’re on the court it’s kind of different. … I feel like I just love being selfless, so if it’s something that someone needs from me, then it’s like a no-brainer. I don’t even think about it in that way. I guess the spotlight kind of things I don’t really focus on that [when my team needs me on the floor].”
It is as if Magbegor finds comfort on the court, similar to the one she experiences when surrounded by people she is comfortable with. Storm guard Erica Wheeler explained it to The Next on Friday as, “she’s not as quiet as people think, she just needs to get comfortable.”
The Seattle Storm huddle up ahead of their game against the Minnesota Lynx on May 27, 2025 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo Credit: John McClellan | The Next)
Head coach Noelle Quinn finds joy in moments she can tell Magbegor is comfortable because of how great a human being the young center is.
“I think we all view her as a stoic individual with no emotions on the court, but she’s opposite of that when she’s in her element, when she’s having a great time, and she’s surrounded with love and people who she trusts and have confidence in her,” Quinn told The Next on Saturday. “She is a free spirit. She’s very loyal. She wants to be the best for this organization, for her team. … I think the balance of who she is on the court and how she is off the court just makes an amazing individual.”
It is this combination of personality and talent that makes Magbegor such a key piece of the Seattle Storm.
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Early offensive lull
In the first 18 games, she only scored in double-digits four times. Comparatively, in the last 11 games (since July 6 against New York), she was held to single digits five times and has had six double-digit scoring performances. The disappointing start to the season has made Magbegor reconsider this season as one of growth.
“Obviously, sometimes things don’t go how you expect or plan them to,” Magbegor said. “When you have a bad game or two it easy to kind of get over that. But I think having a bad, in my eyes, a bad start to the season, and kind of just figuring out how to still help the team [while] feeling like you’re letting the team down like that was pretty tough.”
To get out of that feeling, Magbegor has focused on staying the course through a long season and knowing that, in the end, how you finish is more important than how you start.
“I think self-talk is really important and it’s something I’ve known is obviously important but something that I’ve definitely been trying to work on more, especially this season,” Magbegor said. “So just kind of riding that and knowing that, as negatively as you talk to yourself you have to kind of counter that with positive self-talk as well. So just kind of celebrating the little things, no matter how small it is because I think that builds the confidence.”
There was no specific reason that Magbegor struggled to start the season. After the July 13 loss to the Washington Mystics, Quinn mentioned that one of the foremost differences in Magbegor’s improved offense to that point was that “she’s getting healthy,” but declined to elaborate. Magbegor wouldn’t go into specifics but said that she is feeling good now.
“I feel it wasn’t anything serious, I don’t know if healthy is the right word,” Magbegor said. “I just feel like, you know, playing to start the season, I obviously wasn’t playing as well as I could have, and so I think it’s just a matter of confidence, consistency, and just, yeah, doing what my team knows I can do.”
That doesn’t mean all the pressure has been on Magbegor alone to perform as well as her team knows she can. Her coaches and teammates have supported her through it all with a focus on continuously instilling confidence in her.
From a basketball standpoint, Quinn pointed to trying to get Magbegor back into a routine, not just on the court but getting her back in the weight room and simplifying her personal development work.
To make things easier on the court for Magbegor, Williams has been trying to get into more pick and rolls with her to open things up for her because they know each other’s cadences so well. They also focus on letting her defense turn into offense, telling her to trust her instincts in transition because she can handle the ball so well at her size and finish at the rim.
Seattle Storm forward-center Ezi Magbegor shoots during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on July 9, 2025. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next)
On the mental side, Quinn never lost confidence in Magbegor, so she always reminded her that she trusts her.
“The biggest thing is just instilling the confidence and telling her that those looks were good looks,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t like she was taking bad shots, but to confidently take them, to get the reps in, to remove that doubt during that time when she is taking them on the court during the game. Just kind of pouring into her, telling her we need her, giving her the space to kind of feel what that is and [do] whatever she needed to do to get her mind and her heart and spirit back in alignment with that.”
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike and Wheeler spoke to how they have tried to help instill that confidence in her.
