The Los Angeles Sparks enter the 2024 season with a young group and plenty of new faces. The squad includes six players who were Sparks last season and five players with over five years of WNBA experience.
Head coach Curt Miller mentioned how he wanted to implement a “shared leadership approach.”
“We’re not going to play with as much through one person,” Miller said. “Our offense will be the same way. I think we will be best with equal opportunity.”
With 16 healthy players, the Sparks have one of the larger training camp rosters this season. The larger roster encourages healthy competition. Guard Aari McDonald noted how she was impressed by how the rookies approached training camp.
Related Stories
Vincent Jefferson Elevates Cathedral Football
Student Athlete of the Week: Zoie Dupree
“They’re doing a great job of catching on and they’re not afraid to ask questions,” McDonald said. “They’re always having that approach to learn and they want to learn.”
During her time playing in the WNBL in Australia, McDonald was averaging 18.8 points, 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She aspires to bring her confidence and skills to the Sparks. Riverside native Monique Billings is soaking in the full-circle moment of playing for the Sparks while executing her role.
“Communication with the intangibles, high energy, work ethic, I think those are the things that you start with at a baseline,” Billings said. “And then from there, just making your shots, doing things that you worked on during the offseason, being a great teammate.”
Guards Lexie Brown, Rae Burrell, and Zia Cooke spent their offseason competing in Athletes Unlimited (AU). Cooke averaged 15.75 points per game. She hopes to improve her pace and shooting consistency.
“AU was great for me, it was definitely something that I needed,” Cooke said. “I was training so many months before I played so I was able to get some good runs in … I was very confident, and I saw the ball go in a lot more.”
Brown averaged 12.61 points and Burrell scored 11.08 points per game in AU. After being sidelined due to illness last season, Brown is excited to return to the hardwood.
“To come into this season feeling really healthy, mentally, I’m good, spiritually, I’m good,” Brown said. “I think this whole team is very much aligned.”
The Sparks will begin their season on May 15 when they host the Atlanta Dream at 7:00P.M. at the Walter Pyramid at Long Beach State. On Tuesday, the franchise announced that their May 26 game against the Dallas Wings, May 28 game against the Indiana Fever and their June 5 game against the Minnesota Lynx will take place at Crypto.com Arena.
