PORTLAND, Ore. — Dearica Hamby scored 23 points, Nneka Ogwumike had 20 of her 22 in the second half and the Sparks — after learning star teammate Kelsey Plum was traded — ended a six-game losing streak with a 106-101 win over the Portland Fire on Sunday.
Plum, sidelined since June 21 with a leg injury, was sent to the Phoenix Mercury late Saturday night. The Sparks are now 3-9 without Plum.
Ogwumike hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:25 to play, making it 98-96. Hamby followed with a layup off an Ogwumike assist. In the last 24 seconds, Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler went six for six from the foul line.
Wheeler, Ariel Atkins, Rae Burrell and reserve Jihyun Park all added 12 points for the Sparks (11-17). Hamby and Ogwumike both had 10 rebounds and Wheeler had eight assists.
Bridget Carleton hit seven three-pointers, scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Fire (11-19), who lost their fifth straight, four times allowing 100-plus points. Carla Leite added 21 points and eight assists and Megan DiLeo scored 19.
Portland took advantage of four offensive rebounds and six Los Angeles turnovers to lead 29-22 after one quarter. The lead reached 10 in the second quarter and the Fire were up 49-43 at the break.
Wheeler and Ogwumike had back-to-back three-pointers to give the Sparks their first lead since 10-8 at 65-64. Carleton’s three in the last minute pulled the Fire into a 72-72 tie entering the fourth quarter.
Up next for the Sparks: Play at Chicago on Wednesday.
People with knowledge of Plum’s thinking confirmed to the The Times last week that she didn’t intend to re-sign with the Sparks in the offseason, forcing them to move on from her expiring contract and get as much value as possible to build from the ground up — again.
It’s no surprise the Sparks decided to blow it up two weeks after firing general manager Raegan Pebley, who had told The Times that she intended to keep the Sparks in contention through the trade deadline.
The Mercury’s Monique Akoa Makani handles the ball in front of the Liberty’s Pauline Astier at Mortgage Matchup Center on Saturday in Phoenix.
(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
The return the Sparks got for Plum on an expiring contract is as good as they could have hoped for — a starting quality player and a first-round pick that might end up a lottery pick if the Mercury don’t make the playoffs.
The Sparks traded the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft to Seattle, who turned that selection into All-Star center Dominique Malonga, to acquire Plum in the 2025 offseason to try to end their rebuild. They finished two games outside the postseason last season and have struggled this year with Plum’s injury and a league-worst defense.
How soon the Sparks can attempt to contend again might depend on this year. If they get a high enough draft pick to take JuJu Watkins, should she choose to leave USC, they can build around her. If not, they are back in the same spot as 2025 when they got the second overall pick and missed out on the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes.
Watkins may choose to stay at USC another season, which would give the Sparks a second chance at her in the lottery if they aren’t back on their feet yet.
Since the Sparks will all but certainly miss the playoffs this season, they will have two lottery picks, giving them a chance to add some rookie-scale contracts to a roster filled with veteran deals. They have two players in Dearica Hamby and Ariel Atkins who are owed more than $1 million per season over the next two years, and Erica Wheeler is on the books for $625,000 next season.
They have young center Cameron Brink, the No. 2 overall pick in 2024, to build around. Despite rumors earlier this season, the Sparks decided not to trade Brink and are instead building around her. Pending restricted free agent Rae Burrell has had her best season in the WNBA this year, and if the Sparks don’t move on from her, she can be another key piece in the next version of the team.
Those two and former No. 4 pick Rickea Jackson were supposed to be a part of the next wave for the Sparks, but they traded Jackson to Chicago for Atkins this offseason in what now appears to be an ill-conceived attempt at winning this year.
Akoa Makani will also slot in as a starter right away for the Sparks at 25 years old. Last season with a Phoenix squad that made it to the WNBA Finals, she started 11 playoff games. She is also under team control until 2027 when she will become a reserved free agent.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink is pressured by Fever guard Lexie Hull on May 13 at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Akoa Makani will be one of the better defenders on the Sparks’ roster and is a career 41% three-point shooter. In her 16 games this season, she is averaging 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
Phoenix’s first-round 2027 draft pick the Sparks acquired will most likely be the seventh overall, with a small chance at being first or second because of the WNBA’s two-year lottery odds format. Seventh picks in recent years have included Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow and Veronica Burton.
The Sparks will be projected to pick around sixth without some extreme lottery luck, but even those two picks will make a big difference for a team with just one lottery pick (Brink) from the past six years of rebuilding.
Aside from Watkins at the top of the draft, Louisiana State guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina forward Ashlyn Watkins, Kentucky center Clara Strack and LSU guard Mikaylah Williams will be viable young players.
