‘She’s our defensive anchor’: Storm make case for Ezi Magbegor

“Ezi’s amazing. Defensive Player of the Year. We need to take a hard look at that. She needs to make a defensive team, period,” Storm head coach Noelle Quinn told media after their Sept. 11 victory in LA. “And we have to give her her flowers. She’s done an amazing job, and she should be honored for it.”

Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?

Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.

Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.

Magbegor is second in the league in block percentage and third in blocks per game  — rookie Cameron Brink who has been inactive since tearing her ACL in June is second while A’ja Wilson is first — which shows Magbegor’s impact, but the Storm feel it goes far beyond that.

The fourth-year player’s most important role, according to Quinn, is to be the team’s defensive anchor. Former MVP and Storm teammate Nneka Ogwumike thinks this is a key element of what makes her Defensive Player of the Year.

“She’s just kind of like the closer in our defense, she’s everywhere. She’s instinctual. I think that she’s also very fearless on the defensive end, and she’s our defensive anchor,” Ogwumike told The Next.

Not only is Magbegor the centerpiece of Seattle’s defense but she is leading statistically one of the best defenses in the league. The top four teams are all within two defensive rating points of one another, so though Seattle is fourth they are very close to the Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx, and New York Liberty. The Aces defense, led by another top DPOY candidate in Wilson, is a comparative three point jump from the Storm.

Among five-person lineups that have played a minimum of 100 minutes, Magbegor and Seattle ranks fifth in the league behind a Minnesota lineup, two New York lineups, and one Atlanta lineup. Among 3-person lineups, Magbegor is in a group that ranks fifth behind two Connecticut lineups, one Minnesota trio, and another trio of Storm teammates. You can also look at effective field goal percentage where a Storm trio led by Magbegor ranks fourth. Lineups with Magbegor consistently rank among the very best in the league.

Add Locked On Women’s Basketball to your daily routine

Here at The Next, in addition to the 24/7/365 written content our staff provides, we also host the daily Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast. Join us Monday through Saturday each week as we discuss all things WNBA, collegiate basketball, basketball history and much more. Listen wherever you find podcasts or watch on YouTube.

Magbegor is far from the only standout defender on a team that boasts Skylar Diggins-Smith, a connoisseur of steals and leading WNBA guards in blocks per game, and athletic, defensive menaces Gabby Williams and Jordan Horston. These often defense first players also think Magbegor should be DPOY.

“I think it’s her energy and her aggressiveness, especially on the ball… her defensive activity, the way she has her hands, that changes everything,” Williams told media after the victory in LA. “It makes things so difficult when you have someone like that who’s equally tall, equally athletic, equally smart defensively, who’s hounding you on the ball… because you know you can’t do anything when Ezi traps you. 

“So not only just her presence at the rim, but her ball pressure, I think. And also, when you — if she’s not blocking shots, you’re scared to drive because you know that you have a shot blocker behind. So just her presence makes it a lot easier for us.”

Diggins-Smith showed her agreement with Williams by emphatically repeating DPOY at least five times, simple but clear.

Quinn thinks several aspects make Magbegor worthy of the award. Pointing specifically to the versatility of her star center’s defense, Quinn thinks her ability to defend just about any position, and quite consistently because of the switching defense Seattle play, should be considered.

“When she’s on the floor, we’re better defensively, and she’s cleaning up a lot, you know, help side defense, getting her hands on ball sometimes … She’s not really getting the steals number wise, but she’s in areas. She’s creating steals because of her length, her versatility, her athleticism,” Quinn said. “So that would be what I point to, not just the blocked shots, but the fact that when she’s on the floor we’re better defensively.”

Magbegor came into the WNBA at a very young age during a particularly difficult and unique season, the 2020 bubble. Drafted with the last pick of the first round in the 2019 WNBA Draft, the young international stayed overseas that first year. As a 20-year-old she joined  the Storm and immediately won a WNBA Championship, albeit averaging 13.3 minutes per game off the bench. 

Since then, Magbegor has continued to grow her game and draw comparisons to all-time Storm legend and fellow Australian Lauren Jackson. On Sept. 11, against the Sparks, Magbegor recorded 4 blocks to break the single season franchise record of 81 set by Jackson over 20 years ago when Magbegor was just 3 years old.

“Anytime Ezi is mentioned amongst the greats, as in Lauren Jackson, you know that she is a very good basketball player,” Quinn said postgame. “She’s very committed. She’s very committed to her role, to this team. The thing that I see growth in is her communication level and understanding our system and how to play. 

“She’s very instinctual with the blocks, so sometimes she has Ezi defense and I let her rock like that. But for her to be able to clean up, for her to be able to defend multiple positions, it is a sight to see. It is amazing to see her growth.”