Seattle Storm guard Natisha Hiedeman is anchoring the team's young roster with her veteran experience during the 2026 WNBA season as the rebuilding franchise navigates a difficult stretch of games.
The Storm targeted the eighth-year guard in free agency with a guaranteed two-year, $1.5 million contract to provide leadership for the league's third-youngest squad, which holds an average age of 24 years and 102 days.
Hiedeman and 34-year-old Stefanie Dolson have become the designated veteran leaders for a roster currently enduring a seven-game losing streak, leaving the team at 14th in the standings with a 3-11 record.
Generational Banter with Teammates
During a recent media interaction, 19-year-old teammate Awa Fam playfully questioned the veteran guard about her age, prompting a lighthearted response from Hiedeman.
"How old are you?" asked Fam.
"Thirty?" she added.
Hiedeman feigned indignation before clarifying her actual age. "Awa?
I'm still 29. Girl, chill," she said.
Reflecting on the conversation, Hiedeman acknowledged the significant generational gap. "I was looking at it, and I'm like, 'Dang, it is a decade.
That is kind of crazy,'" she said.
She noted that the dynamic shifted once Fam realized Hiedeman had not yet turned 30. "But now she calls me young because she knows now that I'm young.
I'm back to young again. I said, 'Girl, I'm not even 30 yet, you can't call me old,'" Hiedeman added.
Rookie guard Flau'jae Johnson also commented on Hiedeman's extensive experience. "She's been in the league a long time," Johnson said.
Veteran Wisdom Passed Down
Hiedeman spent her first five professional seasons with a veteran Connecticut Sun roster before playing two seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, experiences she now uses to guide Seattle.
"As you get older, you've been around the game, you know the game, you know the players, you know most of the actions, you know a lot of stuff that's going on," Hiedeman said.
She explained that her primary responsibility involves passing down knowledge she acquired from older players.
"As you get older, whether you're on the court or off the court, your job is to help everybody on the court," she said.
Hiedeman emphasized teaching smaller nuances of the professional game.
"We obviously have a young team, so just helping them learn little knickknacks that the vets I had taught me," she said.
First-year head coach Sonia Raman explained that Hiedeman's character, winning background, and team-first approach made her a primary free agency target.
"As we looked at our roster construction, her character, her team-first mentality, her ability and impact on winning.
She's been in really high-level organizations," Raman said.
Raman praised Hiedeman's offensive capabilities, highlighting her perimeter shooting efficiency and versatility as a combo guard. "Obviously, on the offensive end she really pops," the coach said.
"Just a tremendous shooter and has been a really great shooter in her career. And she has versatility as a combo guard.
She can play the point, she can play off the ball, and so you can really put her wherever you need her on the offensive end," Raman added.
She also detailed Hiedeman's defensive advantages.
"On the defensive end, she's very long and she's really high level with deflections and with her reads, being able to understand positioning and where she needs to be," Raman said.
Hiedeman is currently producing career-high averages of 13.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while taking 11.6 shot attempts per contest.
"That's just my coaches trusting in me," Hiedeman said. "That's all that is.
Just my coach is trusting in me, me trusting in myself, and them telling me that when I'm aggressive, that's what's going to help the team."
Raman stated that Hiedeman's success is a result of preparation meeting opportunity. "With T, it's preparation meets opportunity," she said.
The head coach believes Hiedeman will continue to progress as she builds chemistry with emerging teammates like Fam, Dominique Malonga, and Katie Lou Samuelson.
"She's really doing the most that she can with that opportunity, and I think that it's going to even grow more from here," Raman said.
Raman emphasized that the current roster configurations represent just an initial phase. "This is just a starting point.
She's just learning how to play with Awa Fam. It's only been a few games," she said.
Despite a 0-5 record in the Commissioner's Cup race, Hiedeman remains confident the team will find its rhythm.
"I feel like the day that it clicks is going to be the day that we get some wins," she said.
Hiedeman noted the roster is focused on building synchronization. "You're just going to feel a shift in everything.
Again, we're young.
Well, some of us are young, but overall, we're still trying to get all the pieces and all the parts and just be on a tandem together," she said.
The losing streak marks a new experience for Hiedeman, who previously reached the WNBA semifinals in every season of her career and made three Finals appearances.
"I always had the expectation to win," she said.
Seattle next faces the Golden State Valkyries at Climate Pledge Arena, looking to break their slide and foster development among their young players.
