bad team

After aiming to leap from the WNBA’s worst team to a season of triumph, the Sparks instead ended the season seeking perspective — none more so than Kelsey Plum.

In the season’s final weeks, while fighting for a playoff spot, Plum called Dearica Hamby, her closest teammate, to voice her frustration. Accustomed to winning seasons with the Las Vegas Aces, Plum sought solace after several losses, and Hamby grounded her.

“Hey, I won eight games last year,” Hamby responded. “So this looks different to me.”

Despite finishing under .500 for the fifth consecutive season and falling just short of making the playoffs, the Sparks easily more than doubled last year’s win total. Hampered by a slew of injuries that stunted momentum, they greatly improved with the league’s fourth-best record after the All-Star break.

“I really wanted to impact winning, and so it’s tough because sometimes I don’t do a great job of giving myself grace,” Plum said. “We did win 21 games, different from eight a season ago, [but] at the same time, as a competitor, I really want to be in the playoffs.”

Missing the postseason has left Plum carrying that burden, an internal battle she said she’ll have to process. The weight was heavier for Plum, after taking a leap of faith, betting on herself as a No. 1 option for the first time in her career and the motivating factor behind accepting a trade to L.A.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who will become a free agent this offseason, drives against Dream guard Jordin Canada during a game Sept. 5.

(Paras Griffin / Getty Images)

Now, heading into the offseason, Plum’s message to her teammates is to “take that chip and that hunger,” as she will, and carry it into next season.

For Hamby, this season was a necessary dismantling and rebuilding of the organization, an essential step for lasting success.

“My optimism and perspective is I’d rather have a slow burn than a quick fix,” Hamby said. “We’re talking about long-term and wanting to build something for years to come, with the core that we have.”

For the Sparks to take the next step, head coach Lynne Roberts and general manager Reagan Pebley face a tall task: holding together a roster that finally showed promise of reaching lofty goals. Drawing on their coaching backgrounds, both have leaned on a collaborative approach to building the roster, but free agency will be a test this offseason.

Outside of second-year contributors Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson, and this year’s rookie class — all locked into multi-year deals — every veteran on the roster will hit the market. That includes three players who delivered career years: Plum, Hamby and Azurá Stevens.

Plum, with Hamby seated beside her, refrained from guaranteeing her return during exit interviews Friday night. Yet her impassioned message to fans after the season finale, role as the face of the franchise, and input in offseason plans make a return likely.

Hamby, who began recruiting Plum nearly a year ago in hopes of building a legacy together, also appears committed to staying. As she put it, the two “always talked about being together, staying together, whatever we do.”

Fever forward Kelsey Mitchell, middle, tries to drive against the Sparks’ Dearica Hamby (5) and Azurá Stevens (23), who both will be free agents this offseason.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

For starters, retaining them along with Stevens and Julie Allemand is a priority, but it could become a bit complicated come free agency.

Stevens, the healthiest she’s been in years, delivered career highs in points (12.8), rebounds (8.0), minutes (28.4) and games (all 44) as a primary contributor, particularly when injuries plagued the team early in the season — a showing that could attract suitors in free agency.

Allemand is headed to Turkey to play professionally this offseason but hopes to return next season — a return that might hinge on a more defined role. She said she can “do a lot more” and doesn’t want “to be satisfied with this, and be like, ‘OK, let’s just come back next season,’ and it’s the same.”

“It’s always tough to run it back,” Pebley said. “Success is really hard to sustain, and momentum is really hard to hold on to. … We’ll do everything we can to make sure the right pieces stay. Maybe it’s putting people in a different spot, but also addressing some needs that we have.”

The challenge isn’t just shuffling or adding talent; it’s doing so without overcorrecting. The goal is bringing in players who add value while preserving locker-room balance — those whom both Roberts and Pebley trust to fit seamlessly into the culture, enhancing it rather than disrupting it.

Changing the culture and building an identity was Roberts’ top priority heading into her first full WNBA season, and she believes the roster has fully bought in, a process that began with earning the players’ trust.

“They don’t care what you know until they know you care,” Roberts said. “I wanted to get them on board and get them bought in. And so then next year there can be more accountability and I can do a better job.”

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts talks with guard Julie Allemand during a break in play. Allemand will become a free agent this offseason.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pebley said missing the playoffs has left everyone focused on accountability, at times, to a fault.

