Katie Lou Samuelson returns in WNBA Commissioner's Cup after missing Olympics with COVID-19

Just four days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Katie Lou Samuelson announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

Samuelson, a rising star for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, was slated to compete in the debut of women’s 3x3 basketball for Team USA. While the American 3x3 team went on to win the gold medal with alternate Jackie Young competing, Samuelson was at home battling symptoms of the virus and her enormous disappointment.

“The biggest thing was being okay with feeling upset, feeling angry, knowing that that was part of what is going to happen with something to this magnitude,” Samuelson said. “Once I stopped getting so upset with myself for getting angry at things or getting upset, I started to feel like I could make the steps forward to move into a better place. I'm just happy to get going again; it's been a really long couple of weeks.”

Samuelson was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but experienced a breakthrough infection. COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, but they’re not 100% effective. That means a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID-19 if exposed to the virus that causes it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However vaccinated people who have breakthrough infections are much less likely to get severely sick or die.

While Samuelson had to take several weeks off from basketball to recover physically, she said Storm head coach Noelle Quinn was overwhelmingly supportive of her mental and emotional recovery as well.

“I didn't care about the basketball or care about her coming back to Seattle. I didn't want to know any of that, other than that she was okay,” Quinn said. “That was my message to her. I just continued to check up on her throughout the week, but it's tough, and I feel for her, but I am really impressed how she's approached it mentally.”

This week, Samuelson will make her return to the court when the Seattle Storm face the Connecticut Sun in the inaugural WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final. The Cup is a new in-season tournament that the league implemented this year. Certain games throughout the first half of the season were selected as Commissioner’s Cup games, and the teams with the highest winning percentage in those games compete in the final for a $500,000 prize.

During the WNBA’s Olympic break, the Sun had all of its players in the U.S. for training, but the Storm had a mass exodus to Tokyo. Three of the team’s key pieces — Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd — played six games in nine days to win Olympic gold for Team USA, and the trio only returned to the States on Aug. 9. Two other Storm players also competed in the Games for Australia.

Returning to WNBA competition will likely be an adjustment for the athletes who played in the Olympics, but Samuelson is in a unique situation. She is well-rested, since she did not have to face the time difference or rigor of an Olympic tournament, but said she isn’t sure how her body will hold up after COVID-19.

“Nothing mimics a game exactly,” Samuelson said. “It'll be interesting to see, those first couple minutes, how my wind is and just how I feel going into the game. I think the general excitement of playing again will be a lot and will be helpful to get through it.”

Samuelson returned to practice for several days before the Champions Cup game, and said she has felt good in workouts. Quinn said she has been impressed with Samuelson’s commitment to returning as strong as ever.

“The way that she's approached her day to day, she's just put her heart, mind and soul into us right now,” Quinn said. “She understands that we need her to be at our best, and her best is showing up every day with a smile on her face and putting her work in. When she was able to step back on the court with us, she's just looked amazing.”

GAME-CHANGER:Will Olympics improve how we view athletes' mental health?

ARMOUR:'It's all shifting:' Women's sports pays for those who are now investing

OLYMPICS:After 17 days of action, these are the moments we won't soon forget

BASKETBALL:Washington Wizards, Mystics found success at Tokyo Games

TOKYO GAMES:Full list of every medal won by Team USA athletes

Samuelson has been solid for the league-leading storm all season. She is the team’s fourth leading scorer per game behind Stewart, Loyd and Bird, and she averages about 21 minutes per game. Quinn said there will be opportunities for Samuelson to take on a bigger role in the games coming out of the break.

“She's a cerebral player,” Quinn said. “We can throw her in at multiple positions, and she's picked up the nuances of our systems so well. I think if you think about the opportunity that we’ll have in a lot of different roles, I think she will definitely have an ability to step up and step in to fill those gaps that we may need.”

For Samuelson, a win at the Commissioner’s Cup would give her back some confidence and help her feel prepared for a challenging stretch of away games that the Storm will face in the coming weeks.

“We're really ready to go,” Samuelson said. “There's been a lot of people here working every day to make sure that we're prepared. The rest of us [who were not in Tokyo] really had to make sure that we were putting in the time and in the work every single day, because we want to be able to step up and take care of what we need.”

Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.