SEATTLE — The 2025 WNBA season was supposed to be Seattle Storm wing guard Jordan Horston‘s time to shine. She was a Most Improved and Sixth Player of the Year candidate the year before, in just her second professional season. But while playing in Athletes Unlimited during the offseason, she tore her ACL, ending her third season before it began.
After a long and grueling rehab process, Horston played her first game in over a year in this season’s home opener. And as the season has gone on, Horston has been finding her feet again while continuing to grow and impact her team in important ways.
“It’s been a journey; it’s still a journey,” Horston told The IX Sports at practice on Friday. “I feel like I’m still learning my body every day. Something new every day. So it’s like learning new ways to find how my body can respond well. But I feel great. … It’s just been with reps and time, every game I feel like my old self a little more.”
That has been the hardest part about this season for Horston — finding her identity again. She has had to remember who she was before the injury and then find herself within a new offense and lots of new teammates.
Horston said it has helped that her teammates always believed in her and instilled confidence in her. But she has relied heavily on staying steady in her faith and leaning into the unconditional love and support of family throughout her journey. All of these factors have been key to Houston’s recovery.
“My mom, she always tells me she manifests things in my life. So maybe it was that. But yeah, I just got a good crew, a good village around me,” Horston said.
Oddly enough, the injury itself has also helped Horston deal with the return process because she says it completely changed her life. On media day, Horston went so far as to say she is grateful for the injury, acknowledging it might sound crazy because nobody wants to be hurt. She said she feels like it prepared her for the rest of her life, helping her build great habits and learn about her body and self in ways she wouldn’t have otherwise.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. It definitely challenges you in every aspect of your life — mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically, like, everything,” Horston told The IX Sports back in May. “It made me have to take a step back and really do some deep diving. And I appreciated that because I learned so much about myself and my body; now I can continue to grow from here.”
Horston was the embodiment of ‘ball is life.’ She didn’t know who she was without basketball. The injury forced her to figure out what she likes and who she is. Horston rediscovered her identity and now feels strong in who she is. “I’m not just a basketball player,” she explained. “And I really understand it now.”
She maintains that, 21 months after her initial injury, it changed her entire perspective on life.
“I’m taking my time more. I’m being more present in the moment and I’m being a lot more grateful for everything,” Horston said Friday.
Storm center Ezi Magbegor has been in Seattle with Horston since her 2023 rookie season, when she was selected No. 9 overall. Magbegor watched various stages of Horston’s rehabilitation and recovery through 2025 and told the IX Sports she was impressed with how the young player handled it like the “ultimate professional.” Magbegor said Horston was really intentional with doing the work and wanting to get back, but also giving herself grace. She can also tell the injury changed Horston by her resilience.
“Going through an ACL injury isn’t the easiest, so if you can get through that, you can get through anything,” Magbegor said. “I think Jordan is really intentional about not making a bad day. So if it’s a bad drill or a bad possession, she has a really good next-play mentality, and that helps me a lot. And I know it helps the rest of the team. So I think it’s resilience in that she doesn’t get in her head as much as she did [previously].
“I think what I’ve learned from her is acknowledging the bad days or not-so-great days, but then tomorrow is a new day, and you get a chance to come back and, you know, hopefully your body feels better,” Magbegor added.
Defense first
Horston’s calling card for as long as she can remember has been defense. She got a lot of buckets in high school and college, yes, but she came into the WNBA knowing her defense is what would make her stick. Her goals revolved around defensive impact and hopefully accolades. She has leaned into that defense this season as she’s worked her way back.
Horston’s performance in Wednesday’s 90-78 win over the visiting Tempo was an apt example of how she impacts the team with her defense. Getting the start, she played 15 minutes and scored no points but grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, and recorded two blocks and two steals. Magbegor called efforts like that pivotal.
“I didn’t even know she didn’t score. That’s how much I felt her presence,” Magbegor said. “I think when we have a player like Jordan, who, okay, she’s not gonna have the greatest offensive night, she’s gonna do everything in her power to help the team win, and that’s what she did.”
Horston’s impact starts with her defensive activity. And it is something Horston will bring to every game. Not a focus on the scoreboard, or even rebounds and assists, but those steals and deflections and disruption that her team counts on.
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“She does all the little things that people don’t want to do,” Storm point guard Jade Melbourne told The IX Sports. “Like, you feel like you’re beaten on defense, but here comes Jordy. She gets her hands in the lanes, gets after loose balls … She really disrupts people. And if she’s forcing people into contested shots, they’re not scoring either. So although she may not be scoring, she’s making it super difficult for other teams to score, which impacts everyone on the court.”