“It’s confidence, it has nothing to do with mechanics or skills,” Wheeler said. “It’s just about her confidence going into each game and each practice, knowing that she’s capable. Noey empowers her every day, the team does [too]. Nobody’s telling her not to shoot. It’s just more so about her being ready to shoot and just being confident that whatever shots she takes, it’s a good one for our team.”
“We know what she can bring [offensively] and she serves as our defensive anchor,” Ogwumike told The Next on Friday. “And us empowering her to understand that she’s a force on both ends of the court, I think has maybe helped her recognize and realize that we need her on both ends.”
Williams, who is playing her fourth season with Magbegor, says they make an effort to check on each other.
“She’s someone who’s always the same person every day, and that’s a gift and curse because sometimes you don’t check on these people as much as you should,” Williams said. “As we say, like check on your strong friends, and Ezi is the strong friend for all of us. … So we also need to check on her and make sure like, okay, what do we need to be doing to get things easier for [her]?”
Magbegor also feels she has done a better job this year of asking for things that she needs in certain moments to make up for when her natural personality doesn’t show that she needs that extra support.
“I think that’s something previously I wouldn’t have done,” Magbegor said. “I would have just kind of like, shied away and dealt with it myself, because that’s what I like to do. I think they’ve always instilled that confidence in me, but just maybe because I am so like, stoic and poker face, they don’t know that I need things at times. So just being more comfortable to ask for that.”
Defensive anchor first
One thing that has never wavered for Magbegor is her defense. The Australian has been and continues to be one of the best individual defenders in the league, and she uses that prowess to anchor one of the overall best defensive teams in the league.
Magbegor is averaging 2.2 blocks per game this season, second only to A’ja Wilson, who is averaging 2.3. However, Magbegor leads the WNBA in total blocks (64), blocks recovered (32), layups blocked (58 according to Genius Sports tracking data) and games with at least one block (27).
Further proving Magbegor’s defensive strengths, she held opponents to just 0.820 points per chance on drives, the fifth-lowest efficiency allowed by any defender who faced 100 drives so far in 2025. As the closest defender on layups, she has held opponents to 41.9% on layups, the lowest opponent efficiency in the WNBA this season with a minimum 100 layups defended. Both statistics come from Genius Sports tracking data via the Seattle Storm.
Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles (31) tries to shoot over Seattle Storm forward-center Ezi Magbegor (13) during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, on July 9, 2025. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next)
“Every night, she probably has to guard the best player on the [opposing] team,” Ogwumike said. “Because of that, she’s involved in a lot of defensive action. So, ensuring that she’s locked in in that way, which she always is, is a way that she serves as our defensive anchor. … And then she’s also, kind of like our closer. She’s the queen of the paint on defense. And she makes a lot of bad plays look good because she finishes them off, not just with blocks, but with keeping them in play.”
Williams, one of the best guard defenders in the WNBA, praised her teammate for how many mistakes she covers up, saying she is always happy to repeat her praise of Magbegor until the end of time.
“She just makes us looks so much better than we actually are because we make a mistake on defense, we know we have one of the best rim protectors in the entire world behind us,” Williams said. “Obviously, her and I played four years together now, so I know when to let my person go. I just send that person to Ezi and just let her do her thing. … What also makes her a defensive threat, she’s able to guard one through five, genuinely, one through five. A lot of people say that, but with her, she can guard them well, you know. It allows us to switch in emergencies when we need to, it fixes a lot of matchup issues for us.”
Along the lines of cleaning up her teammate’s mistakes, Wheeler admitted that having Magbegor’s shot blocking behind her makes her cheat on her defensive assignment a little bit more.
“It was in Connecticut, I was guarding Saniya Rivers, and our coverage was to run her off the line,” Wheeler said. “She ended up attacking me and I was cool because as soon as I turned my head, I seen Ezi coming over. And I was like, ‘she’s got to finish a tough shot over Ezi or Ezi going to block it — Ezi blocked it and I was able to get the block from Ezi. So, I’m very confident, I definitely cheat a little bit more knowing Ezi is behind me for sure.”
