The Seattle Storm and WNBA are looking into domestic abuse allegations made against Natasha Howard by her wife, Jacqueline Howard.
Jacqueline made the allegations on Twitter over the weekend.
For anyone who thinks anything I’m saying is false.. ladies and gentlemen.. this is abuse pic.twitter.com/hpCFD5pnjj
— 🌻 (@stopthepress93) July 11, 2019
Co-owner of the Seattle Storm Lisa Brummel and CEO and General Manager Alisha Valavanis issued a joint statement on Saturday, provided to The Blade by the organization, saying: “The organization is aware of the recent allegations against Natasha. We are in communication with the league and looking into them.”
Natasha Howard has not yet commented on the allegations.
Along with the Storm, the league also issued a statement that a WNBA spokesman provided to The Blade, saying: “We are aware of the situation involving Natasha Howard and are in the process of gathering additional information.”
Jacqueline posted multiple screenshots of text messages on Twitter on Saturday — allegedly between her, Natasha, Natasha’s mother, Natasha’s agent, and Seattle Storm staff members — about the alleged abuse.
In one of the text conversations, Jacqueline accused Natasha of stabbing her in the chest and leg.
Jacqueline also posted videos to her account, including one where she appears to confront Natasha for threatening her, saying Natasha broke multiple doors. Natasha appears to deny those accusations in the video. Jacqueline also posted a video appearing to show bruises on her arm.
According to Jacqueline’s tweets, many of the alleged incidents took place while Natasha was playing overseas in Russia during the WNBA offseason.
Natasha still played and started in the Storm’s game against the New York Liberty on Sunday night. Prior to the game tipping off at 7 p.m., Brummel issued an additional statement that the team provided to The Blade.
“Natasha will play in the game tonight. We are in continued communication with the league and their investigation is now in process,” the statement said.
Per the Seattle Times, Howard was not made available for comment on the allegations prior to Sunday night’s game, with the team also saying she would not be commenting on the allegations postgame.
In her sixth WNBA season and her second season in Seattle, Natasha was named an all-star for the first time in her career on Thursday. She is averaging 17.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Natasha graduated from Waite High School in 2010. In her senior season she won Ohio’s Ms. Basketball award. She played college basketball at Florida State, and was the fifth overall pick in the 2014 WNBA draft.
First Published July 14, 2019, 11:22 p.m.
