The Los Angeles Sparks
By Dave Sellers
Coach Curt Miller’s second season in the City of Angels is not going as planned. Read how the Sparks find themselves sitting at 6-18 at the Olympic break.
It has been anything but sunny in Lala land for the Sparks. Hoping to build on last year’s 17-23 season that saw LA missing the playoffs by one game, but that has simply not happened.
The offseason was not kind to the Sparks. Nneka Ogwumike left in free agency to start the summer to sign with the Storm. The former rookie of the year, MVP, and WNBA champion decided to move on from the team that drafted her number one overall back in 2012. Ogwumike led the Sparks in scoring at 19.1 points a game.
Without Ogwumike the Sparks have been without a dynamic scorer that also brought a veteran presence.
But like in most Hollywood scripts there was a chance for redemption for the Sparks. The Sparks landed the number two and the number four overall picks in the WNBA draft.
The number two pick was won in the WNBA draft lottery. The number four pick came via a trade with the Storm.
The Sparks sent a 2026 first-round draft pick to the Storm in exchange for the number four pick and Kia Nurse. This move allowed Ogwumike to sign with the Storm due to the salary cap savings of sending Nurse and that year’s draft pick.
The draft brought the following:
The number two overall pick was used to select Cameron Brink. Brink had a stellar career at Standford and also looks the part of a Hollywood model. But don’t let her good looks fool you, her dominant defense and shot-blocking are her calling card.
But what seemed like a Hollywood romance of the Standford star paired with the Sparks turned out to be a Greek tragedy. After her fifteenth game of the season, she tore her ACL.
The number four overall pick was used on Rickea Jackson. Jackson has come as advertised. The rookie out of Tennessee has averaged 11.2 points a game to go with 3.8 rebounds per game. She has been on a roll, scoring in double digits in six of her last seven games. To include a career-high 23 points against Dallas in an 87-81 victory on July 13th.
But even with Jackson’s stellar play the Sparks have only six wins at the break.
Key Stats
6-18 straight up
11-12-1 ATS
10-14 to the over
79 points per game
42.5% field goal percentage
33% three-point percentage
7.5 three-pointers made per game
76.2% free throw percentage
7.3 offense rebounds a game
16 turnovers per game
85.4 points allowed per game
45.9% opponent’s shooting percentage
36.9% opponent’s three-point shooting percentage
8.3 made three-pointers allowed per game
79.5 opponent’s free-throw percentage
8.1 offensive rebounds allowed per game
13.3 turnovers forced a game
The Sparks are having multiple issues that have led to their 6-18 record. They are being outscored, outrebounded, outshot, and can’t hold onto the ball.
Key players
Dearica Hamby
Hamby is in the midst of a career year averaging career highs in points (19.4 PPG), rebounds (10 RPG), and assists (3.6 APG). This is Hamby’s second year in LA after eight years with the Las Vegas Aces/San Antonio Stars.
Hamby is mostly known for being a key contributor off the bench, winner of the WNBA Sixth Women of the Year twice, she is flourishing as a starter.
Hamby is participating in the Olympics for the USA 3x3 Womens Team as a replacement for her injured teammate Cameron Brink.
Rickea Jackson
The number four pick in this year’s WNBA draft has been a bright spot for LA. Jackson averages over 25 minutes a game while scoring 11.2 points per game. I would not like to see where they would be without Jackson. She should be on the WNBA All-Rookie team.
Rest of the Season
Things are not looking well in Tinsel Town for the last 16 games of LA’s season. They have the second hardest strength of schedule left in the W. To make things even worse, nine of the remaining 16 are on the road.
The Sparks will most likely miss the postseason for the fourth straight year but in years to come this team should be one to keep an eye on.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my work. I will be recapping the first part of the season for all 12 WNBA teams during the Olympic break.
I’m always looking for writing opportunities, if you would like to collaborate you can contact me through this site or find me on X @Davesdailypicks.
