Early returns look all too familiar for the Sparks

May 17, 2026; Los Angeles, California; Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum at Crypto.com Arena. Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea

Four games into the WNBA season, the Los Angeles Sparks look a lot like last year’s team — offensively capable, defensively lost.

The Sparks finished last season with a minus-2.6-point differential while allowing a league-worst 88.2 points per game. This year, those issues have worsened. Through four games, they sit at 1–3 with a minus-10.5-point differential and are allowing nearly 98 points per game, again ranking near the bottom of the WNBA defensively. The slow start is nothing new — last season they opened 2–8 before digging out of the hole too late to matter.

The team’s struggles come after an offseason centered on urgency and a win-now approach. The front office reshaped the roster by adding veterans with championship experience, bringing in Nneka Ogwumike, Ariel Atkins and Erica Wheeler to stabilize a core led by Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby. It was seen as a serious attempt to end a playoff drought that dates back to 2020.

The organization also hired assistant coach Ebony Hoffman for her defensive prowess. Hoffman helped build elite defensive units during her time with the Seattle Storm from 2022 to 2025. Her arrival was intended to reinforce a much-needed defensive reset.

The Sparks’ most significant move reflected a shift in philosophy, trading youth for urgency. In a blockbuster deal, the Sparks sent forward Rickea Jackson after a promising sophomore season to the Chicago Sky for Ariel Atkins, a proven veteran expected to provide perimeter defense and stability at guard. A former WNBA champion and All-Defensive selection, Atkins was viewed as a win-now addition to complement the veteran core. Through two games this season, she’s averaging five points, three rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 18 percent from the field.

For head coach Lynne Roberts, the focus is less on results and more on urgency as the team tries to find its identity. “We’re four games in. It would be immature to panic,” Roberts said. “But urgency is where it happens as an individual player, coaches, doing your job with intensity and focus. We’ve just got to keep attacking and show up.”

Superstar Kelsey Plum has been one of the few bright spots thus far. She leads the league in scoring at 26.8 points per game while shooting 59.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range. Plum also became the first player in WNBA history to open a season with four straight games of at least 25 points while shooting above 55 percent.

Beyond her performance on the court, Plum continues to display the kind of grit needed to navigate an early-season slump. “In this league, it’s not a matter of if you get punched, it’s when you get punched. You have to be able to take it and punch back,” Plum said. “There are a dozen muscles that we continue to grow, and we’re going to need it because this is the toughest league in the world.”

It’s too early to write off any team, but for an organization that spent the offseason betting on immediate contention, the early returns on the Sparks look all too familiar.

The Sparks will open a four-game road trip Thursday in Phoenix against the Mercury, hoping to build momentum after a slow start.