With Plum off the books and expiring contracts for Nneka Ogwumike and Emma Cannon next season, the Sparks will have cap room to work with even with the hefty contracts at the top of their cap.
If they create a core of young players around Brink, Burrell and Akoa Makani, they will have another chance to get a rebuild right.
The Sparks reportedly agreed to trade All-Star guard Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday night, ending a brief stint in Los Angeles as the franchise continues its rebuild ahead of the WNBA trade deadline.
ESPN reported the Sparks acquired guard Monique Akoa Makani, a 2027 first-round draft pick and a 2028 second-round selection for Plum.
The move comes less than two years after the Sparks acquired Plum in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm, sending the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft as part of the package to land the two-time champion.
The Sparks fired general manager Raegan Pebley on July 12 following two straight wins. Since then, the Sparks have lost six in a row and dropped further back in the playoff race.
Despite Plum’s individual success, the partnership never translated into team success. The Sparks entered the deadline well outside the playoff picture, and reports in recent days indicated Plum was not expected to re-sign after the season, making a trade the organization’s best opportunity to recoup assets before free agency.
Plum, who has been out because of a lower leg injury, was enjoying one of the best offensive seasons of her career before sitting out 10 games, averaging 23.9 points and 6.4 assists and while shooting 52.7% from the field and 38.3% from three-point range in 12 games. She earned another All-Star selection while serving as the focal point of the Sparks’ offense.
For Phoenix, Plum provides an immediate offensive boost. One of the league’s premier scoring guards, she brings championship experience, perimeter shooting and playmaking to a team that is trying to move back into the WNBA playoff picture. The Mercury (11-19) are 12th in the standings just behind the Sparks (10-17).
The Sparks, meanwhile, are stuck in their rebuild limbo, with several veterans on long-term contracts and just Rae Burrell on an expiring contract.
The trade is one of the most significant moves before the WNBA deadline on Sunday and could reshape the championship race. But for the Sparks, it’s just another indicator that they are still searching for a way to contend.
Tom Parker’s pregnant widow Kelsey has revealed her struggle ahead of the first anniversary of her stillborn baby’s deathCredit: Instagram/being_kelseyThe podcast host, 36, lost Phoenix in June 2025Credit: YouTube
Kelsey has two children with The Wanted singer Tom,who died in 2022 aged 33,– Aurelia, six, and Bodhi, four – but had been expecting her third child with new partnerWill Lindsay.
Amid her pregnancy joy, it will be the one-year anniversary of Phoenix’s passing and in a candid Instagram upload, she admitted she “deeply misses my little boy and wish things had been different”.
Kelsey uploaded a selfie showing her in the sunshine, wearing a white vest top and sunglasses with a gold chain.
She is now pregnant with her rainbow babyCredit: being_kelsey/InstagramKelsey, seen with partner Will Lindsay, revealed she ‘deeply misses my little boy and wish things had been different’Credit: being_kelsey/Instagram
In a frank message posted alongside it she put: “I’ve been really quiet on here the last couple of days.
“Truthfully, I’ve been working a lot, trying to keep busy and just processing the fact that Sunday is a big day.
“It’s Phoenix’s first anniversary and it’s Father’s Day too.
“Grief is a strange thing. Some days you can keep going and stay busy, and other days it all catches up with you.
She shares two children with The Wanted singer Tom ParkerCredit: Social media – Refer to sourceTom sadly passed in 2022 and Kelsey told how the upcoming Father’s Day would be emotional for the familyCredit: Getty
“I’m learning that both things can exist at once. I can feel excited about this next chapter of life, be grateful for everything I have, and still deeply miss my little boy and wish things had been different”.
Giving advice to her followers, Kelsey added: “If you’re navigating grief, anniversaries or simply carrying something heavy right now, please know you’re not alone.
“As always… stop waiting, start living. But also, give yourself permission to feel it all”.
Recently, the brave mum appeared on ITV daytime series Good Morning Britain to reveal her home was “treated like a crime scene” after Phoenix arrived into the world.
She previously admitted that that grieving Phoenix was “harder than grieving Tom” as she spoke on the Mum’s The Word podcast.
She shared: “It was so hard. I think with Phoenix, it was harder than it was with Tom.
“I think because they [her kids] were so much younger, it’s like I could just be like, ‘daddy wasn’t coming back.’
“And you know, when I said about the angels taking daddy, ‘we won’t see daddy again’, it was like they accepted that and we sort of moved on.
“And now as time’s gone on, they asked me more questions about their dad and stuff, but that initial I suppose with Bod as well. He was 18 months old. It wasn’t a question that he even thought.”
