L.A. native Noelle Quinn is building her own culture in the WNBA

LAS VEGAS -- Draped in all black with her Yellow and White Air Jordan 1s highlighting each step, Seattle Storm coach Noelle Quinn sauntered in front of her bench, clapping exuberantly while Gabby Williams stood at the free-throw line. The first attempt falls as Quinn makes it to the baseline near the end of Seattle's bench. As the second tethered the net, Quinn continued to encourage her team as she swiftly returned to center court as quickly as the action.

Whether her Storm were trailing by 19 midway through the third quarter, or when they clawed their way back to a 75-75 tie during Friday's showdown with the Las Vegas Aces, Quinn, as they say, kept it a buck.

The Aces won the showdown, 90-86, to secure sole possession of sixth place in the WNBA standings. But for Quinn, it meant the same saunter off the court, whether or not her team completed the comeback, into the locker room, and then to her media availability before finally boarding the team bus.

Next stop: Los Angeles, where some may say Quinn is a women's basketball legend.

There may not be a calmer, cooler, and collected coach in the WNBA.

Quinn, 40, grew up on the cusp of Inglewood. Her mother, Golden, worked extra hard as an educator to give her daughter the best opportunities. And even though she attended a private school, starring for Bishop Montgomery in Torrance and leading the Lady Knights to four state championships, she never lost sight of where she came from.

One block removed from notorious gang territory, and around the corner from the famed Forum, Quinn said it was important to embrace being a product of the environment.

Last season, veteran Nneka Ogwumike was asked what she appreciated most about coming to Seattle to play for Quinn, to which the WNBPA madame president replied, "Noey doesn't mess around. ... She brings a lot of that gangster from L.A. ... I love it. ... She can be soft-spoken, but she doesn't play games."

Quinn embraced Ogwumike's comment as a compliment and went on to describe her version of what it meant to be "gangster," explaining that being raised by a strong woman who stressed education and faith in the home also taught her to be there for those closest to her. Her definition of gangster was just as important as the one others may use.

"I credit it a lot ... being from an environment where you have to work extremely hard, you have to be mindful of your surroundings," Quinn said during an exclusive sitdown with The Sporting Tribune, while explaining how growing up in South Central Los Angeles helped mold her. "You have to be mindful that the more you put into what you're doing, the more you will better yourself.

"But also, just the culture of understanding we're engulfed in an environment of love. It's about love, respect, and all of the things that come with growing up in an area like that."

ON THE BLOCK

The 83 Gangster Crips, better known as Eight Tray Gangster Crips, claimed territory on the west side of South Los Angeles - aka South Central - stretching along Western and Vermont Avenues and anywhere between Gage Ave. and 83rd St., hence, the 83.

Quinn grew up on 82nd and Western.

"But that's L.A. for you," Quinn said. "And then you go the next block over, you're in Inglewood, the Forum is right there. So yes, it's different worlds. ... It's big houses and small houses. It's projects, it's apartments, it's all of those things."

Quinn learned how to move within those worlds, with stern lessons of how to stay alert while absorbing a keen understanding of her life in those worlds.

She knew from a young age there was much more than what was staring her in the face every time she walked outside her house, where her mother made a home. Instilled in her every being was she could envision a dream and go beyond her 'hood to take advantage of opportunities to dream even bigger.

"It's a juxtaposition of worlds for me to go home and experience where I'm from in LA - 82nd and Western - to going to middle school in Westchester, to go into high school in Torrance," she said. "You not only get the education, you get the culture. You get a broader view of life."

Former UCLA and UNLV coach Kathy Olivier remembered sitting in Quinn's living room, hoping to recruit the 2003 Women's Basketball Coaches Association high school All-American, and credited her mother's upbringing for the woman who was named 2004 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and would become the first Bruin from either the men's or women's program to total 1,700 points, 700 rebounds, and 400 assists in a collegiate career.

"She did an amazing job with Noelle," Olivier said during a phone conversation.

Olivier, who also coached Golden State coach Natalie Nakase at UCLA, said Quinn has always been smart and always had a knack for communicating with others, whether it was as an all-Pac-10 guard, as a player in the WNBA, or as a coach.

"People listen to her," Olivier said. "She's always been like that as a player, and now I'm sure she's doing the same thing as a coach. She just knows how to deal with her players. She's finagling. She's figuring things out. She has a very high basketball IQ. And, she's successful.

