In 1962 Seattle hosted the world's fair. Besides the Space Needle, the next best well-known landmark built for the fair was the Washington State pavilion or coliseum. (Depending on who you talk to)

At the time, they could not imagine that nearly 40 years later professional woman's basketball would be played in the venue. However, that is the case as the now named Key Arena host all Seattle Storm home games.

The dream started with an ABL team with another weather related play on words for a name. The Seattle Reign reigned from 1996-98 in the area. Durimg this time the WNBA would be developed, and eventually decided they could add Seattle to their newly formed league that began in 1997. 

Helping in the matter of basketball in the area was the former Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise. They were the big brother of the WNBA team until they left the NBA after the 2007-08 season. The team was helpful in getting the WNBA a team though, and left the team with many familiar SuperSonic attributes. 

Most notably would be the team's iconic colors. Unlike many Seattle sports franchises with very outlandish team color names, the Seattle SuperSonics and Storm are quite simple. Yellow...and green. Nothing flashy or exciting, but in the end beautiful. 

Tge other thing the Sonicsa gave the Storm ultimately buried the SuperSonic franchise. However, it literally gave the Storm a roof over their heads. Then NBA commissioner David Stern felt Key Arena was too small a venue for the Sonics to flourish and give the NBA all it needed in revenue. This was the main reason the team ended up selling and moving to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. This too ultimately left women's professional basketball to be played in a venue once built for just a grand fair.

At 17,072 seats, the arena is small by NBA standards. This has been more than enough for the Storm though, who officially tipped off in Key Arena back in 2000. The team started off poorly in their expansion year finishing at just 6-26, but success would come fast and stick around awhile thereafter.

2002 marked their first playoff appearance for the Storm. The team was swept by the LA Sparks, but the stage was set for success in years to come. In fact, out of the teams 16 year existence...they have made the playoffs 11 times. The team also has two championships, which is the most by any Seattle major sports franchise.

Their first league championship came in 2004 when they beat the Connecticut Sun 2 games to 1. At the time it was their best season both in getting the title and in terms of their regular season record. 2010 marked the team breaking that record as they posted their team best 28-6 record... on way to their 2nd league title. That title earned them a trip to the White House where they presented president Barack Obame his very own storm championship ring.

Since that time, the aging team has slipped a bit, but 2015 marked a new era. There, the team got 4 of the top 26 picks in the draft. This should help pave the way for 2016 and years to come.

To do so, the  Storm will have to weather their own storm of rookie mistakes and growing pains, but can continue to improve upon their already impressive brief history.