{"id":822871,"date":"2026-05-26T08:23:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/822871\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T08:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:23:45","slug":"how-stefanie-dolson-is-seattles-calm-in-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/822871\/","title":{"rendered":"How Stefanie Dolson is Seattle’s calm in the storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE \u2014 Seattle Storm forward Mackenzie Holmes<\/a> had just blocked Connecticut Sun guard Nell Angloma<\/a> and was letting out a celebratory scream, but the ball had not gone out of play. Quickly, new Storm center Stefanie Dolson<\/a> got behind Holmes, physically pushing her forward to where she should be playing defense. It was only a split-second, but it encompassed much of what Dolson brings to Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably like the stickler mother,\u201d Dolson told The IX Sports. \u201cIf someone\u2019s celebrating, someone\u2019s doing something, it\u2019s like no, we have to do this, like no, move, let\u2019s go \u2014 making sure people are in the right spots as much as I can \u2026 Just trying to be as verbal and vocal as I can on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that same home game against the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, Dolson was visibly frustrated that she was being fouled, but no calls were made. Even though it was visible, it was controlled. She just kept having conversations with the referees and playing the game, eventually drawing a flagrant foul on one of the visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that she does a really good job with managing that, because she knows that her teammates are looking to her and watching her as a leader,\u201d Storm head coach Sonia Raman said. \u201cSo, even if she gets frustrated in the moment for a second, she lets it go pretty quickly; she moves on. I think that she just knows the balance as a veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Raman\u2019s point, her teammates do notice and draw from her demeanor.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust her presence out there makes everybody feel like, \u2018okay, take a deep breath,\u201d Jordan Horston<\/a> told The IX Sports. \u201cShe\u2019s like that calming in the storm type of person for us and it\u2019s very important for this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle Storm players, from left, Jordan Horston, Jade Melbourne and Stefanie Dolson huddle together during a game against the Toronto Tempo at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on May 13, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Storm)<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t mistake calm for low energy or not wanting to win, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Stef brings a lot of competitiveness and fire,\u201d Raman said. \u201cShe\u2019s a killer, she impacts winning, she\u2019s about all the right things. You know, it\u2019s team first, she\u2019s unselfish, and she\u2019s really invested in bringing her teammates along. So I think she\u2019s just the complete package in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her 13 years in the WNBA are valuable, her two years in D.C. and just over a month in Seattle show that what she brings to her teams is much deeper than just veteran experience \u2014 it is her personality, her IQ and her desire to help others.<\/p>\n

Making the transition with Washington<\/p>\n

Dolson was signed by Seattle in the offseason as a free agent after spending the last two seasons with the Washington Mystics. In D.C., particularly last year, Dolson was one of the few veterans on very young, inexperienced teams, and drew heavy praise from her coaches and teammates for the veteran leadership she brought. That appreciation for Dolson and the way she impacted the young players there has endured beyond her tenure in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was amazing,\u201d second-year Mystics guard Sonia Citron<\/a> told The IX Sports ahead of Washington\u2019s game in Seattle on Sunday. \u201cI think her IQ is just off the charts; she\u2019s an incredibly smart player. And she was kind of just the person on our team that settled us, helped us never be too high, too low, and just always knew what to say and when to say it. \u2026 She was the anchor of our team, just mentally helped us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SoniaWashington Mystics players, from left, Sonia Citron, Stefanie Dolson and Jade Melbourne huddle together with the whole team after a game against the Dallas Wings on June 22, 2025 at CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C. (Photo Credit: Domenic Allegra | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Stef so much. I was super sad to see her leave,\u201d Mystics second-year forward Kiki Iriafen<\/a> told The IX Sports. \u201cSeattle Storm rookies are very lucky to have her. She\u2019s an incredible vet, she\u2019s a great teacher, a great teammate, great coach, all of that, and just like a great human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was kind of like a mini coach for us,\u201d Iriafen continued. \u201cAnything that she said we listened to. She kind of controlled the locker room. And then on the court she has a tremendous basketball IQ, so she was able to direct us \u2026 I would say just her leadership and her guidance was the biggest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iriafen said Dolson helped her a lot individually in what was a tough rookie year with a lot coming her way. Even when the pair were competing against each other in training camp, Iriafen said the vet was always looking out for her, always coaching her through it, and always having her back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to be a vet like Stef one day, and I truly mean that from the bottom of my heart,\u201d Iriafen said. \u201cShe\u2019s a great human being, but an even better teammate. Just the way that she was able to direct us, rookies, without yelling at us, but making sure we got the direction was just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StefanieWashington Mystics center Stefanie Dolson expresses her confusion while Kiki Iriafen walks in front of her in a game against the Atlanta Dream on June 15, 2025 at CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C. (Photo Credit: Domenic Allegra | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

