Continuing to Cooke: Zia Provides Key Spark for Storm in Breakout Season
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Confidence and opportunity can do incredible things for any professional athlete, with an excellent example being that of Storm guard Zia Cooke this season. The Toledo, Ohio native, in her second season with Seattle, is posting the best season of her four-year WNBA career, providing a critical presence off the bench for a young Storm team.
At 25 years old, Zia is shining brightly under the Climate Pledge Arena lights as a leader on and off the court, through her own belief and that of her team.
“We know what she’s capable of; she’s our spark off the bench. We know that she can make crazy shots. It’s great to have her perform like that, coming off the bench and really taking advantage of the minutes that she’s getting, always making the most of it.”
Seattle Storm guard Zia Cooke seen during the teams game against the Connecticut Sun on May 22nd, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Cooke saw strong success early in her basketball career before a bit of a holding pattern in Los Angeles. Drafted by the Sparks with the tenth overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft, coming off a national championship win with the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022. Her rookie season in LA saw her average 14.1 minutes per game and play in 39 of the Sparks’ games, but her minutes dipped to 8.9 in her second year, and she played 10 fewer games.
She’d be waived in February by Los Angeles before the 2025 season, quickly being nabbed up by the Storm on a training camp contract for a Seattle team that needed more punch off the bench. She’d see a slight increase in minutes per game from her 2024 campaign but not by much, and appeared in just 26 of the Storm’s games as their veteran group wasn’t able to make a deep playoff run, a missed opportunity for the second straight season. Part of that veteran group was Brittney Sykes, who Seattle acquired in a trade that featured Cooke, who was waived the same day by the Mystics.
13 days later, Zia was back with the Storm on a deal for the rest of the season, setting the stage for the year she’s having now. This chapter in the book of Cooke has always been one she’s wanted written, hoping to be drafted to the Pacific Northwest in the first place. Delayed but not denied, Zia is proving the true spark she can be in the WNBA.
“Honestly, I say all the time, I wish I had gotten drafted here. I think my career would have been totally different if I had the opportunity to have the facilities that we have, the owners that we have, the GM that we have - I think it would have been a totally different story for me. But I’m just grateful to be able to have these two years under my belt with them. It’s kind of hard to stay on a team for even a year, so the fact that they brought me back feels good, and this is somewhere that I want to continue to call home.”
From preseason media day, a massive theme for Cooke has simply been confidence. Like her second season in Los Angeles, Zia wasn’t sure when or if she’d be getting game time during the Storm’s 2025 campaign, a group that relied on veterans, putting Brittney Sykes and Erica Wheeler above her in the pecking order. It’s not that Cooke wasn’t comfortable here in Seattle, but a fresh slate with a new coaching staff and essentially a brand-new roster has provided Zia with a bit of a reset.
A reset that may have been needed as she, like many players coming into the league recently, may not be used to going from a large role at their collegiate program to seeing inconsistent appearances in the WNBA.
Something that helped her reset was a strong offseason with Athletes Unlimited, where she poured in 16.4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game at 39.4% from the field. Allowing Zia to get back to the shot maker she can be, and some conversations with new Seattle head coach Sonia Raman, provided her with a newfound groove going into year two with the Storm. That relationship with Raman, as stated on media day, remains crucial to Cooke as she continues painting the masterpiece that is her career season.
“It’s been super important. I think what allows me to keep my confidence is being able to have conversations with her, especially when I might not be playing that much, to be able to talk to her, get an understanding of things, just so I can keep myself confident in what I’m doing. Just continue to watch the film and be ready when I get my opportunity.”
Sonia Raman has a fascinating coaching history that’s led her to this point in her career, taking the top job with the Storm after stops in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies and the WNBA with the New York Liberty, among many other destinations. There have been bumps this year, but that’s permissible in your first full season in this position and with a very young team that’s working through the growing pains. Something she’s been praised for in her previous stops is her ability to connect with her players, something she did this offseason with Cooke.