At the time of Tom’s death, Aurelia was around three, and Kelsey’s co-host Georgia pointed out: “They were almost ages where they didn’t understand.
“So you almost didn’t have to explain it too much. You obviously have to explain it, but it’s very different to having a child that completely understands, knows what death is”.
While Kelsey Plum was out with an ankle injury for the past week, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts called her the “head of the snake” of the team’s offense.
Plum, who entered the night leading the WNBA in scoring, netted 27 points but couldn’t save the Sparks from a fourth-quarter collapse and a 104-96 loss to the Dallas Wings at Crypto.com Arena on Friday night.
The Sparks’ offense looked better, but it had no answers for the three-headed attack of Arike Ogunbowale, Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepherd, who spearheaded the Wings’ 63% shooting effort in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The Sparks have lost three consecutive games for the first time since last June. They lost to Connecticut on May 30 before a poor offensive outing against Las Vegas on Tuesday. With Plum, they eclipsed their 69-point total from that game by midway through the third quarter Friday.
But Dallas’ offense was too much for the WNBA’s worst defense.
The Sparks led by as much as nine in the second quarter but surrendered the lead late in the quarter as the Wings shot 55% to cut the lead to one by halftime.
The Sparks led 78-77 going into the fourth after a back-and-forth third quarter, but Dallas went on a 15-5 run to lead by eight. It was the only cold quarter for the Sparks, who scored just 18 points, with more than half of their offense coming from Plum.
It was a two-point game with under two minutes to play when Ogunbowale collected a rebound off her own shot to give the Wings a two-possession lead before Plum missed a three-pointer and a free throw.
Nneka Ogwumike notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Ariel Atkins scored 16 points.
Ogunbowale scored a game-high 30 points while Bueckers posted a career-high 14 assists and Shepherd had 22 points and 15 rebounds.
Wings guard Odyssey Sims left the court in a wheelchair in the second quarter after she twisted her left ankle coming down from a rebound attempt; she didn’t return. In the fourth, Aziaha James had to be carried off by her teammates after she got hit hard by an Ogwumike screen.
The Sparks will host the expansion Portland Fire (6-6) on Sunday, who lost a tight game against Phoenix on Friday night.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum should be set to return to action on Friday against the Dallas Wings.
Plum, who leads the WNBA in scoring, missed the last three games with a sprained ankle injury she sustained in practice. She practiced in full on Thursday, and head coach Lynne Roberts seemed optimistic that she would play.
“I think so,” Roberts said when asked if Plum would play. “She looks good. Hopefully she can play.”
Plum led the Sparks to a 101-95 win in Las Vegas on May 23 and has been one of the best shooters in the league.
She said she feels ready to play on Friday.
“I hated it,” she said of watching from the bench. “I have been just rehabbing like a maniac, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, red lighting my way back.”
In her absence, the Sparks went 1-2 and averaged 83 points, including their worst offensive game of the season on Tuesday in a loss to the Aces.
“She’s kind of the engine that makes everything go,” Roberts said on Thursday. “We’ve sputtered a little bit offensively.”
Before this injury, Plum had missed only four games in her nine-year career because of injury.
The Sparks are 4-5 after starting the season with high hopes to make a return to the postseason.
LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum scored a season-high 38 points, Erica Wheeler hit the go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth quarter, and the Sparks defeated the Las Vegas Aces 101-95 on Saturday night.
A three-pointer by Wheeler capped an 8-0 run for the Sparks in the first minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Sparks a 80-73 lead. The Aces battled back and tied it at 90 on a jumper in the lane by Chelsea Gray and again at 94 on two free throws by A’ja Wilson.
Wheeler then took a pass from Plum and hit a 27-foot three-pointer with 1:15 remaining, giving the Sparks a 97-94 lead. The Aces missed a couple of three-pointers and a free throw on their final possessions while Dearica Hamby and Plum sealed the win with two free throws each.
Hamby and Cameron Brink each scored 16, Ariel Atkins had 11, and Rae Burrell added 10 for the Sparks (3-3). Wheeler had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Plum had nine assists.
Wilson scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Aces (4-2). Carter scored 23 points off the bench. NaLyssa Smith added 22 points, Gray 12 and Jewell Loyd 10.
A three-pointer by Smith gave the Aces a 57-48 lead early in the third quarter but Plum rallied the Sparks with five points and three assists as the Sparks surged ahead 60-57. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the quarter and Las Vegas took a 73-72 lead to the final period.
Las Vegas, the reigning WNBA champions, saw a four-game winning streak end. The Aces had won 20 of their last 21 regular-season games after finishing the 2025 regular season on a 16-game winning streak.