The move back to Washington, the team that drafted her No. 6 overall in 2014, marked a significant shift for Dolson ahead of the 2024 season. She felt like, up until that point, how much she needed to be a vet varied. In 2021, she won a WNBA Championship with a Chicago Sky team that boasted Candace Parker<\/a> and Courtney Vandersloot<\/a>. The next year, she played in New York with Breanna Stewart<\/a> and Jonquel Jones<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t not talk,\u201d Dolson said. \u201cI feel like if I see something, I have to say it because I know everyone doesn\u2019t think the same way. I feel like I\u2019ve always naturally just been talkative. Even when I was in New York, we\u2019d have a lot of meetings, and I was still talking up because I just feel like I\u2019ve seen a lot of things in the league. I\u2019ve been in a lot of different positions, whether it\u2019s starting, coming off the bench, playing 25-30, playing five minutes; I\u2019ve done everything. So I always feel like I have experience to let people know about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolson still led in her own way, but both of those teams had plenty of veterans. The Mystics in 2024 did not. She had gotten older and more experienced each year, but said the personnel in D.C. required her to lead more, and then take another big step when the team got even younger in her second season.<\/p>\n

Growing into her role<\/p>\n

Now 34 years old, Dolson thinks her role as a vet is an obvious, unspoken thing. Seattle didn\u2019t have to say it; she knew that was part of why they brought her in. So she has no problem with identifying as a veteran, with seeing it as a core part of her identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of who I am now,\u201d Dolson said. \u201cAnd if that is the reason I\u2019m on teams or the reason I\u2019m successful on a team, or not, whatever the case may be, I think that it comes with the territory, being this age. So, it doesn\u2019t really bother me. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially coming here with Dom [Malonga<\/a>] and Awa [Fam<\/a>], two very young post players, like I\u2019m not coming here to play to be a huge part. Like I\u2019m coming to be a part and then to also be a vet to them as another post player. I feel like it is part of why I wanted to come here too, and why I\u2019ve been on other [young] teams \u2014 I enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle Storm, from left, center Awa Fam (11), center Stefanie Dolson (31) and guard Jade Melbourne (5) celebrate after defeating the Washington Mystics at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash. on May 24, 2026. (Photo Credit: Stephen Brashear | Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

While Dolson does enjoy being a vet to young players, there are caveats and layers to that enjoyment, because it isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it can be harder than people think,\u201d Dolson said. \u201cSometimes I find myself worrying too much about what everyone else needs or needs to know, that I can\u2019t even focus on what I need to do personally, but I do enjoy it. I love teaching people the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolson has yet to meet a young players she doesn\u2019t like and hopes to be a coach after she\u2019s done playing, but it took time for her to find a good equilibrium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my first season I tried to take on too much as a vet. Like, if there were any issues within the team or with the coach I was the one who was trying to fix everything, which really took me out of just enjoying playing,\u201d Dolson said. \u201cI do think I\u2019ve a little bit found that balance of being a leader but still trying to play, and also letting the cards fall where they may. I can\u2019t control everything that happens with the team, the dynamics \u2026 so if it happens, it happens. I try to just help where I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she is still learning and growing. Recently Raman reminded Dolson during a film session that she needs to be the one on the court who tells everyone where to go because she still doesn\u2019t think like that all the time on the court. But she feels she is starting to get there, remembering to make sure everyone\u2019s in their right places.<\/p>\n

