Jewell Loyd interview: Leading young Storm, epic battle with Arike & Pickleball | Around The Rim

show we are going to have a guest this week so I'm excited about it special guests are always great for the show but this guest is not just any guest this guest is a two-time champion a four-time All-Star former rookie of the year I mean accolades go on and on and on but we are honored to welcome to the show Seattle Storm point guard Jewel Lloyd

hey Jewel how you doing thank you for the invite oh no thank you for making the time for us we know that you've been very busy your schedule is busy but um just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what the season is like um the next things that you have on your plate what you got going on but you know let's just start

here new year new season new team just what is the culture like in Seattle for you this season you know what were your expectations coming into this 27th season yeah no this has been a very um light fun challenging season so far uh you know you think about everything that goes into just you know all the new players new like really new coaches we're always able

to really have her her footprint on what we're trying to do here and so uh for me personally it's a different role uh being a vocal leader um being one of the the Vets now is always weird to say because I still feel pretty young myself but in this setting you know I'm the old head around here so uh just being able to just get to

know my teammates uh quickly and then understanding you know who they are what they like both on and off the court it's been it's been fun but at the same time it's been challenging but I like a good challenge tool I had mentioned to you uh when I saw you that I saw this video of you in the locker room and it kind of took me

back because as everyone knows for years it's been a three-headed monster when it came to the leadership of the Seattle Storm most of it on the old head Sue bird but then you know Brianna was also alongside yourself but like in this moment you were the voice of the locker room and all these young eyes were like looking at you and I was like wow like

this is really Jules team now so I'm just curious like how did you prepare um for what you knew you would encounter in a new leadership position in Seattle honestly you know I I never had to be a vocal leader here but I've been a vocal leader ever else everywhere else I've been um so something that I haven't done before um it's just depending on where

I was and I I'm very um observant so for the last eight years I've been able to watch and study what leadership looked like from a lot of different athletes from here you know I started off as you know Alicia Clark Jenna oh hey Sue um you know we had crystalline or Stewie Noe I mean I've seen so many great leaders here so watching them and

taking notes and understanding what it looks like what it feels like and then understanding who I am and what it looks like for me so uh yeah being able to be in a locker room setting and say what I need to say and do it in my way has been um it's been good and I think the group that we have they really respect me they

look up to me and that's the respect level is there and I'm able to kind of defer certain things to with Kia with with Sam who's been around even with Sadie we're all kind of doing it by command by communities so it helps me a lot it's not just all me and I'm sure in recent games and I think we might have touched on this too

it's like I can imagine what it's like as a leader when you are trying to get everyone on the same page and keep everyone encouraged and all that and then you kind of start out losing right and everybody's looking at you like okay what are we doing I thought this was the plan um but then you guys started to win and you started to um just

gel as a team and things are coming together what would you say is the biggest difference with the storm that you've noticed in those games early on versus the success you've been able to have as of late a lot of us is getting to know each other um that's the hardest thing they need relationship whether it's with a dog or new person business whatever it's the

time you need a time to adjust and you know we're still you know figuring out people's you know middle names you know so it takes some time to really gel and I think that's what we're seeing is that you know we have the potential we know that people with vanilla we understand the game of basketball but understanding just you know where people like to catch the

ball where they where their sweet spots at you know what motivates them and we've been able to grow in that and that's the thing that people don't really understand that it takes time it really does and if you try to compare this scene to all the Seattle teams like that team was our team was together for five years before things start clicking so um to try

to maximize everything in just a couple months is very tough so we're being patient we're understanding where we're trying to go um and we're just really enjoying the process so you mentioned um some of your teammates but being the quote unquote vet now um I got an opportunity to kind of talk to Jordan Horsemen during the draft and then had another opportunity to chat with her

mom so now I really feel like the oh head I'm out here talking to your mama right but I just I loved her energy I loved just how she approached wanting to be in the WNBA talking about how she watched the game beforehand and all the little things that you want to see in your rookies just kind of talk about your relationship with her and how

she's trying to be a sponge like what is it like to be a vet to someone who is literally brand new to this league you know she's done a great job of asking a lot of questions which I think it's very hard as a rookie coming in you don't know what to ask um and but for Jordan she's been very vocal in asking you know the

simple questions the hard questions the repetitive questions whatever it is just to make sure she really understands because she really wants to be good in this lead um she really wants to commit she wants to help as much as possible and that's just how who she is so she's been great to work with and getting to know her and you know we shoot all the time

