The Los Angeles Sparks were 13-23 last season but are looking to turn their fortunes around this season with a revamped team led by general manager Karen Bryant, head coach Curt Miller along with players such as guards Lexie Brown and Jasmine Thomas and forward Dearica Hamby.
“The opportunity to bring in two proven players in our league and in both of those moves to acquire first round picks was obviously an opportunity we couldn’t pass on,” Bryant said Tuesday.
The Sparks are focused on adding players to a team that has already built a foundation and are trying to focus on winning more in 2023. When asked specifically on their thoughts of rebuilding Brown said, “You would have to assume that we aren’t really aiming for a championship or success, so I think a championship is very doable.” Brown is coming up on her sixth season with the WBNA and her second season with theSparks.
Miller spoke on Brown’s growth throughout her career and said, “Those players learn so much from adversity. Lexie has learned through adversity.” This focuses in on how Lexie has continued to contribute to this team and grow as a player.”
As for Dearica Hamby she is coming off an overwhelming offseason that led to her trade from the Las Vegas Aces as she heads to Los Angeles. She spent 5 seasons with the Aces before learning she would be traded. Currently the players association is investigating the Aces for the alleged pregnancy discrimination brough forth by Hamby in a social media post after the trade. When asked about joining the Sparks she said, “I didn’t choose LA specifically, but they were the only team that I spoke to.” She also touched on the topic of rebuilding saying, “You still have all-stars on this team you are not rebuilding in the sense of grabbing a bunch of rookies and trying to plan for the future you still have talented players and all-stars on this team.”
When asked about joining this team, Jasmine Thomas said, “I was actually excited this is a great opportunity.” She has played 7 of her last 8 seasons with Coach Miller and there is already a good relationship there. She even touched on how Coach Miller has done this before on building a successful team even when she started back in Connecticut.
Miller added, “We have a lot of work to do to continue to build on the momentum that we already started.”