Something that hasn\u2019t changed is how much Dolson enjoys teaching. Dolson said she has always loved teaching because it is like a puzzle, and she is a puzzle person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love like what piece can go where, manipulating different ideas, reading a defense and just countering and manipulating it type of stuff,\u201d Dolson explained. \u201cI love all those types of games. Like I love Survivor, I love Traitors, I love all these shows that are so manipulative and stuff like that. I\u2019ve just always been like that, a very conceptual person, so it\u2019s fun for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already impacting the Storm<\/p>\n

From one young team rebuilding through the draft without No. 1 overall picks to another, Dolson knew looking at Seattle\u2019s roster that her role would be similar to D.C.<\/p>\n

With her in the post, Dolson has last year\u2019s No. 2 overall pick 20-year-old Dominique Malonga<\/a> and this year\u2019s No. 3 overall pick 19-year-old Awa Fam<\/a>. Additionally, Mackenzie Holmes is in just her second season at 25-years-old while Ezi Magbegor<\/a> is still just 26 in her seventh season. Amongst the guards, Taina Mair<\/a> and Flau\u2019jae Johnson<\/a> are true rookies, while Zia Cooke<\/a> and Jordan Horston<\/a> are still just 25 and Jade Melbourne<\/a> is 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer experience matters for us,\u201d Horston told The IX Sports. \u201cWhatever she says, we\u2019re all ears, because we know she knows what she\u2019s talking about, she\u2019s been there, she\u2019s done that \u2026 and it\u2019s what we need for this group. So just having her voice, having her leadership, her presence, has been what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle Storm guards Jade Melbourne and Zia Cooke celebrate with center Stefanie Dolson during a game against the Connecticut Sun at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash. on May 22, 2026. (Photo by Emma Ottosen courtesy of Seattle Storm)<\/p>\n

Melbourne played with Dolson in D.C. before similarly signing in the offseason as a free agent and said she thinks Seattle made a beeline for Dolson, knowing how valuable she has been to young rosters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Stef\u2019s the ultimate vet,\u201d Melbourne said. \u201cShe\u2019s super good at sharing her wisdom with younger people. She\u2019s an absolute gem for our bigs \u2026 and guards \u2014 someone who\u2019s so knowledgeable and also able to share it. She\u2019s one of the smartest players I\u2019ve ever played with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horston said she would definitely echo Jade\u2019s characterization, that everything about how Dolson carries herself, to how she recovers, to how she goes about every day makes her the ultimate veteran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fourth-year player also praised her teaching. Though she couldn\u2019t quite articulate exactly why she is such a good educator, she explained that Dolson manages to simplify the game and help her understand things she or her teammates weren\u2019t otherwise getting. Holmes thinks her personality as a patient, attentive, calm person helps Dolson teach so effectively.<\/p>\n

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Johnson said she feels like Dolson always talking to her and telling her what to do and where to go makes the game a lot easier for her as a rookie. While she was welcoming and funny, making her great to be around, Johnson most appreciates her bluntness.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s blunt as hell,\u201d Johnson told The IX Sports. \u201cShe\u2019s gonna call it how she sees it \u2026 she ain\u2019t gonna tell you no bullshit. If we had a bad practice, she\u2019s going to be like \u2018that was terrible, we need to do better.\u2019 She knows because she\u2019s been here before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holmes said that having Dolson on the court is like having another coach on the floor. When coaches on the sidelines maybe don\u2019t see the same things because they are worried about schemes and matchups, Dolson is able to talk to her on the court and be vocal in timeouts rather than yelling from the sidelines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just the way she is able to read the game as it\u2019s happening,\u201d Holmes told The IX Sports. \u201cShe\u2019s able to see things live and make adjustments on the fly based off of how the defense is guarding us, so I think that\u2019s a really special skill that she has.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one pinpoint example could describe how Dolson has helped Holmes; rather, it is a combination of all those small moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just all the little things that she does,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s on the floor and she\u2019s saying, \u2018hey, they were playing you this way last time, cut next time,\u2019 or helping you on a defensive coverage \u2014 she\u2019s helped me with my ball screen coverages a lot \u2026 So just little things that add up, nothing specific, I think it\u2019s just cumulative, all the impact that she\u2019s made.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a lot about Dolson\u2019 contributions that apply to the whole team but part of her value is how she is able to connect individually with what each player needs.<\/p>\n