together and right away you know the moment she got here you know I've talked to her and she was just like rounding up all these things like hey relax you're good like just got here like let's just get you settled in like let's unpack first and then we'll talk about the other stuff but um her wanting to learn and be really good in this league you

just see it and it's hard to always have a know someone's work ethic but seeing it up close and seeing every time you know she's here we're almost racing to get to the gym first you know and having that competition of this she wants to you know shoot with me she wants to learn and you know it's a little as long as she's asking questions and

wants to learn I think you know that's her ceilings can be very high and one thing Jewel um you know when you look at the start of the Season you know you're trying to get your team together um you're trying to get everybody on the same page get Jordan all these rookies going um but you're also trying to focus on your own performance and making sure

that you continue to play at a high level and have you played at a high level is it understatement um I am still like in shock after watching your performance against Dallas 39.7 for 13. like your efficiency from three was just crazy 12 12 for 22 from the field but like you are scoring the basketball in an incredible way this this season in particular and you're

on your way to what looks like a starting uh position in the All-Star Game and I'm just wondering in your mind when it comes to All-Star as it is right now fans get a vote immediately gets a vote the coaches get to pick the reserves um do you like their system do you like the way the All-Star voting happens do you are you someone who believes

this should be a reward for how you've played or is this really a a game for the fans where they should get the final say uh I would say I'm like 50 50. I think in general like you want to be rewarded for the work you put in um you know I think every time people have goals and that's a goal like you want to be

there um at the same time you know the fans want what they want and you gotta have a fine balance of being able to entertain but also reward the players um because it is something special it's something that you don't want to take for granted it's it's hard to do that consistently um but my job is to try to just do what I do and I

let everything else you guys handle everything off that what I my job title is um I think it's a 50 50. you know and it's a hard job because you know you do want to cater to the fans and make it enjoyable for them but we also want to reward hard work and your your job title to this point has been leading the league and scoring

so congratulations on that I know it's not something necessarily you ever set out to do maybe it was but in your in your role it definitely calls for it um with that being said when you have a game like you had with Enrique and you guys are just going back and forth and you are I mean the basket just looks huge like how does that feel

to be playing in that moment and how have you been able to be so consistent and scoring at such a high level this year and again like that you know I honestly I just think it's just for personally mean Enrique you know it's you wanna you wanna compete and you want to win games and that's what we know how to do and um I think for

me in the moment I didn't really necessarily see his like me versus her it was just like we need to win and I think that's the same for Thursday we need to win you know if these are good shots then this is the shots we're taking and you know in general I'm just trying to keep it as simple as possible um you know get to my

spots and feel comfortable there and you know stay fundamentally sound when I when I start to miss shots and whatever is because I'm not fundamentally sound or I get tired a little lazy in those areas um so I came in this season just you know on my benchmarks knowing where I want to go um make or Miss like I I would be okay because I know

I got to my spots and so um I'm just keeping it simple not overthinking it um but it's also how you prepare you know I think I prepared really well in the off season to get me ready for the Long Haul so I gotta get props to my training group and is that one of was that game like one of your most memorable on the offense

been I remember you going off on Vegas last year too was I was like wait a minute I should have pulled those numbers because I'm walking away from that game like okay Jules a real real problem but are those two games like two maybe that stand out to you from an offensive standpoint I know winning also helps but like are those two that you kind of

Mark like yeah like I did that it was good like you know I I send Clips in my my training team back home and I'm like I'm finally doing the moves you've been practicing for years so I'm I'm happy where I'm at and you know it takes some time to get comfortable and understand you know who you are in this league and so when you finally

are able to do stuff that you you know believes you could do it makes it just like finally you know um but yeah you know I think uh even in those games you know I look back and I miss some some easy ones some free throws things like that there's always things you get better at but um sometimes you also got to give yourself a Pat

in the back I know you are removed from college to the point where it's like it's not always there but when you think about that game with Enrique and how well Jackie's been playing it like we we have all been calling Notre Dame you know guard University pretty much but like what's the Legacy even when you think of you know what Neo Ivy's been doing in

the accolades that she's received just how does it feel to just kind of be able to continue that Legacy and bridging that gap between Notre Dame and the w yeah you know Neil she she recruited all of us so uh she gets a lot of credit for just an eye for uh talent and how to build it and you know we spent um I spent a

