Basketball On The Internet.

By Percy Allen, Seattle Times staff reporter

Six years ago, Sami Whitcomb, an unheralded 28-year-old rookie free agent bucked long odds and latched on with the Storm due in large part to a rapid-release jump shot and a manic work ethic that became a bit of franchise folklore.

“I was determined to make that team and I knew the way that I was going to stand out was the energy stuff,” Whitcomb said. “I wasn’t going to come in here at that point and really get buckets. I was going to make my open shots hopefully then just run around like a crazy person.

“I was the fittest I’ve ever been. … I used to live in the gym so much that (Storm coaches) made me not come in.”

These days, Whitcomb enjoys newfound motherhood that’s made her modify her rigorous training regime ever so slightly.

“For me, it’s been really great balance,” she said. “Being a mom makes me — when I’m away from basketball — I’m away and I’m not sitting there thinking about it and stressing about it. I’m enjoying moments with my family.

“And in terms of energy and stuff, being a mom really does revitalize me. It’s tiring for sure, but in a really beautiful way. I find it relaxing being away with them. It’s just really fun. I switch off a lot better.”

Most days, the 5-foot-10 guard is still the first player in the gym, arriving at 7 or 7:30 a.m., which is long before the start of Storm practice at 11.

“I lift, I get on the court and do all of the stuff I need to do,” Whitcomb said. “I like to get up shots before anyone else just to get it in and out of the way.”

During her previous four-year stint with the Storm, Whitcomb, a former Washington Husky standout, would spend nights inside a UW auxiliary gym participating in late-night shooting sessions to fine-tune a jumper that allowed her to shoot 35.1% on three-pointers.

Now when practice ends, Whitcomb races home to join her wife Kate Malpass and their 2½-year-old son Nash.

“Sami is a pretty hands-on mom,” Malpass said. “It’s hard to juggle the lifestyle of a professional athlete with the chaos and lack of routine that comes with that. Every spare moment she gets, she makes sure she’s there and spending time with Nash and playing with him.”

Initially, Whitcomb wrestled with doubts that her basketball demands were impinging on her duties as a new mom.

“When it was just Kate and I, obviously you want to prioritize your relationship, but you can be a lot more selfish and prioritize yourself more because it’s easier for your partner to understand I have to do this more than a 1-year-old,” Whitcomb said. “There’s a lot of feelings that come into play. … But you also don’t want to be away from them because he’s changing every day.

“A better way to explain it is, I’m more intentional now. I’m definitely more mindful of my time. … I can leave and feel OK with myself that I put the work in and go spend time with my family.”

Mother’s Day has different meanings in the WNBA, which celebrates the diversity of motherhood and players who are parents in a variety of situations.

Whitcomb is one of 10 mothers in the WNBA, a unique sisterhood that includes former Storm star and Breanna Stewart (now with the New York Liberty), Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi and Minnesota Lynx standout Napheesa Collier.

“Being a mom really does revitalize me. It’s tiring for sure, but in a really beautiful way.

“Oddly, there’s not a lot of talk between players on how to be mom in the league,” Whitcomb said.

“My support group is Kate. We figure it out together. It looks different for everybody. Some people are doing it with a male counterpart who stays at home. Some people are doing with a female who’s also playing. For me and Kate, she’s not working and she’s supporting me. It’s different for everybody.”

The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, which was signed in January 2020 and runs through the 2027 season, includes groundbreaking compensations highlighted by fully paid maternity leave.

Parents in the WNBA are guaranteed a two-bedroom apartment, a $5,000 child-care stipend and up to $60,000 in reimbursements for fertility/infertility treatment costs, adoption, surrogacy and oocyte cryopreservation.

“There’s hang ups still (to the CBA),” said Whitcomb who spent the past two years with the New York Liberty. “They’ll cover up to a certain point for day care, but we couldn’t get into a day care in New York. … There are still things that can be tinkered with. Some of that is the more we have moms in the league the more teams will be prepared.”

The family is enjoying the transition from Brooklyn to Seattle, Whitcomb said, and the city’s array of parks, beaches and gardens.

When asked to describe Nash, Whitcomb said: “Nonstop. He’s energetic. He’s stubborn and bossy, but he’s a really fun kid. He loves to do stuff. He loves to laugh. He loves water. He just wants to play all the time. He’s a really beautiful kid.”

And Malpass added: “He’s got a very strong personality. He keeps us on our toes. We’ve always said we want a kid that we had to calm down rather than fire up. We remind ourselves that when he’s challenging us.”

Because Nash is an early riser, the 34-year-old Australians begin most days at 5 in the morning and they’re usually out the door by 6 to a nearby pool or playground. When Whitcomb heads to the gym, Malpass plans a day filled with activities for Nash.

The family reunites at 3 p.m. for afternoon adventures, which sometimes includes Storm players or playdates with the kids of Whitcomb’s former UW teammates. Nash tends to fall asleep by 7 or so, which leaves a little bit of time for his exhausted parents to reconnect before heading to bed.

“It’s really difficult,” said Malpass, a former professional basketball player in Australia who married Whitcomb in 2017. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it in anyway. Anyone that’s a parent and has a child knows how difficult it is to travel the world with them. Young kids love routine and our life doesn’t have that.

“And having to move away constantly from our support network and to new places is hard. Nash is now at an age where he understands he’s not seeing his grandparents or his aunties and uncles anymore, so that makes it a whole different challenge. But just being away from the people that support you to be good parents.”

Whitcomb credits Malpass for keeping the family connected on top of an ever-evolving schedule that includes WNBA road trips.

“Kate is an amazing mom,” Whitcomb said. “She loves doing things with Nash and creating memories with him. She likes to take him swimming or to the park. She really wants him to be active and doing things, so she’s really like intentional about finding places to go and doing things with him.

“But the best thing about her is she really wants us to be together. She could easily stay in Australia with her family and work and say we’re going to do the long-distance thing because it’s easier. But it’s not easier.”

Whitcomb has basketball as an outlet from parenting while Malpass, an Australian born physiotherapist and physical education teacher, has been unable to obtain work visas abroad when she’s lived with Whitcomb who played two years (2021-22) with the Liberty in addition to a three-year stint (2018-20) in France and a one-year stay (2021) in Turkey.

“There’s a lot of compromises, but it won’t last forever,” Malpass said. “From the very beginning, we’ve made a lot sacrifices to make this work.”

Three years ago, Whitcomb left the WNBA’s “wubble” at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., on Sept. 29, 2020 days before the Storm won the league championship and flew to Australia to support Malpass, who was pregnant and due to give to their son.

The arduous journey home included two, two-week quarantines in Sydney and Perth because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s all worth it,” Whitcomb told the West Australian after Nash was born in November 2020. “It’s more than worth it. Every day we wake up and think ‘Oh my God he is actually here.’

“It’s been amazing. It’s been wonderful and I wouldn’t have done it any differently.”

When asked what advice she’d give players considering balancing parenthood and the WNBA, Malpass smiled and said: “Don’t do it.”

Then, she laughed before adding: “Nah, I’m joking. Ultimately, we do our best to give Nash lots of different experiences. When you see how excited he is and how happy he is, it makes those hard days a bit better. It makes it worth it.”