Storm Forward Katie Lou Samuelson Out for Rest of 2026 Season After Knee Procedure
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The injury hits continue for the Seattle Storm during their 2026 WNBA season: two days after losing veteran center Ezi Magbegor to a season-ending knee injury, veteran forward Katie Lou Samuelson has also been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Friday morning, the Storm announced that Samuelson had undergone an arthroscopic procedure on her left knee on Thursday, September 10, 2026, and that she’ll miss the remainder of the season. It’s another unfortunate swing of bad luck for Samuelson, who tore her right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during the team’s training camp on May 1st ahead of the 2025 season, missing the entirety of that year.
Seattle Storm forward Katie Lou Samuelson during games she played in the 2026 WNBA season at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Samuelson missed the first six games of this season as she worked her way back from the ACL tear, making her season debut on May 24th at home against the Washington Mystics and steadily playing 15 or so minutes per game this year with Seattle. Katie Lou largely came off the bench this year, making just one start in 32 games played, averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. She shot 40.5% from the field and 32.1% on three-pointers. Viewed as a sharpshooter, Samuelson looked good as her season went on when she got action, hitting a few key three-pointers while making good hustle plays at times.
Samuelson is in her second stint with Seattle, having been acquired by the Storm in 2021 alongside a 2022 second-round pick in a deal that sent the top overall pick in the 2021 draft to the Dallas Wings. Seattle opted to acquire the former UConn Huskies wing and pass on using the top selection in a weaker draft class that produced no true stars. In the 2021 season with the Storm, 24-year-old Samuelson started 24 of 27 games, averaging 21 minutes, 7 points, 1.7 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. After a year with Seattle, playing their games at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett due to ongoing renovations at Climate Pledge Arena, the Storm shipped Samuelson off alongside the 9th pick (which turned into Rae Burrell) in the 2022 draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for forward Gabby Williams.
Back in April, the Storm brought Samuelson back on a guaranteed two-year deal worth $840,000. It will be interesting to see how this procedure affects Katie Lou’s return to action, and whether it will impact her 2027 season with Seattle.
This marks the second season-ending announcement by the Storm in as many days, after Ezi Magbegor tore her right ACL on Wednesday while playing for the Australian women’s national team during the FIBA World Cup in Berlin. Australian teammate Jade Melbourne missed most of that game and the entirety of Thursday’s game with an undisclosed illness. The list has been long throughout the year, including a shoulder injury that’s kept Natisha Hiedeman out of the last handful of games; Jordan Horston has dealt with a shoulder injury in August after a left ACL tear took her 2025 season away; Flau’jae Johnson dealt with an ankle sprain in early August, and Dominique Malonga dealt with a concussion earlier this season.
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