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When the Los Angeles Sparks announced that Raegan Pebley would become the franchise’s latest general manager ahead of the 2024 WNBA Draft, she inherited one of the more decorated franchises in league history.
Pebley, a 21-year coach in the NCAA, faces a tall task. She has to reconfigure a Sparks club that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2020 — in a league where eight of 12 teams make the cut (although that number will rocket up to 13 teams this season when the Golden State Valkyries join the WNBA).
In her first draft at the helm of the three-time world champs, Pebley selected former All-American First team Stanford power forward Cameron Brink with the No. 2 pick and former three-time All-SEC Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson with the No. 4 selection.
Brink was the no-brainer selection, the top prospect in that year’s draft behind only Caitlin Clark, although she tore her ACL 15 games into the season and now faces an uncertain short-term future. While Jackson proved to be a savvy choice at No. 4. She earned an All-Rookie selection for her efforts, although No. 7 pick Angel Reese — a more limited shooter, but already an elite defender and rebounder — made the All-Star team.
All told, it was a solid first draft for Pebley.
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But it’s too soon to tell if either Brink or Jackson will crack this below list, as we unpack the Sparks’ five best draft selections to date.
In Milton-Jones, then-GM Rhonda Windham selected an eventual two-time All-Star (although one of those appearances happened on the Washington Mystics) and a critical championship piece by selecting the 6-foot-1 forward out of Florida with the fourth pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft.
However, Windham selected Milton over two players who enjoyed starrier primes, who were ultimately taken just outside the WNBA lottery: eventual Hall of Fame point guard Dawn Staley, selected with the No. 9 pick by the Charlotte Sting out of Virginia, four-time All-Star power forward/center Tari Phillips, the Orlando Miracle’s No. 8 pick out of the University of Central Florida.
Staley is the real whiff. Although she had a briefer WNBA career, playing just seven seasons to Milton-Jones’ 17 (only 11 for L.A.), Staley’s prime was far greater. The six-time All-Star didn’t make the cut for the WNBA’s 25th Anniversary Team, but she was included on the 10th and 15th Anniversary Teams. Imagine a champion Sparks club fielding Staley and Lisa Leslie. Could they have won another title? Two more titles?
Over the course of her 11 seasons in Los Angeles (in two separate stints), Milton-Jones averaged 11.7 points on .459/.338/.790 shooting splits, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks a night, in 344 games (331).
Dixon is the only non-lottery selection to make the cut for this list. Milton-Jones is the only other Sparks pick here who wasn’t a sure-thing No. 1 draftee.
Dixon was a member of a slam-dunk inaugural Sparks draft class from Windham, that also included another pick from this list (see below).
The 5-foot-9 guard out of Kansas made an instant impact as a 21-year-old rookie, finishing 12th in MVP voting for the 14-14 Sparks in 1997. Dixon proved to be a critical contributor to the Sparks’ dynastic run that saw the club appear in three straight WNBA Finals from 2001-03, claiming titles in 2001 and ’02.
She was an All-Star across all three of those seasons, made one All-WNBA Second Team, finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2000, and twice finished among the top five in Most Improved Player voting in 2000 and 2003.
Across her nine seasons with the Sparks, Dixon logged career averages of 10.5 points on .427/.318/.801 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals a night.
Ogwumike marks the first Penny Toler selection to make this cut — but not the last.
The 6-foot-2 Stanford product formed one of the all-time lethal frontcourt tandems next to Candace Parker in Los Angeles. Together, they were two of the league’s best two-way players, and brought the Sparks to consecutive Finals appearances in 2016 and 2017, winning in ’16.
Still a perpetual All-Star on a contending Seattle Storm team at 34, it’s possible that Ogwumike plays for several more years and continues to accrue major honors. She will likely finish with a more decorated Hall of Fame career than the next Spark on our list, but when just assessing players by their L.A. years, her one-time teammate has a slight edge.
In her 12 seasons with the Sparks, Ogwumike boasts career averages of 16.5 points on .542/.368/.841 shooting splits, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.6 blocks a night. She made eight of All-Star teams, six all-WNBA teams,and six All-Defensive Teams during her tenure with Los Angeles.
Picking between Ogwumike and Parker is borderline impossible. Both won MVPs together on the Sparks, and both were key contributors on L.A.’s last title team, in 2016. Ogwumike was that season’s MVP, but Parker was ultimately honored as the club’s Finals MVP.
Both were elite All-Defensive bigs with surprising solid floor spacing ability on the other end. Both made the “WNBA 25” anniversary team, meaning they’re considered two of the best 25 players ever.
Ogwumike did make more All-Star teams (eight) while with Los Angeles than Parker did (five), but Parker had serious injury issues that effectively knocked her out of the running for those honors in two seasons.
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As a multi-time MVP and the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year, Parker’s ceiling might have been just a bit higher, but Ogwumike was more consistently available and is also an all-time great. Parker is the better passer, as well, capable of running an offense as something of a point forward.
There is no right or wrong pick between these two stupendous Penny Toler selections, but we’re giving Parker the slight edge.
In 337 regular season games with the Sparks (333 starts) during a 13-season run, Parker averaged 16.9 points on .482/337/.761 shooting splits, 8.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals a night.
Leslie is the ultimate Spark.
Following a superstar collegiate run with the USC Trojans, a 24-year-old Leslie was the obvious top pick in the WNBA’s first draft.
The Gardena native stayed in Southern California, instantly becoming a First-Team All-WNBA honoree and finishing third in MVP voting and fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
A three-time MVP and two-time champion, the 6-foot-5 center was also an eight-time All-Star, a 12-time All-WNBA honoree, a four-time All-Defensive Teamer, and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
The Hall of Famer played all 12 of her available seasons in L.A. (she missed 2007 due to maternity leave), averaging 17.3 points on 47 percent shooting from the floor and 69.5 percent shooting from the foul line, 9.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals a night.
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Can Sparks Sophomores Cameron Brink, Rickea Jackson be All-Stars This Season?
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