Your 2025 Los Angeles Sparks Season Preview!

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WNBA season is upon us! A lot has happened this offseason, so I’ve put together some quick and handy guides for every team to help you start the season off right! Planning to go to a game? My sponsor, Turn The Paige Travel, has got all of your travel needs covered! Let’s talk hoops! 

What’s New

I should have just copied and pasted “new coach” on all of these. Former Utah coach Lynne Roberts takes over for Curt Miller. They also moved on from Lexie Brown, Li Yueru, and Zia Cooke. Layshia Clarendon moved on from the league itself by retiring.

They made the splashy offseason acquisition of trading for G Kelsey Plum. They also signed reliable backup C Mercedes Russell, and drafted G Sarah Ashlee Barker after her insane NCAA Tournament showing.

What’s Good

The Sparks have not had a guard average 15+ PPG since Kristi Toliver in 2012. Kelsey Plum figures to put an end to that streak this season. Although her efficiency dipped a bit last season, she’s one of the league’s most explosive perimeter scorers. She will be reunited with her former Aces teammate Dearica Hamby, who proved herself to be one of the better PFs in the league last season. Her motor just doesn’t stop, she’s an elite rebounder, finishes well around the rim, and can shoot it a bit as well.

In most other seasons, Rickea Jackson would have been a lock to win Rookie of the Year. Once she began receiving consistent minutes, she displayed every bit of the scoring ability we saw from her in college. The more opportunities they create for her, the better they’ll be. Fellow 2024 draftee Cam Brink missed most of her rookie season with an ACL tear, but was among the leading shot blockers before going down. She should be back around midseason.

Azura Stevens and Rae Burrell will be looking to build on the experiences they had during the inaugural season of Unrivaled. Consistency and health will be the name of the game for both. Stevens’ unique skillset at 6’6” is something to behold when she’s at her best.

What Could Go Wrong

Early indications are that Plum will be the starter at PG. She was already facing an adjustment as she presumably becomes the #1 scoring option for the first time in her career. She has never run the point full-time, and when she did it in spots for the Aces, she had a hard time not looking for her own offense first. The fact that they are even attempting this is even more confusing when you consider they have the highly effective Odyssey Sims on the roster.

What To Expect

Even with my Plum as PG reservations, this is still a much-improved team that will only get better with the return of Brink. There’s a lot of versatility and interchangeable parts on this roster. It might take Roberts a bit to figure out her most effective lineups, but that’s a good problem to have. Their stars aren’t bright enough to contend for a title, but there’s more than enough here to get to the postseason and give someone a scare.

Thank you for checking this guide out! Don’t forget to read up on all the other teams as well. Also, do you need to know which sporting events to watch each week? Subscribe to get my weekly sports watch guide! I hit you with what you need to watch, why you need to watch it, and some interesting stories from the sports world that you may have missed!