Newest Sparks want to make the team title contenders again
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Mercedes Russell said the quiet part out loud during the Sparks’ introductory news conference for her and fellow WNBA free-agent signings Emma Cannon and Odyssey Sims on Tuesday afternoon.
“Obviously, the basketball history in L.A. is deep … we’re going to be wanting to hang a banner,” Russell said. “We’re going to be wanting to win a championship.”
It’s an ambitious mentality for a team coming off the worst season in franchise history, but it’s one that Sparks GM Raegan Pebley has cultivated by reshaping the roster this offseason to complement their young core of Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, especially with the addition of two-time WNBA champion and three-time All-Star Kelsey Plum. On paper at least, the Sparks look primed for a return to relevance in 2025.
“One of the things that we really wanted to make sure that we targeted in our offseason was continuing to add to our culture,” Pebley said via video, “and making sure that we were bringing in pieces that were going to enhance our backcourt and very intentional pieces that we would add with our veteran leadership that we needed to have. … So we are thrilled to have the additions of these three and grateful that they’ve joined us.”
Russell and Cannon bring championship experience to L.A. Russell won two WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm while Cannon has won five titles overseas in Israel and Germany. Another thing they have in common? They both have a history with Plum.
Though it’s been almost a decade since the Sparks’ last title run, Kelsey Plum made it clear what the expectation is for this season and beyond.
Plum and Russell first shared the court as high schoolers 12 years ago at the 2013 McDonald’s All American game.
“I’ve been great friends with her, and just knowing her off the court is really special. Because, I mean, on the court, look what she’s done,” Russell said. “Her accolades and her mentality and just how her game has grown since she’s been in the league has been amazing. So, I mean, during this process, I was obviously thinking of being teammates with her, and just also thinking back to 2013 like, dang, I haven’t played with her in so long. Like, it’s gonna be cool just to be back on the court together and putting that work together again.”
Cannon reunites with her former Las Vegas Aces teammates Plum and Dearica Hamby, who led the Sparks in scoring and set a franchise record for rebounds in a single season last year.
Sims, on the other hand, brings a level of familiarity to the Sparks, both from her original stint with the team from 2017-18 and when she arrived last August on a hardship seven-day contract. She’s seen the Sparks at their highest and their lowest, and she’s excited to be a part of this new chapter in the franchise’s history.
“I know the last few years, L.A. has just been up and down, trying to figure out rosters, just rebuilding,” Sims said. “I know, especially losing Nneka [Ogwumike], that was a huge part of just the L.A. culture. Just from what was built up with Candace [Parker], with Chelsea [Gray], Alana Beard, some of the greats that have been through. So I think to be a part of it now, makes it more special because we’re going to be something special, but at the same time, getting back to that winning culture that everybody knows that L.A. is. That’s what we’re all about.”
Cannon knows what the expectation is within the team and fans, but she also acknowledged that the work needs to be put in first.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Cannon said. “I mean, if you want to chase something, you want something, you have to work at it every single day. So every time that we go into the gym, every time we step on the court, we have to have that championship mindset. Everybody has to have the same goal.”
Sims agreed.
“We have a lot of work to do. Like I said, we’re going to have our tough days, we have our grind it out moments, but I’m excited just to be a part of it and to be surrounded by these great players that I get a chance to play with.”