Plum is carrying the weight of coming to L.A. to win and falling short. Roberts is shouldering the responsibility of missing the mark of turning a perennial losing team into a winner, like she was hired to do. Pebley herself has been reflecting on the decisions she could have made differently.

“Like mature, experienced people that can gain perspective, do hold on to that self-accountability, but also start to move things into the right place,” Pebley said. “We want to get better, and we will. We’re very committed to doing that, and grateful that it’s not just on one of our shoulders.”

DENVER — When the Dodgers arrived in Colorado on Sunday night they had a golden opportunity to pad their narrow division lead against with the worst team in the majors. The best they could do was hold serve, needing Thursday’s 9-5 win over the Rockies to earn a split of the four-game series.

Now they head to San Diego for a crucial three-game series against the Padres with the division lead once again up for grabs.

“I wish we had won all four, but it just didn’t happen,” Dodger manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just the way baseball is. So we’ve got to go out there and regardless of the standings, we’ve got to beat those guys.”

The standings, however, loom large. On July 7, the Dodgers led the division by six games. The margin is now just a game.

The Padres, who have won 12 of 19 games in August, are the third-hottest team in the National League this month. The Dodgers are a game over .500.

“It is what it is,” Roberts said. “It’s where we’re at right now and I can’t change it. I feel good about our club going into San Diego.”

His club will have a bit of momentum on its side after scoring 20 runs on 30 hits in the two wins at Coors Field. Thursday’s matinee saw four players finish with multiple hits, including third baseman Alex Freeland, who was a career-best three for five with a run scored and another driven in. Freeland had six hits in the final three games in Denver.

“It’s just like I’m building confidence now,” said Freeland, who entered Thursday hitting .180 since his call-up from Triple A Oklahoma City three weeks ago. “I’ve kind of spent a little time here now and I’m getting comfortable.”

The Dodgers also got a fourth straight strong effort from starter Clayton Kershaw (8-2), who gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings. Kershaw has allowed just five runs over 23 2/3 innings this month, dropping his season ERA nearly 50 points to 3.13.

That was also good enough to keep his team in first, something he noted afterward.

Fans applaud as Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw heads to the dugout after being pulled from the mound in the sixth inning Thursday.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

“You can’t take anything for granted in Colorado, obviously,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we’re [one] up going in [to San Diego]. So we feel good about it.”

Freeland agreed.

“We definitely could have produced more. But you know what? We’re going to take this one today and take this momentum and bring it into San Diego,” he said.

After Kershaw won the opener of a three-game series with the Padres at Dodger Stadium a week ago, the teams were even atop the N.L. The Dodgers wound up sweeping that series and have won eight of 10 with the Padres overall this year.

“We’ve played well against those guys this year,” Roberts said. “They’re going to give us everything they have this weekend.”

The Dodgers got started early Thursday with Mookie Betts, who reached base four times, opening the game by walking on five pitches. Freddie Freeman followed with a two-run home run, his 16th of the season, to center field.

The Rockies cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a popup that got lost in the sun, a sacrifice bunt, a balk and an RBI groundout. But they would get no closer, with the Dodgers scoring in each of the first five innings to take an 8-2 lead.

Freeland had his first career triple along with a double and single, falling a homer shy of the cycle. He had six hits in the final three games in Denver. Betts finished two for three with two walks and two runs scoring while Freeman, who was two for five, raised his season average to .304 and is hitting .328 for August.

Notes: Roberts said pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is fine after taking a line drive off his right thigh in Wednesday’s game. Ohtani was scheduled to have Thursday off and Roberts said he’ll be back in the lineup Friday. … The Dodgers will activate reliever Tanner Scott before Friday’s game in San Diego and reliever Kirby Yates on Saturday. Scott has been out a month with inflammation in his left elbow while Yates has missed three weeks with lower back pain. … Right-hander Roki Sasaki made progress in his second rehab start Wednesday, going 3 1/3 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked three and struck out two before leaving after 60 pitches. He will make another rehab start next week before the Dodgers make any decision on his role in September. The team had talked about using Sasaki in a relief role.

The Galaxy are the worst team in Major League Soccer. That’s not subjective opinion, it’s objective fact. Just look at the MLS standings, where the Galaxy are dead last after Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders, a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score would indicate.

But the Galaxy are also one of the four best teams in Major League Soccer. That, too, is not subjective opinion but objective fact because, after an unbeaten run through Leagues Cup group play, the Galaxy are one of just four MLS teams to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.