The coach and guard met during Zia’s time in Athletes Unlimited, flying out to Nashville to share a meal, talk through some things, and dig into something they both love: watching film. Following that conversation and into the season, Cooke came away impressed with the person that Raman is and credited her with being realistic, understanding, and calm. Sonia has fostered the aforementioned confidence within Zia and, while coaching her tough, knows when to draw the line and express what needs to happen without berating her.
“It’s been good. I think she’s a super smart coach. I think that she believes in all of us, and that’s what keeps us going. She knows all of our strengths and tries to make sure that we’re confident in those strengths that we have. So, as I said, I think I just had a conversation with her yesterday; we talked, so it just feels good to be able to have a coach that I can go to have conversations with, and she continues to uplift the team and me as well.”
The conversations with Raman and a better understanding of her own self-worth have allowed Cooke to ride the waves of some shifts in minutes, better suited to these changes than in her previous seasons in the WNBA. Zia had started the season red hot, earning double-digit minutes off the bench in nearly every game for the first two months of the season.
“Zia is a competitor; she’s fearless. You know she’s gonna go in, and she’s going to just immediately look to attack and be a bulldog out there. I just think that she’s just such a unique player. The way she can touch the paint, the physicality, the force that she can play with, and that really, really helps us get our offense going.”
Zia Cooke during the Seattle Storm’s 97-88 victory over the Chicago Sky on Monday, August 10th, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Walter Williams for Circling Seattle Sports)
Through the first five games at home this season, 64 of Cooke’s 90 points on the year had been scored on the court at Climate Pledge Arena. She opened the season with a new career high of 15 points against a tough defensive team in the Golden State Valkyries. Through the first nine games this season, Zia has already tied or pushed past her totals from last year in the main three basketball statistics of points, rebounds, and assists. It was all coming up Zia, but then the month of July came, and things started to slow down a bit for the speedy guard out of Toledo, Ohio.
Not through her own fault, the Storm had some decisions to make with the rotation as they got healthier, bringing Ezi Magbegor back from the injury that she began the season with, as well as juggling injuries by Dom Malonga and a few others.
As Raman juggles her first season as a head coach in the league and looks to ensure she’s progressing the development of young franchise stars like Flau’jae Johnson, Awa Fam, and Malonga, tough decisions will be made on a nightly basis. That doesn’t bother Zia, and she understands her role on the bench as well as the need to be ready when her name is called.
“I think it’s just all about roles, and I think the role that I’m playing right now is just whatever it is that I’m getting out on the floor. Especially with us coming back as a healthy team, it kind of changed a lot of people’s minutes. It’s just accepting the role I have and understanding that some nights I might play 20, might play 8, might play 3. Just being ready for the time that I get and just executing while I’m out there.”
Another step in Cooke’s growth has been her leadership, something that likely doesn’t come out if confidence isn’t instilled in her early this offseason. With a young roster featuring seven players with less pro experience than her and three of them playing in the backcourt, Zia has the ability to impart her knowledge on this team to help them reach new heights. That leadership was praised by Raman during the first few days of training camp, something that Sonia was enjoying and wanted to see it emerge more.
Her teammates, from Flau’jae Johnson to Natisha Hiedeman, have noticed the leader that’s shining through in Cooke. While it may be a different feeling for her, as it’s just her fourth year in the league and she feels as though it could be less given that the Storm are the first pro team to really give her a chance, Zia is embracing the leadership role that comes with her career year.
“I think it’s just all about, like, I’ve just been growing up. I think this is my fourth year in the league, so I’m kind of reaching my vet status. It was just applying all the knowledge that I’ve learned from all the great vets that I’ve had, just instilled in my mind. Sometimes I’m allowed to speak out and be a leader in a way that’s needed for the team.”
Zia Cooke has been delayed, but will not be denied. From championship highs to the lows of not knowing when she’d set foot on the court, Cooke continues to trust now in her belief and her process that got her to the professional level in the first place. Couple that confidence with the trust of her head coach and being with the team she always wanted to be with, and you’re seeing her reach the new heights she’s hoping to help her teammates achieve.
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