Connecticut Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa spoke after the game Wheeler was referring to about just how much Magbegor’s presence, particularly her 6’7 wingspan, affects the opposition’s offense.
“She’s a long defender, so obviously she’s going to alter shots, make people think twice about even shooting, and she’s just a big presence inside,” Nelson-Ododa told reporters. “She’s 6’4, and she’s super long, that’s going to make any type of shot difficult.”
Wheeler also pointed to these kinds of plays, heralded unprovoked by many of her teammates, where Magbegor doesn’t just block the ball but keeps it in bounds and possession of her team, as giving energy and extra possessions to the team.
“I think those are the ones that make us super efficient in moments because it’s those key moments of momentum changes,” Wheeler said. “Because it’s a nice block and then you keep it in bounds and then are able to execute in transition. I think people don’t look at that. If you’re not a basketball player, they’re not understanding that part is super important, because typically when you make a block it’s out of bounds, it’s still the other team’s ball. She’s making blocks and it’s still in our possession. I think that’s super key.”
Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers goes up to shoot as Seattle Storm forward-center Ezi Magbegor comes over for the block during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, on July 28, 2025. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next)
While it is a blessing to have Magbegor covering up mistakes, the team also consistently has to work on not over-relying on her presence and making her job any more difficult than it already is.
“Ezi is not always on the floor, so if we just rely on her to clean things up then that’s where we can kind of get in trouble,” Quinn said. “So I think its two fold to know that Ezi is our anchor and that’s part of her description as the anchor is to be there, but also highly encouraging our group to guard our yard and be more aggressive on the ball so that we’re not putting her in predicaments of getting fouls or over rotating and giving up o[ffensive] boards. The more solid we are in the front the better we are in the back.”
For Magbegor’s part, she feels like she thrives in her defensive anchor role. As her career goes on, it isn’t just about blocking shots, it’s about improving her one-on-one and individual matchups and helping her team, particularly wanting to take some defensive pressure off of Ogwumike knowing that she takes on so much offensively.
“I definitely take pride in it,” Magbegor said. “It’s definitely something that when offense isn’t going my way I think it’s something I can kind of just contribute to every single time and it just helps the team so much.
The scariest part for WNBA opposition? Magbegor doesn’t think she has reached the top of her defensive game yet. She believes it has improved, but still thinks she can enhance her one-on-one game, assertiveness, and reading skills.
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A young veteran leader
One role that the 25-year-old Magbegor is less comfortable in is her more recent duties as a veteran leader. Magbegor said it wasn’t a role she wanted to take on at the beginning of the season.
“I’m six seasons in now, so it’s not something that you can hide from, unfortunately,” Magbegor half-joked bashfully. “I think just being able to have such experience and the teammates that I have played with, just being able to kind of gather the knowledge that they’ve all kind of shared with me [has helped]. … I think being a veteran [means] knowing how the season goes, knowing how to win games, knowing when it gets tough and just being able to kind of share that with the younger players.
“It feels weird that I’m like the middle of the pack now, but yeah, obviously still learning how to be that leader, and still learning how to do it in my own way. But it’s great having different leaders in Nneka, Sky[lar Diggins], AC [Alysha Clark], E[rica Wheeler], Lexie [Brown], so that’s helps as well.”
Ogwumike, the former WNBA MVP, ten-time All-Star and WNBA Players’ Association President known for her leadership, commended that quality in Magbegor.
“Ezi’s incredibly resilient,” Ogwumike said. “She navigates the ebbs and flows of seasons with such grace, but she’s fierce. And of a lot of people may not understand that from her forward-facing personality, but she has a lot that she offers, both from a wisdom perspective, but also performance out there. And I think she’s also growing to be the true veteran of this team. At this point right now, she’s been here the longest, consistently. So, we go as she goes.”
Magbegor has been able to learn a lot from Ogwumike about leadership and being your best self. She is also grateful that she doesn’t have to guard her anymore.