Horston said she picked up her defensive style when she was younger than 10 years old, watching her dad, Leigh, coach former NBA Player Trey Burke. Leigh was the Northland High School assistant coach when Burke, who she called a defensive stopper, led the team to the 2009 Ohio State title.
“I would go to all their practices and I would learn how to stop players, essentially,” Horston said of watching Burke. “He was a smaller guard, so he needed to be able to stay in front of guards. And I just kind of picked up his game and learned different tricks and things to kind of model after that.”
At the time, she was one of the smallest players on her team and playing point guard. The role taught her to pass and have guard handles. She was preparing to be a small guard because she didn’t think she would get any taller, when she suddenly grew a good six inches and her wingspan got longer. Now she is a 6’2 wing.
“So I was like, I got to play defense, I got to be able to find different ways to impact. But luckily, God was like, well, you’re going to be a big guard, so here you go,” Horston said.
Storm head coach Sonia Raman said she can see that inspiration is how Horston is a natural on the perimeter. Raman said it is part of why she loves having her on the court — because she can guard the smaller guards — and if she gets beat the first time, she processes quickly and is typically able to make the needed adjustments with similar speed.
While Horston makes big defensive plays, she also impacts her team with her defensive energy. On the court, her own plays that she is most hyped for are usually defensive: steals or blocks.
Melbourne says it pumps the whole team up with her as they grab the energy and run with it. Particularly because her big defensive plays are often momentum plays, like a big block on a major player that gives everyone a “pep in their step.” Magbegor agrees: it’s infectious.
“I think Jordan brings a lot of energy, whether she’s on the bench or on the court, and she’s just like the ultimate hype woman,” Magbegor said. “I think that kind of trickles down into our mindset and mentality as well. Like, we know Jordan’s always going to celebrate a block, celebrate a possession, celebrate the littlest thing, and so I think that’s what we really need on this team.”
Team-first mentality
While Horston is always thinking defense first, she is dedicated to filling any role.
“They said they leaned on me as the stopper, the defensive anchor. So when they say that, I don’t want to let them down. So I knew this is how I can help the team, and I’m all about whatever the team needs, I’m going to do it at my best,” Horston said. “So if that’s being the best cheerleader, I’m going to be the best cheerleader. If that’s all the rebounds, I’m getting all the rebounds. And on this team I got to defend, so I take pride in that.”
She is averaging 4.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks in 17.5 minutes per game this season. Those are all lows for her career — not because she is playing worse or less efficiently, but because her role is different. As she plays fewer minutes and takes fewer shots, basic season stats don’t capture how she contributes on and off the court.
The Storm’s win over Toronto again serves as a strong example of this phenomenon. Though she started in the game and had a particularly strong second quarter, Horston played significantly less in the second half. Fellow winger Katie Lou Samuelson was having a strong game, and Raman decided to roll with the UConn product. But that did not dampen the joy Horston was feeling for the group or Samuelson.
“That was a unit that kind of found something and we rolled with it, and [Horston’s] energy was the same on the bench as it was in the game,” Raman said Friday. “She’s a team-first player. And I think that’s a really important thing to celebrate and to appreciate and to value, and we value that in Jordan very much.”
Once on the court, she fills a variety of positional roles. To start the season, Horston played the four frequently while Magbegor was injured and before rookie center Awa Fam arrived. Raman felt it gave her team the best chance to impact winning and was confident in Horston’s ability. The head coach said she loves seeing Horston everywhere, but loves her at the wing the most. She thinks the three is a great spot for Horston because she can switch with the ones and twos, and fours and fives, and is “a really dynamic point-of-attack defender.”
Through 34 games played this season (Horston missed five midseason with a shoulder injury), she has started in 20. Adjusting to different positional roles relies on the same mindset Horston has about going between starting and subbing — staying ready.
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“It’s always been stay ready whenever it’s my time, my opportunity,” Horston said. “I can only worry about what I can control. So whenever I get that chance and opportunity, I like to just play hard, you know, not let anything slide, give it all I got and not let the opportunity go to waste.”
Offensively, Horston says she is still finding where she can be productive within the offense and more limited shot attempts. Defense again comes into play as Horston uses it to fuel her offensive contributions, building off steals and stops.
Melbourne praised Horston for turning defense into offense after an early-season game in Toronto. On May 30, in a 93-72 loss, Horston had 15 points, four rebounds, one assist and four steals against the Tempo.