How can both things be true simultaneously? That’s a good question — and one that can be only be answered subjectively.

“It takes time for a group to come together and a team to find out who they are,” Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz offered. “We had to discover ourselves a little bit.”

The Galaxy’s Mauricio Cuevas lies on the field and covers his face with his hands during his team’s 4-0 loss to the Sounders in Seattle on Sunday.

(Luiza Moraes / Getty Images)

That doesn’t really capture the depth of the Galaxy’s decline. The team had one of the most successful seasons in franchise history last year, matching the modern-era record for victories (19) and going unbeaten in 21 games at Dignity Health Sports Park en route to their sixth MLS Cup.

This season, they got off to the worst start ever for a reigning champion, going 16 games without a win while being outscored 36-13. Since May 31, however, the Galaxy are 5-3-4 in all competition, with two of the wins coming against Mexican clubs Tijuana and Santos Laguna, whom they outscored 9-2 in Leagues Cup matches.

In between there were no trades, no acquisitions and no major lineup or strategic changes. Nor are there likely to be any for the reason of the season; although there are 10 days left in the MLS summer transfer window, Kuntz said “I don’t foresee us doing anything.”

So it’s pretty much been the same players and will pretty much stay the same players. Only now they’re playing (slightly) better.

“The rosters are the same, but the minutes and who’s getting them have maybe changed a little bit. Our start of the season was more of an aberration than where we’re at now,” Kuntz said.

Defender Mauricio Cuevas, for example, started just two of the team’s first 24 MLS games, but he started two of the Leagues Cup games and contributed three assists. The Galaxy were winless in league play when forward Matheus Nascimento made his first start; with Nascimento scoring six goals, they’ve lost just four of 13 games in all competition since then. And winger Joseph Paintsil, who appeared lost early in the season, has found his form from a year ago, notching six goals and an assist in his last eight matches.

Still, Kuntz’s subjective analysis feels like a bit of a cop-out since the Galaxy returned 10 of the 14 players who appeared in last year’s MLS Cup final, a game midfielder Riqui Puig, the team’s most indispensable player, missed with injury.

But it’s not so much how many players left as it is where they played that matters, the GM said. Two of the three players he traded — Mark Delgado and Gastón Brugman — were midfielders. And with Puig yet to play this year, the Galaxy started the season missing three of their top five midfielders in terms of minutes played in 2024.

“The midfield is the heart of any team,” Kuntz said. “That’s not to say we haven’t had some players who underperformed or took longer to get to speed than we thought. But the midfield consistency also impacts guys. Everything’s sort of interrelated.”

Coach Greg Vanney agreed. His team’s decline, he said, can’t be blamed on one thing.

“There are a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t think we have a super deep group when it comes to a lot of games in a short period to match some of the physicality.

“We haven’t executed. We have given up goals soft. We’ve never been able to catch any sort of consistent sort of form and rhythm inside of the league and gotten results out of it and closed out games when we need to.”

And that’s just the short list.

The Galaxy’s tepid turnaround — “We’ve been a lot better over the last stretch,” Vanney said — hasn’t been nearly good enough to lift the team out of the deep, deep hole it dug in the first three months of the season since their 3-15-7 record has them buried at the bottom of the MLS table and their 52 goals allowed are most in the league.

Cruz Azul forward Carlos Rotondi and Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec fight for the ball during a Leagues Cup match on Aug. 3 in Carson.

(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)

Yet a win over Mexico’s Pachuca next week, at home, would leave the Galaxy a win away from a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup and two victories away from raising the Leagues Cup, giving them a second major title in nine months.

And they have another chance at hardware in October’s Campeones Cup against Mexican champion Toluca, whom they could also face in the Leagues Cup final.

“It is important to compete for trophies, right?” Kuntz asked. “The other thing you’ve see in this tournament is a bit of a fresh start for us. And guys kind of embrace that. It’s like this is what you’d see if the MLS season started today. This is kind of where we’d be.”

Where they are is last. Winning a trophy while finishing at the bottom of the MLS standings has been done before; in 2013, DC United set an MLS record for fewest wins in a season with three and broke the record for fewest points in a 34-game season with 16.

“Hey, you can still qualify for Champions [Cup]. Pretty incredible,” Kuntz said. “You need to be a goldfish, right? Have a short memory. It’s important that you not dwell on what’s already passed.

“Because the most important stretch is what comes next.”

