INDIANAPOLIS — Staying put has helped Gabby Williams’ game take off.
The Seattle Storm forward is enjoying a breakout season, highlighted by her first All-Star appearance Saturday night. And she attributes it, in part, to being able to spend the entire season in Seattle.
“Me being here from day one of training camp has allowed me to just kind of get my rhythm a lot quicker, kind of establish my role,” Williams said.
Williams is the cornerstone of France’s national team, leading Les Bleues in scoring (15.5 points), assists (4.8) and steals (2.8) at last year’s Paris Olympics. She was also France’s second-best rebounder, with 4.7 boards a game.
Williams had 19 points in the gold-medal game against the United States, nearly forcing overtime with a shot from just inside the 3-point line in the final second.
Playing for France has meant Williams has missed large chunks of time in the WNBA, however. Last year, for example, she didn’t join the Storm until the end of August. The Chicago Sky suspended her for the entire 2021 season because she wanted to play for France at the Tokyo Olympics.
Williams has also played overseas in the offseason, which has caused her to miss time. A concussion while playing for French team ASVEL, for example, limited her to 10 games in 2023.
“I don’t think I realized how difficult it had been until I came on time,” Williams said. “The main thing was just being able to actually be home and move into my apartment vs. the lingering thought of, ‘I have to pack a suitcase in two weeks.’ I had just gotten used to it, so I didn’t realize how hard it was.”
That back and forth had already had Williams considering whether to play for France at this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, a pre-qualifier for the Los Angeles Olympics that begins Aug. 27.
But when Katie Lou Samuelson tore her ACL during the preseason, after the Storm had already lost Jordan Horston to an ACL tear in the offseason, Williams knew she couldn’t leave.
“I definitely can’t leave the team with nine active players,’” Williams said. “France understood. I had been in communication with them … so when I did call to tell the coach that wasn’t coming, he was like, ‘OK, I kind of figured.’”
Besides being in Seattle full-time, Williams said familiarity with coach Noelle Quinn’s offense has also contributed to her stellar season. Rather than trying to find her groove in the system or play catchup, she could simply focus on what Quinn wanted her to do.
“Just being more aggressive on offense, just kind of establishing myself as a facilitator or a scorer,” Williams said.
Williams has done that. And more.
Her 13.2 points per game are third-best for the Storm, behind Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, and are almost three points better than her previous best. She’s also on track to have career highs in assists (4.4), steals (2.4) and blocks (0.5).
Williams leads the Storm in minutes played, too, another sign she is indispensable.
Despite her numbers, and her performance for France last summer, Williams said she’d never really considered herself as an All-Star. It wasn’t until her teammates told her she was having an All-Star-caliber season that she thought it could be a possibility.
Hearing that helped her confidence, Williams said. Even more so was the boost she got from being selected, because it was opposing coaches who picked the reserves.
“I never thought I would be respected enough,” Williams said. “(Being an All-Star), I finally felt like they actually are seeing what I’m doing, respecting what I’m doing. It feels good just to have that respect from everyone.”
In yet another endorsement, Williams played more than 24 minutes Saturday night, second-most of any player on Team Clark. She finished with 16 points and five assists.
The Storm finished the first half of the season at 14-9, the fourth-best record in the W behind the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury. They’ve beaten the Liberty twice, split their two games so far with Minnesota and taken two of the first three from the Mercury.
But Seattle also has lost two of three to the Golden State Valkyries, and dropped a game to the Connecticut Sun.
“I do think we can compete with any team in this league. I just think we’re just too inconsistent,” Williams said. “We just have to prove that we can be the same team every single night in order to get people talking about us in those (contender) conversations.”
It’s a conversation Williams is very much here for.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
