The 2024 WNBA season was the franchise's 28th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the second season under head coach Curt Miller. The season tipped off on May 15, 2024, in Long Beach versus the Atlanta Dream,[1] and ended on September 19 against the Minnesota Lynx.
| 2024 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Curt Miller |
| Arena | Walter Pyramid (Capacity: 4,000 (first two games of the season) Crypto.com Arena (Capacity: 19,068) |
| Attendance | 11,045 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–32 (.200) |
| Place | 6th (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Dearica Hamby – 17.3 ppg |
| Rebounds | Dearica Hamby – 9.2 rpg |
| Assists | Odyssey Sims – 5.1 apg |
| Media | |
| Television | ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, Paramount+, CBSSN, NBA TV, ION |
The season started slowly for the Sparks as they lost both of their opening two games. They defeated Washington by two points on May 21 to earn their first win of the season. They lost the following two games including a one point loss to Dallas. They defeated Indiana before losing to Chicago to end the month with a 2–5 record. Their June started off with two losses as well. They won two games to follow including a victory at home against Last Vegas. That would be the highlight of the month as the team went on a seven game losing streak from there to finish the month with a 2–9 record. The only non-double digit loss during that streak was a 70–79 loss to Connecticut on June 18. Their losing streak extended one more game into July before they defeated Last Vegas in overtime. They would lose the next two games before defeating Dallas. They lost to Seattle to finish July 2–4 and head into the Olympic break. The Sparks lost the first six games after returning from the Olympic break before defeating New York to finish August 1–6. Well out of the playoff race, the Sparks lost the first eight games of September. The closest loss of the streak was by three-points at Seattle on September 15. The team finished the season with a win over Minnesota. The season was marred by a multitude of injuries, including a season-ending ACL tear to the team's No. 2 draft pick, Cameron Brink, who wound up missing the remainder of the season after playing just 15 games.[2] Brink's injury also caused her to miss the 2024 Summer Olympics, with her teammate Dearica Hamby taking her place on the United States women's national 3x3 team. The Sparks finished with just 8 wins and 32 losses, missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and failing to improve on their 17-23 record from 2023. Their eight wins were the team's lowest total in francise history.
Transactions
editWNBA draft
edit| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Cameron Brink | Stanford | |
| 1 | 4 | Rickea Jackson | Tennessee | |
| 3 | 28 | McKenzie Forbes | USC |
Transactions
edit| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| January 5, 2024 | Hired Raegan Pebley as General Manager[3] | |
| January 17, 2024 | Jasmine Thomas retired[4] | |
| January 31, 2024 | Traded the 19th pick in the 2024 WNBA draft to Seattle in exchange for Kia Nurse[5] | |
| February 1, 2024 | Re-signed Layshia Clarendon[6] | |
| Traded the 12th overall pick in the 2024 draft and Jordin Canada to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Aari McDonald and the 8th overall pick in the 2024 draft[7] | ||
| Re-signed Rae Burrell[6] | ||
| February 2, 2024 | Signed Monique Billings[8] | |
| Signed Virag Kiss to a Training Camp Contract[9] | ||
| Signed Taylor Mikesell to a Training Camp Contract[10] | ||
| February 6, 2024 | Signed Lexie Brown to an Extension[11] | |
| February 21, 2024 | Traded the 8th overall pick in the 2024 draft to Chicago in exchange for Julie Allemand, the rights to Li Yueru and a third round pick in the 2025 draft.[12] | |
| March 21, 2024 | Hired Christine Monjer as President[13] | |
| April 17, 2024 | Signed Blake Dietrick to a Training Camp Contract[14] | |
| April 18, 2024 | Signed McKenzie Forbes to a Rookie Contract[15] | |
| April 19, 2024 | Signed Rickea Jackson to a Rookie Contract[15] | |
| April 20, 2024 | Signed Cameron Brink to a Rookie Contract[15] | |
| April 30, 2024 | Waived Virág Kiss[16] | |
| May 6, 2024 | Waived Taylor Mikesell[17] | |
| May 12, 2024 | Waived Nia Clouden, Blake Dietrick, and McKenzie Forbes | |
| May 13, 2024 | Suspended the contract of Julie Allemand (full season)[18] | |
| Waived Monique Billings[19] | ||
| June 22, 2024 | Signed Queen Egbo to hardship contract[20] | |
| June 29, 2024 | Waived Queen Egbo | |
| July 4, 2024 | Signed Crystal Dangerfield to a 7-day hardship contract[21] | |
| July 12, 2024 | Signed Crystal Dangerfield to a second 7-day contract[15] | |
| Suspended the contract of Li Yueru (temporary) | ||
| August 7, 2024 | Activated Li Yueru[15] | |
| August 16, 2024 | Signed Crystal Dangerfield to a third 7-day contract[15] | |
| August 17, 2024 | Signed Odyssey Sims to 7-day contract | |
| August 22, 2024 | Signed Azurá Stevens and Stephanie Talbot to extensions through 2025[22][23] | |
| Signed Crystal Dangerfield to a rest of season contract[24] | ||
