LOS ANGELES — Her wide smile exuding confidence, Azurá Stevens grabbed the microphone to address the fans following the Sparks final home game of the 2024 WNBA season.
“This is not how we intended it to go,” the 6-foot-6 Stevens said. “I can promise you that each and every one of us will be in the gym this offseason, so we’re going to get better. Next year’s going to be different.”
Latching on to that statement, trusting it, may be tough for Sparks’ faithful. The organization doesn’t have its own training facility for players to lock themselves in during the offseason. And the Sparks haven’t experienced a winning record since the 15-7 pandemic-shortened 2020 season. In fact, it’s only trended downhill since, leading to this season’s franchise-low 8-32 mark.
The Sparks were on the cusp of a clean break, but what transpired this season was a complete and utter combustion.
Injuries and illnesses prevented the team from jelling and developing key players. The Sparks’ cornerstones rarely played alongside one another, a handful of those players experiencing individual success, but unable to build a foundation for future prosperity.
At the end of the season, the team mutually parted ways with head coach Curt Miller, whose track record for maximizing talent will have a lasting impact on a couple of the Sparks’ pieces. Miller, however, didn’t get the most out of the team. The Sparks would compete on a nightly basis against most WNBA opponents, but time and again, blow late leads. Ultimately, the organization elected to embark on a search for its 18th coach before its 29th season.
Therein that stat lies the dysfunction. Players have emerged defending Miller. The season that led to his demise began with flowery expectations, before they wilted within an organization that often neglects to water its roots.
The Sparks had the No. 2 and No. 4 overall picks in April’s WNBA draft and seemingly chose correctly with Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. The 6-foot-4 Brink was coming along, her size and length translating to development on the defensive side as she averaged 2.4 blocks over the first 14 games before suffering a season-ending torn ACL on June 18.
“We were just starting to be comfortable when her injury happened,” Miller told reporters Sept. 19. “Unfortunately, she didn’t go through some of the growing and learning because of the injury.”
The Sparks also lost for a significant amount of time Layshia Clarendon (mental health) just one game after the Olympic break – the starting point guard later announced their retirement Sept. 20; guard Aari McDonald with a right ankle injury; and guard Lexie Brown in her recovery from Crohn’s disease.
Jackson, like Brink, found her footing quicker than most rookies. After coming off the bench for the first five games, the 6-foot-2 forward entered the starting lineup. She had her first double-double (19 points and 10 rebounds) in a contest against the Minnesota Lynx just two games before Brink went out.
Their playstyles should mesh. Jackson is a crafty outside shot creator and has become an improved perimeter defender who will only gain more confidence with a rim protector like Brink behind her.
With the Sparks rebuilding, the veterans took on roles unlike ones they had in the past. Kia Nurse was the vocal leader. Dearica Hamby flourished in what Miller called the “go-to player role.” She led the team with career-highs in points and rebounds (17.3 and 9.2 per game). She broke the Sparks single-season points record, previously set by Nneka Ogwumike, finishing with 691 points.
“To watch her embrace that and have the year that she had for us,” Miller said, “it’s a true credit to her for taking that challenge on and accepting a new role.”
Hamby and Miller connected on another level. His impact prompted her to tweet in support of him following his departure. Nurse also showered praise toward Miller, for the job he did creating a healthy locker-room environment.
Connections don’t win games, though, and Miller admitted he didn’t always push the right buttons. He wasn’t able to do things defensively, he said, that he could when he coached the Connecticut Sun (2016-2022).
The Sparks would build early leads on teams, but, as Miller put it, would allow one mistake to “snowball” and concede that advantage.
They had seven losses in which they led by 10 or more at one point in the game. They suffered an embarrassing 103-68 loss to the New York Liberty in the first game out of the Olympic break.
Losing in the WNBA does have its positives. The Sparks, who boast a 25-55 record over the last two seasons, will have a 44% chance at earning the first overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. They’ll be able to add a touted rookie to their young core of Jackson and Brink.
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They extended the contracts of Hamby and Stevens and project to return Li Yueru, Rae Burrell, Stephanie Talbot, Zia Cooke and Brown.
As with any rebuilding team, the Sparks showed signs of progress. But this isn’t just any rebuilding team, this is an organization that hasn’t gotten it right in a while and got it drastically wrong at the worst possible time. They’re the fodder of a league whose popularity is soaring. And looking into next season, whoever fills Miller’s shoes will have to rely on big-picture soliloquies that try to imbue hope into fans.