“That’s what she does, and we expect that from her every night,” Melbourne said postgame. “So it’s just great to see her getting back into a groove. I love playing with Jordy, and she’s hard on herself, but I’m going to give her her flowers, because I thought she was awesome tonight.”
That was one of Horston’s five double-digit scoring performances this season. Horston had her best scoring performance of the season on August 8 at Portland when she recorded 17 points with a career-high four made threes on six attempts. Raman praised her poise and patience on offense as she took what the defense gave her. Second-year center Dominique Malonga echoed Melbourne’s comments months earlier, saying they know that is what Horston is capable of, and even more.
“That’s Jordy. That’s what she brings to our team. Her activity is amazing and when she’s on that, it’s just great,” Malonga said postgame. “We need her on the defensive end first, but she also stepped up on offense today, hit those shots when we needed her, being aggressive.”
Reflecting on the performance at practice on Friday, Horston said it was a matter of pride.
“They was too disrespectful,” Horston said of how the Fire defended her in that game. “So I just kind of was like, ‘nah, y’all not about to play with me like that.”
Amid an up-and-down season, it seemed indicative that Horston had found her offensive rhythm.
“I think Jordan’s just getting more and more comfortable on the offensive end, just finding her spots,” Raman said ahead of their next game. “I think it’s just about getting comfortable, getting a feel for where she can find her offense and her scoring, her playmaking, and then how that fits with everybody else. And because she’s a really unselfish player, she’s going to be looking for others more often than not … We know what she can do on the defensive end, and it was great to see her take those steps forward on the offensive end as well.”
She followed that performance up with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in the August 10 win over Chicago. Malonga shared her happiness with Horston “getting back into her rhythm” postgame. Then, Horston had a 12-point 11 rebound double-double when the Fire traveled to Seattle for a rematch.
“She’s important for us,” Fam said after the two-point loss. “We really see now that she can be the player that she’s being these games. We’re really proud of her. She’s just pouring her 100%. I think in defense she’s amazing. If she’s there on defense, we know that we are going to [play good defense] because of Jordan … She just needs to keep going like that.
Per the aforementioned most recent zero-point performance against Toronto, Horston’s scoring has continued to vary, but she has continued to make her presence felt.
Always growing
Horston is the second-longest tenured Storm player, behind only Magbegor. But both Magbegor and Melbourne shared the court with the Tennessee alum in her rookie season.
Over the years, Magbegor has seen Horston grow in confidence as a basketball player but says it’s been most incredible to see her growth as a person.
“She’s just the ultimate professional. She comes in, does her work, does her recovery, and tries to just remain consistent, and I think that’s just telling of how much she’s grown over the years,” Magbegor said.
Melbourne, who, after being a rookie alongside Horston, spent the next two seasons away from Horston playing for the Mystics before returning this year, says Horston is more mature on the court now.
“I think her basketball IQ’s gone to another level,” Melbourne acclaimed. “She’s able to see defenses a lot better than she did her rookie year. And she knows where her spots are as well. Defensively she’s always had it. Now she’s just smarter in the way she moves … Just the maturity and playing to her strengths I think has improved a lot.”
Zooming into just this season, Raman and Melbourne say they have seen Horston’s confidence grow throughout her return, and her aggressiveness in turn.
“More confident in her body. More confident to get after a shot. More confident to apply more pressure to a player,” Melbourne said. “I think she’s given herself a lot of patience, which has been key for her as well, because we know she sets the bar high for herself. … It’s always ebbs and flows but I think she’s done a really good job of staying the course and continuing to improve.”
Raman is looking for Horston to continuing to work on her reads and making them without hesitation as she sees different coverages. She wants the wing to continue to be aggressive, be an unselfish playmaker looking to feed the bigs and kick the ball ahead in transition, and then elevate a bit by being a leader on the defensive end.
“She’s starting to be way more vocal, but understanding she’s one of our best defenders, so be out there as a leader. Talk to your teammates, tell them what you’re seeing and dictate as much as you can,” Raman said.
Though the Storm are long out of playoff contention, Horston says her focus is the same as it’s been the rest of the season: win as many games as possible and try to get better.
Magbegor has enjoyed watching Horston grow with her and the different phases of the Storm — from the 2023 struggles after Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart left, then the turnaround to two years of Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, to the now drafted-youth-centered rebuild — and sees her as a huge part of the future.
“I think she still has a while to go in her career and it’s just great that it’s going to be here because I feel like she’s going to be great with her development too,” Magbegor said.
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