"She was a great kid to coach, and it's even more fun watching her coach. I'm just so proud of her."

The UCLA Hall of Famer said she loved playing for Olivier because it's how she learned to become a player's coach.

"That's when I really learned it's important to have a very strong relationship with your players, an open communication and collaboration at that young an age," said Quinn, a two-time WNBA champion in Seattle, one as a player and one as an assistant coach. "She wasn't a dictator. She had so much pride for UCLA; she just always taught us what it meant to be a Bruin.

"She brought life into what it means to be a Bruin, and I'll never forget that."

GANGSTA NOEY

Skylar Diggins has one of the strongest personalities in the WNBA. Her mere presence commands respect.

So when her contract in Phoenix expired, she not only wanted to go somewhere she'd have a chance to win a championship, she wanted an elixir to her domineering personality. She needed someone to balance her erraticness, and who could get in her face to remind her she earned seven WNBA All-Star nominations and four all-WNBA first team selections.

"I knew I wanted to play for a coach that was going to push me, coach me, challenge me," Diggins said during a conversation with The Sporting Tribune.

Enter Quinn, someone who played against Diggins many times while still in the league, and has become an empowering and enlightening figure in her life.

"I think that we work well off of each other, kind of like fire and ice," said Diggins, a 2025 All-Star. "She's cool, calm and collected. She don't really get to high or too low. She kind of keeps it right in there, whereas me - all over the spectrum. But it's good having somebody like that at this point in my career, from a personality standpoint, that just fits what I was looking for, personally, where I was in my career.

"Obviously, I had the great facilities that we have in Seattle to use, but I think it was Noey and her patience helping me through that process and feeding confidence into me. I didn't know if I could get back to an All-Star playing level or not. But she really spoke life into my career again when I was maybe at a point where I didn't know if I'd have to retire or not."

For Diggins, who was coming off the birth of her second child, it was also important that her children see their mother playing for and paying respect to someone who understands what it means to be raised by a strong woman.

A strong Black woman, for that matter.

And who better than Quinn?

"Culturally matching is important in this league, where we don't have a lot of representation, especially those that are making a lot of decisions in a league that looks like us, not having a lot of representation at decision-making levels," Diggins said. "And so her representation is for my daughter to see what she can be and what she can accomplish in this league - not only as a player, but as a head coach.

"She's done some great things in this league at a young age ... her story is extremely unique, but I think that representation spoke volumes for me on multiple levels."

Erica Wheeler couldn't be any happier about her decision to sign with the Storm during the off-season, after asking Quinn for just one thing when they first spoke.

"Honesty," Wheeler told The Sporting Tribune. "I said, 'If you can't be honest with me, even if you know it'll hurt my feelings, I can't come play for you.' Because I think often times we have coaches that try to sugarcoat it because we are human at the end of the day. But I'm not one of those players who like to be misled. I like to face things head-on. I don't run from confrontation. I don't run from hard things. So that's why I told her if she can't give me that, I can't be in Seattle.

"And that's the one thing she's been able to give me, being honest with me when I'm playing well and when I'm not playing well."

For Quinn, part of her growth has also been enduring critical times, such as an external investigation of her and her coaching staff over allegations of harassment and bullying after the 2024 campaign, a probe that eventually found no wrongdoing in December.

Quinn put it behind her and, with one of the most talented rosters in the WNBA, has her Storm deep-rooted in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Through it all, Quinn is thankful for being a product of an environment that started with a strong foundation at home, understanding the importance of her surroundings and those in her life, and counting her blessings from what she believes is the Lord's favor.

"This is a job that is based on performance," Quinn said. "I'm not leading with that fear, but just leading with the understanding I have a responsibility to be a very important leader to the people who I'm with. I have a responsibility to be a great example for young individuals who look to me, who want to be in this position as well, and so I try to lean into that space as opposed to (any) other spaces.

"I'm a believer, I'm grounded in my faith, and I'm close to my family, so I know who I am. People who have opinions about me, or whatever the case may be - they don't really know me. And I think that that's part of me (moving) through things with integrity. I strive to be at my very best. I'm very accountable to knowing that I'm not a perfect human being, but I treat people how I want to be treated, and I move in a way that I know is impactful and important when you're in an environment like this."

Said Diggins with a coy smile, ever so softly, with Quinn sitting two chairs down, "And so yes, she is a gangster."