lot of time with her and her and you know Jaden and growing up and in the gym with each other all the time so she played a big role in just building belief uh more than anything I don't think it necessarily was X's and O's or all the shots we took it was just the constant communication the belief that she had in us that we could

actually be great and uh that's something I you know I I'm very grateful for and um even after our game with me and Enrique we both look at each other like bro like me I would be so proud of us um you know this is something special that we know that she had a big part in and um you know she deserves a lot of credit

and I know tarika wants to get to a couple fun things but my last question of course is going to be about pickleball my new sport exactly a new hobby actually there was I was running in my neighborhood today and I had to do a double take because there's a basketball Court where someone has put up a net in the middle and I was like okay

it doesn't look high enough to be a tennis uh net I was like I think that's pickleball so I'm have to send you a picture of it so you can you can tell me um but it's it's become a big part of your life you're an owner um you uh played in so many tournaments in the off season and newsflash you actually want to go pro

one day so give us some insight into your involvement in pickleball and and what it's been like for you it's been an amazing experience um just learning the sport itself learning you know the development and everything that's involved with it and I fell in love with it so much that I turned you know into an owner uh only in Miami pickleball club and ownership group and

it's been a great great uh decision honestly just knowing it and believing what the sport can do uh I play as much as I can and I I played internally like you mentioned and just it's a different mental approach for me and a different Outlets than basketball which I love it's different environment different competition different people and I uh you know I want everyone to play

because it's something that's fun but once you get addicted to it I think it's just a fun game and it's challenging in different ways and uh I definitely enjoyed and that's my goal is to eventually uh get out of the amateur level and become a pro but I need a little bit more uh practice but uh I'm ready to go I'm good I like where I'm

at well tarika I won't spoil our uh episode of off day but I learned a lot about pickleball and someone happens to have their own pickleball court I feel so bad and I just heard about pickleball like two years ago like where have I been girl fighter Rock it's the fastest growing sport right now Nate was the one who put me on pickleball the first time

yes it's legit it's legit or that and then you let us know which one of the of the items you prefer okay all right so we'll start off easy pancakes or waffles waffles my girl all right we outside or Netflix and chill Netflix and chill I'm a homebody I'm outside I would have never guessed that yeah my friends like I need more you know like normal

in the season it's Netflix and chill you know that makes sense that makes sense you gotta be focused that makes sense okay playlist or podcast playlist playlist love music yeah love that what's your favorite genre mommy rap it's probably r b but I have I listen to a lot of old school that's that's that's Gwen coming out right there that's there's Gwen we have to go

in yeah I was gonna have to bring her up before we got off of here of course but that's my girl got it okay summer or winter summer I love being outside I got two dogs it's easier in the summer so I'm I'm I mean I need I need a tan I like being I'm waiting on summer summer ain't got here yet I don't know I

don't know where somewhere at it's a little delayed it was I just came from Seattle it was like 60. so yeah summer on the way we're working on summer okay new clothes or new shoes new shoes new shoes I feel like regardless of what you like if you want to be like super casual you've got some new shoes and like elevates it right away you know

nice it's true same same yeah I feel like I could wear the same outfit but with four different pairs of shoes and Bam like it's four different outfits exactly you're good fats all right last one and this one might be a little tricky Seahawks or cracking I'm putting you on I know I'm saying seal because I know more about football than I do about hockey cracking

games are crazy like they're they're awesome so I I get it but I played football a little bit so I'm gonna go with Seahawks got it got it Rocky is growing crazy everywhere though that's another sport that is like ESPN just signed a major deal with hockey a couple years ago I just saw Vegas won a championship like that's another sport that seems like it's on

the rise I agree I went to Toronto earlier this year and I promise I walked away in three days nor more about hockey than I ever did in my entire life in Canada so they they're serious that's what they do no that's seriously what they do well Jewel thank you so much for taking some time to join us um we'll probably have you back before the

end of the season but we just love talking to you we've enjoyed watching you play and uh we love this new era like I keep calling it The Jewel Lloyd era in Seattle and watching you just grow as a leader um and everything that is to come for you uh there so please give everyone and say all our best and uh we'll be watching guys I

really do appreciate it I'll see you in Vegas I mean I'm not trying to you know I feel very confident obviously you in Vegas so I'll see you there all right later [Music]