That’s not subjective opinion. It’s objective fact.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Lately, while watching the Dodgers play, losing streak and all, I am reminded of something the great Benoit Benjamin once said: “Bad team, man. Bad [bleeping] team.”

Brian Lipson
Beverly Hills

The signing of closer Tanner Scott will go down as the worst in Dodgers history. It’s even worse than the signing of outfielder Michael Conforto. Scott has already blown six saves, has two losses and has an ERA creeping up to 4.00. He is the third-highest paid relief pitcher in history. What makes his signing far worse than Conforto’s is the fact the Dodgers are stuck with him for four seasons.

Geno Apicella
Placentia

After beating up on cupcakes — Colorado, Kansas City, Chicago White Sox — in the previous nine games, the Houston Astros came to town and showed the Dodgers how a good team plays. Even more disturbing was manager Dave Roberts’ continued mismanagement of his pitching staff. On top of his inept pitching decisions, Roberts actually sought to have the weak-hitting Michael Conforto pinch-hit on Saturday.

Roberts is too prone to cede games when his team falls behind by allowing clearly ineffective pitchers to stay on the mound. Enough already. Replace Roberts with a manager who actually understands the nuances of the game. With their prodigious talent, the Dodgers should not be swept in a series. And they certainly shouldn’t be outscored 29-6 over three games.

Brian Gura
Redondo Beach

Ten runs in six games! That must be a new low for the Dodgers. Although Shohei Ohtani is leading the league in home runs, he is not even in the top 10 in RBIs. This is what comes from having him hit leadoff. It makes no sense. Did any of the great home run hitters ever hit leadoff?

Mike Schaller
Temple City

Messed-up Mookie

Regarding “He’s (Ohtani) swinging to get his balance back.” What about Mookie Betts? His offensive production is way off since he switched to the more physically demanding position of shortstop. Why not move Mookie back to right field (where he won multiple gold gloves) to get his offensive output back to his lofty standards? Play Tommy Edmon at shortstop, Hyeseong Kim at second, with Miguel Rojas as backup. Now you have three great arms in the outfield while improving the infield defense. Just a thought.

Michael N. Antonoplis
Sherman Oaks

Mookie Betts’ bat has suffered since he has struggled to adapt to playing shortstop. It’s time to move him back to right field, where he will be more comfortable in the field and at the plate.

Harris J. Levey
Venice

One last pitch

Can you stand one more letter about the Sandy Koufax-Clayton Kershaw “greatest” controversy? Koufax pitched with an arthritic arm that he soaked in ice for hours after every game. He did not have 21st century medical technology, which could have extended his career.

Carolyn Rothberg
Tarzana

Ganging up on the Jameses

Are you laboring under a misconception that there’s a Bronny James fan club out there somewhere?
You seem to work him into every story, whether he plays or not. In the story about the Lakers’ win over the Spurs on Tuesday, you rightly credited Darius Bazley with leading the team with 27 points, with Dalton Knecht adding 25.

Then you felt the need to add, “Bronny James, still working to ramp up his conditioning, played just over five minutes and scored two points.” Who cares? Other than his parents, whom do you presume is clamoring for stats on a bench warmer?

Steve Rutledge
Beaumont

A week after signing a $52-million option for next season, LeBron James still owns the acronym of GOAT, only the descriptor has changed slightly: Greediest Of All Time.

Ron Ovadia
Irvin

Talking like a winner

I enjoyed Broderick Turner’s article on Deandre Ayton coming to the Lakers. I liked Ayton a lot at the beginning of his career. I thought Ayton had a lot of potential. I hope that LeBron James and Luka Doncic, with their assist skills, can bring that potential out of Ayton this season. I liked that during the course of Turner’s article, Ayton was quoted 15 times using “win” as part of a word, like “wins,” “winning,” “winner,” etc. We will have to see if Ayton can convert his words to deeds and be a winner for the Lakers this season.

Vaughn Hardenberg
Westwood

Practice squaring up

Thank you for the article on the Angels interim manager Ron Montgomery. I have one bit of advice for him. Practice bunting. There are a bunch of games the Angels have lost in extra innings because they (along with most of the other major league teams) don’t bunt the player on second base over to third with no outs. So much easier to score a run if the runner is at third base.

Steve Shaevel
Woodland Hills

Title says it all

USC eliminated the position of executive senior associate athletic director. The fact that a position with such a convoluted title even existed tells you all you need to know about administrative bloat in the Trojans’ athletic department.

Gerry Swider
Sherman Oaks

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