Seattle Storm forward-center Ezi Magbegor (13) drives to the basket as Connecticut Sun forward Haley Peters (7) defends during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on July 28, 2025. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next)
“She does whatever she can to win, to do what she can for the team. She’s the ultimate professional, the ultimate leader, and she does it in such a great way,” Magbegor said of Ogwumike. “I think with a lot of the players on the team, when they lead, we follow, and so I think it’s just a matter of meeting her where she’s at.
“She’s an incredible player. Like some of the reads that she makes, the shots that she takes, and it’s just like textbook, and that’s because she works on that behind the scenes. You don’t see how hard she works, but she works very hard. And so, I think it’s just great to be able to see that daily, and to see that it’s not luck or it’s not easy how she got to where she is.”
Her voice and leadership are where Quinn has seen the biggest growth from Magbegor this season. On the defensive end, Quinn can hear her more loudly communicating coverages and being confident in that way. Off the court, she is confidently pouring into her teammates, especially the younger ones like her accountability partner Zia Cooke.
“Ezi was our [Dominique Malonga], you know, the 19-year-old that needed some time to grow, develop and see how it is to be a pro and have longevity in this league,” Quinn said. “And I think now she’s comfortable, and she’s a champion, both here and overseas, and she’s in this pocket of maturity that is not only breeding into positive play, but positivity toward her teammates.”
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How to keep getting the best out of Magbegor
Continued confidence on both ends of the floor is critical if the Storm want to achieve their ultimate goal of a WNBA Championship.
“I think what she’s doing for us now is,” Wheeler said of what the team needs from Magbegor to be successful with their ultimate goal. “Protecting the paint, being efficient when she scores, when she’s aggressive, she’s very hard to guard, running the floor, just being able to be that defensive presence but also being efficient around the rim, that will definitely be key for us.”
The Storm and Quinn want Magbegor to be confident and aggressive on offense because it “helps the totality of our offense when opponents are forced to give her more attention. Quinn also knows that, while Magbegor is a super-talented defender, she is a more than capable scorer.
“She’s an All Star, she’s not just a defensive player,” Quinn said. “I think that’s where I want to get away from Ezi is just this on one side of the floor, because she’s very capable on the other side of the floor, it’s just about picking her spots. The efficiency around the rim is important because she’s getting the dives, the cuts, the dump-offs, the offensive rebounds. And then the actions that are outside of the paint, just kind of sticking to her strengths, not overthinking, shooting when she’s open, getting to next actions when she’s not.”
Ogwumike, who worked closely with Magbegor last season as her accountability partner, believes the key to Magbegor’s continued potent offense is ensuring she still gets her moments amidst a crowded scoring pool. She does what she can to talk to her on and off the court to help with that.
“I think Ezi is aways ready to go,” Ogwumike said. “When you have so much arsenal on the team you want to make sure that no one gets lost in that. So, ensuring that we keep her involved, ensuring that we encourage her to be aggressive, because we need her.”
Seattle Storm forward-center Ezi Magbegor (13) during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, on July 28, 2025. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The Next)
Williams will also continue to pour confidence into Magbegor with her words while getting her going in transition.
“I think that’s where she gets the most confidence because that’s where she makes these highlight mixtape kinds of plays,” Williams said. “I mean we saw in the Connecticut game, where she goes coast to coast, and she gets these monstrous blocks, but then keeps them in play, and then goes and scores on the other end. And maybe it’s only a couple points here and there, but these are the kind of plays that build momentum. And then that’s what gets her going into her post-up game, into her three-point shot. But I think she has to get going into things where she has the most confidence.”
Wheeler said she and the team will continue to instill their belief in her shooting into her and give her positive energy.
Everyone in Seattle knows how important Magbegor is to the team’s success, so they will continue doing everything they can to support her in performing to the level she has proven she can.
“The role that she plays on this team is a very underrated and not an easy one to fill,” Williams said. “There’s not a lot of people that can do what she does consistently. She’s asked to give so much effort on the defensive end and then have to also convert on offense after being our defensive anchor as well. So, I think she’s just in incredible shape. She’s obviously a freak of an athlete. And I think it’s her mentality and her unselfishness that allows her to come into her own as well and just be the perfect piece for us.”