| August 24, 2024 | Signed Odyssey Sims to a second 7-day contract[25] | |
| August 31, 2024 | Released Odyssey Sims and signed Simms to a 7-day contract | |
| September 7, 2024 | Released Odyssey Sims and signed Simms to a rest-of-season contract | |
| September 20, 2024 | Layshia Clarendon announced their retirement | |
| September 24, 2024 | Head coach, Curt Miller, was fired | |
Roster changes
edit
Additionsedit
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Subtractionsedit
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Roster
edit| 2024 Los Angeles Sparks roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth chart
edit| Pos. | Starter | Bench |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Lexie Brown |
Zia Cooke |
| SG | Layshia Clarendon |
Aari McDonald |
| SF | Kia Nurse | Rae Burrell Rickea Jackson |
| PF | Dearica Hamby | Stephanie Talbot |
| C | Cameron Brink |
Azurá Stevens Li Yueru |
Schedule
editPre-season
edit| 2024 pre-season game log Total: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–0)
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| 2024 pre-season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
edit| 2024 game log Total: 8–32 (Home: 5–15; Road: 3–17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 2–5 (Home: 1–3; Road: 1–2)
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June
: 2–9 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–8)
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July
: 2–4 (Home: 1–4; Road: 1–0)
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August
: 1–6 (Home: 1–2; Road: 0–4)
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September
: 1–8 (Home: 0–5; Road: 1–3)
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| 2024 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings
edit| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yx – New York Liberty | 32 | 8 | .800 | — | 16–4 | 16–4 | 16–4 | 5–0 |
| 2 | cx – Minnesota Lynx | 30 | 10 | .750 | 2 | 14–6 | 16–4 | 14–6 | 4–1 |
| 3 | x – Connecticut Sun | 28 | 12 | .700 | 4 | 14–6 | 14–6 | 14–6 | 4–1 |
| 4 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 27 | 13 | .675 | 5 | 12–8 | 13–7 | 14–6 | 2–3 |
| 5 | x – Seattle Storm | 25 | 15 | .625 | 7 | 13–7 | 14–6 | 11–9 | 4–1 |
| 6 | x – Indiana Fever | 20 | 20 | .500 | 12 | 11–9 | 12–8 | 8–12 | 3–2 |
| 7 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 21 | .475 | 13 | 10–10 | 10–10 | 9–11 | 3–2 |
| 8 | x – Atlanta Dream | 15 | 25 | .375 | 17 | 7–13 | 8–12 | 7–13 | 1–4 |
| 9 | e – Washington Mystics | 14 | 26 | .350 | 18 | 7–13 | 5–15 | 9–11 | 1–4 |
| 10 | e – Chicago Sky | 13 | 27 | .325 | 19 | 5–15 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 1–4 |
| 11 | e – Dallas Wings | 9 | 31 | .225 | 23 | 6–14 | 7–13 | 2–18 | 0–5 |
| 12 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 8 | 32 | .200 | 24 | 5–15 | 5–15 | 3–17 | 2–3 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- c – Commissioner's Cup winners
- y – Regular Season Champion
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Statistics
edit| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
edit| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dearica Hamby | 40 | 40 | 33.7 | .512 | .341 | .631 | 9.2 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 17.3 |
| Rickea Jackson | 40 | 35 | 28.8 | .456 | .347 | .807 | 3.9 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 13.4 |
| Odyssey Sims ≠ | 15 | 10 | 26.3 | .438 | .154 | .838 | 1.7 | 5.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 9.8 |
| Azurá Stevens | 20 | 19 | 24.7 | .399 | .350 | .815 | 7.0 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 9.6 |
| Aari McDonald | 26 | 10 | 21.8 | .403 | .319 | .843 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 8.7 |
| Lexie Brown | 16 | 8 | 23.7 | .321 | .304 | .889 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 8.1 |
| Kia Nurse | 40 | 27 | 20.3 | .388 | .331 | .793 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 7.6 |
| Cameron Brink | 15 | 15 | 22.0 | .398 | .323 | .840 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 7.5 |
| Rae Burrell | 37 | 7 | 15.6 | .362 | .333 | .780 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 5.9 |
| Li Yueru | 38 | 2 | 14.4 | .463 | .267 | .898 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 5.1 |
| Layshia Clarendon | 21 | 12 | 16.0 | .427 | .350 | .870 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 4.3 |
| Zia Cooke | 29 | 0 | 8.9 | .321 | .297 | .690 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 3.6 |
| Stephanie Talbot | 37 | 10 | 16.2 | .395 | .260 | .690 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 3.5 |
| Crystal Dangerfield ≠ | 18 | 5 | 12.8 | .286 | .308 | .667 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 3.3 |
| Queen Egbo ≠ ‡ | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 1.000 | — | — | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
Awards and honors
edit| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dearica Hamby | Western Conference Player of the Week | June 11, 2024 | [26] |
| WNBA All-Star | July 2, 2024 | [27] | |
| AP Most Improved Player | September 22, 2024 | [28] | |
| Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | October 2, 2024 | [29] | |
| Rickea Jackson | AP All-Rookie Team | September 22, 2024 | [28] |
| WNBA All-Rookie Team | October 3, 2024 | [30] |
References
edit- ^ "2024 Los Angeles Sparks Schedule". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks rookie forward Cameron Brink suffers torn ACL". ESPN. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Name Raegan Pebley General Manager". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ "Veteran G Jasmine Thomas retires after 13-year WNBA career". espn.com. Fan Level Media. January 17, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Acquire WNBA All-Star Guard Kia Nurse". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. January 31, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "Sparks Re-Sign Layshia Clarendon and Rae Burrell". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Acquire Guard Aari McDonald". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Sign Forward Monique Billings". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ @LASparks (February 2, 2024). "International love! 💜💛 Welcome to the team, Virág Kiss!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 29, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ @LASparks (February 2, 2024). "Signed on the dotted line. ✍️ Welcome to LA, @TMikesell23!" (Tweet). Retrieved February 29, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ @LASparksPR (February 6, 2024). "Lexie Brown on her two-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Sparks: "This is such a surreal moment for me. Anyone familiar with my career knows that it hasn't always been easy and finding a home with the Sparks organization has been such a blessing. They have allowed me to be myself and walk in my light since day one. I'm really excited for the future and being a veteran leader of this super talented team. I can't thank everyone in the organization enough for believing in me and supporting me. This is an opportunity that I've been waiting for and working so hard for. I'm ready!"" (Tweet). Retrieved February 29, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Michael Voepel (February 19, 2024). "Sky land No. 8 pick in 2024 WNBA draft in trade with Sparks". ESPN. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
- ^ "Los Angeles Sparks Name Christine Monjer As Team President". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ @LASparks (April 17, 2024). "Keep adding to the roster! 🙌 Welcome to LA, @BIakeDietrick!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d e f "WNBA Transactions". acrossthetimeline.com. Across the Timeline. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ @LASparksPR (April 30, 2024). "Training camp update: The LA Sparks have waived center Virag Kiss" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @LASparksPR (May 6, 2024). "Training camp update: The Los Angeles Sparks have waived guard Taylor Mikesell" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Sparks Announce 2024 Final Roster". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
- ^ @LASparksPR (May 13, 2024). "Training camp update: The Los Angeles Sparks have waived forward Monique Billings" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Sparks Sign Center Queen Egbo to Hardship Contract". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Sign Guard Crystal Dangerfield to Hardship Contract". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Forward Azurà Stevens Signs Contract Extension". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
- ^ "Sparks Forward Stephanie Talbot Signs Contract Extension". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
- ^ @LASparksPR (August 23, 2024). "The Sparks have signed Crystal Dangerfield to a rest-of-season hardship contract" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @LASparksPR (August 24, 2024). "The LA Sparks have signed Odyssey Sims to a second 7-day hardship contract" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ @LASparksPR (June 11, 2024). "Dearica Hamby is the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Week for June 3 through June 9, the league announced today. Hamby is the fourth player to win the award this season, joining Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper and A'ja Wilson" (Tweet). Retrieved June 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Rosters Set for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2024 on July 20". WNBA (Press release). July 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Feinberg, Doug (September 22, 2024). "A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark are unanimous choices for WNBA AP Player and Rookie of the Year". Associated Press. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ Ariali, Cat (October 2, 2024). "2024 WNBA Awards: Los Angeles Sparks' Dearica Hamby wins Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award". SB Nation. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
- ^ Zucker, Joseph (October 3, 2024). "Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso Headline 2024 WNBA All-Rookie Team". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 3, 2024.