\"StefanieStefanie Dolson celebrates a made shot during a game against the Toronto Tempo at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on May 13, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Storm)<\/p>\n

Raman said she always sees Dolson pulling her teammates aside, telling them everything from \u2018shoot the next one\u2019 if they missed, to telling them to angle a different way to get open better, to plainly this is where you need to be defensively positioned.<\/p>\n

Dolson said she consciously tries to pick and choose when to give her teammates information or just support them so they aren\u2019t overloaded. With Malonga specifically, she is most often trying to build up her confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more like fueling her fire during the games because we\u2019re not necessarily the same on the court, she\u2019s more dynamic than I am. But then if there\u2019s different reads I try to help,\u201d Dolson said.<\/p>\n

For Johnson, she is working to teach her how to read her posts as a guard while trying not to overwhelm her in her first season. When Johnson told Dolson she wanted to watch film with her, Dolson responded, \u201cno, do you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I will literally give you too much information and dissect every single play,\u201d Dolson explained. \u201cSo there\u2019s certain boundaries where I\u2019m like, you just need to play, and so I\u2019m also just trying to be like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said she still plans to watch film with Dolson because she appreciates the different perspective and \u201cshe might say something I never thought about and change the whole dynamic of my season and what I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LSU product particularly values that Dolson can help her understand post players better rather than relying solely on the posts knowing her tendencies as a guard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnson isn\u2019t the only one who thinks that Dolson brings a unique perspective. Raman noted that coaches normally have the type of relationship she does with Dolson with points guards, the floor generals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to add a forward to the mix in those conversations, you get to all the layers,\u201d Raman said. \u201cYou get to all the layers on the offensive end, on the defensive end, you get to the players that are more screening actions and in the paint. So I think she just kind of brings so much to the table in that \u2014 covering an area that sometimes doesn\u2019t get covered as much.\u201d<\/p>\n

With multiple frontcourt injuries \u2014 Magbegor was injured in the offseason playing internationally\u00a0 and is still recovering, while Malonga suffered a concussion a few games into the season \u2014 and Fam arriving late because of overseas play, Dolson has been starting and playing more minutes than expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While she hasn\u2019t had the most standout stat lines, she has continued making a difference. Dolson is averaging 8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 56.7% from the floor and 40.3% from beyond the arc this season. On Sunday she tied her season-high of 16 points on 100% shooting from the field.<\/p>\n

\"SeattleSeattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson looks to make a pass against Connecticut Sun forward Aneesah Morrow during the WNBA game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. on May 10, 2026. (Photo Credit: Chris Poss | The IX Sports)<\/p>\n

Perhaps her ability to make a difference even when not scoring or directly assisting is most evident in her high plus-minus stats. In the team\u2019s two most recent wins, Sunday against her former team and Friday against Connecticut, she had the highest plus-minus on the team, at +16 and +24 respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a dimer,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou don\u2019t see that a lot as a big. You see that in NBA, like, Jokic, but she really can see the floor. So if you cut, she\u2019s going to get that pass, and she\u2019s gonna thread it on the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Dolson\u2019s playing time will likely go down as the season progresses and other players return, her veteran leadership, joyous demeanor and prowess as a teacher ensure she will continue to help this Storm team grow and succeed regardless.<\/p>\n

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