[11] The team also won the inaugural edition of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament that debuted in 2021 after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team selected Sue Bird with the first pick of the 2002 WNBA draft and finished their third season with a 17–15 record and their first playoff berth, which ended in a loss in the Western Conference Semifinals.
[18] The season also marked the start of a ten-year streak of playoff appearances—the longest in WNBA history at the time[19]—but the team were eliminated in the Western Conference Semifinals for five consecutive years from 2005 to 2009.
[1][21] Despite limited appearances for injured star players Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird, the team qualified for the playoffs in the following three seasons but never advanced beyond the first round.
[23] The team returned to the playoffs in subsequent years but were again eliminated in the first round; under new head coach Dan Hughes, the Storm won their third championship in 2018 with a three-game shutout of the Washington Mystics.