The Los Angeles Sparks are quietly crushing free agency.

All eyes have been on the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces – rightfully so – as they put together All-Star rosters. But the Sparks are creating their own strong squad.

The new-look Los Angeles team may not lead to the instant titles New York and Las Vegas fans are anticipating. Still, after missing the playoffs the last two seasons, the Sparks are getting back on track.

A historic WNBA franchise with three titles, LA has not been the same since the 2021 offseason. Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray left during free agency, and then a series of bad decisions by former coach Derek Fisher plagued the team.

But in 2023, things are looking up.

New coach Curt Miller has signed impactful free agents and traded for an All-Star, and he is expected to re-sign two other top players.

The first headline-grabbing move Miller made was bringing 12-year veteran guard Jasmine Thomas with him from Connecticut to LA. Thomas missed most of last season for the Sun with an ACL injury, but now that she’s healthy, the 33-year-old makes a great addition to the Sparks roster.

Thomas had been consistent over the last few seasons prior to her injury, and she’s a high IQ guard that makes good decisions on both ends of the court. In 2021, the Duke product averaged 10.6 points, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals for the Sun.

📍 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 is the place to be #LetsGoSparks pic.twitter.com/sRZkaUbCEj

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) February 3, 2023

Then came the biggest move for the Sparks: The Dearica Hamby trade. The deal was overshadowed by controversy regarding the Aces’ treatment of Hamby, who claims she was traded because she was pregnant.

But strictly from a personnel basis, this was a win for LA. Hamby is a two-time All-Star and two-time sixth player of the year. She’s versatile and played a variety of roles during her time with Las Vegas. Now Hamby says she’s looking forward to stepping out of that “sixth player” box and contributing in bigger ways. Hamby averaged 9.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.1 assists last season as she helped the Aces to a title.

The Sparks also signed Azurá Stevens, a player poised for stardom. The 27-year-old forward spent the last three seasons playing for a stacked Chicago Sky team. Even while sharing minutes with the likes of Candace Parker and Emma Meesseman, Stevens was a major contributor. Last season she averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

itssss officiallll 💛💛 soooo excited for this new chapter in my career 😊 what’s uppppppp LA 💜🤪 pic.twitter.com/u0yaljUsRC

— azurá b. stevens (@stevens_azura) February 3, 2023

And while Miller is making it a priority to bring in new talent, he’s also not neglecting who LA already has: Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.

Nneka was the brightest spot in a dim season for LA in 2022, averaging 18.1 points (the third most of her 11-year career), 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 assists in her first All-Star season since 2019.

Chiney was a key contributor off the bench for LA last season, putting up 7.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Just a year earlier, the 30-year-old had back-to-back injuries: a microfracture in her right knee and a torn left Achilles. A healthy Chiney is capable of being much more than a role player, as the former rookie of the year averaged 14.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game before being hampered by injuries and missing nearly three full seasons.

The Ogwumike are free agents this offseasons, but both have made their intentions to re-sign with the Sparks clear.

The New York Liberty dominated Indiana on Thursday night, winning by a whopping 36 points in the Fever's home opener. 

A sold-out crowd of 17,274 was in attendance to watch as star rookie Caitlin Clark finished the 102-66 defeat with nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists. It’s the first time since January 2021 — her freshman season at Iowa — that Clark's been held to single-digit scoring. 

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"The physicality is definitely up there... I'm easily pushed off screens," she told reporters after the loss. "The game seems a little fast for me right now. The more I play and the more comfortable I get, it's going to slow down a little bit. It will be easier for me to make reads, see things develop."

The Fever were outscored by a combined margin of 57 points in their first two games — the largest two-game point deficit in WNBA season-opening history, according to @ESPNStatsInfo.

"We've got to get to a level of toughness," Fever coach Christie Sides in her own postgame remarks. "When things are going south on us, we're not stopping the bleeding."

"I have great perspective on everything that happens," Clark added. "It was the same in my college career. There were some moments that were absolutely amazing. And there were some moments I was not happy with how I played and how my team performed. That's just life, that's just basketball."

Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who herself experienced a rocky rookie season following a much-hyped college career, offered up some insight on the matter.

"In this league, there are tough defenses all centered around not letting you get the ball, trapping, not letting you score," Ionescu said. "There were many factors that played into what was a tough first season for me in the league, but it helps you be able to figure it out. You have to have those experiences."

But it was reigning league MVP Breanna Stewart that truly stole the show, racking up 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks on the night.

"In general, I just wanted to come out more aggressive coming off of last game," Stewart said after putting up the 24th 30-point game in her career.

Stewart she also commended the fans inside Indianapolis's packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse, noting that she hopes that level of support to continue across the WNBA.

"This is how you want every game to be and when it's a sell-out crowd, it gives you a similar playoff atmosphere feel," she said. "People want to be a part of this and the thing now is to continue to sustain it, continue to take the momentum that we have and turn it into something more."

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert admitted to a "faulty rollout" of the new charter travel initiative on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Ahead of Tuesday's season opener, it was announced that the only teams flying private this week would be Indiana and Minnesota. The announcement came mere days after the league made a new charter flight program for all WNBA teams public. At the time, they said it would be implemented "as soon as we have the planes."

But as two teams out of 12 chartered to their first games of the season, others like the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky were forced to fly commercial.

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A town hall meeting between Engelbert and the players was held in response to the confusion. Everything from the league's new media rights deal to private travel was covered in the meeting, with players submitting their questions ahead of time. Sky center Elizabeth Williams told Sun-Times reporter Annie Costabile afterwards that cross-country flights were prioritized.

"Flights that are across the country like [the Lynx] going to Seattle, crossing multiple time zones, or flights that usually require a connection, those were the priorities," Williams said. "That’s why New York didn’t go to DC with a charter, but Minny goes to Seattle."

What’s unclear under that metric is that the Atlanta Dream played the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, which could technically be classified as a cross-country flight. 

On Tuesday, rookie forward Angel Reese shared a photo on her Instagram story lamenting the league's use of commercial flights.

"Just praying that this is one of the last commercial flights the Sky has to fly," Reese posted. The team still has at least three commercial flights awaiting them in the near future.

"Obviously, I think all teams should be able to get chartered," Reese told the Sun-Times. "But I know moving forward... going in the right direction, being able to have some teams [chartering] is cool. Within the next weeks, everybody will be flying charter, which will be really good."

On Thursday, Lindsay Schnell of USAToday Sports confirmed that the league intends to have all teams on charter flights by May 21st.

Brazil has been named the host for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with FIFA announced early Friday. 

The decision came after a vote at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, with Brazil earning 119 votes to the joint European bid’s 78. 

This will be Brazil’s first time hosting the Women’s World Cup, with the country having hosted the men’s World Cup twice before in 1950 and 2014. It will also be the first Women’s World Cup held in South America. The tournament will follow the same 32-team format as the 2023 WWC in Australia and New Zealand.

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Brazil winning the bid was not entirely surprising after FIFA issued a report just last week, stating that the Brazilian bid had pulled ahead as host following technical inspection. After evaluation, Brazil was given a score of 4.0 out of 5, compared to the 3.7 awarded to the Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Brazil ranked higher in a number of key areas, including stadiums, accommodations, fan zones, and transport infrastructure. Though considered to be a frontrunner, the US and Mexico withdrew their joint bid prior to the technical inspection period, saying they would instead focus their efforts on 2031.

On Friday, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues called it a "victory." 

"We knew we would be celebrating a victory for South American women's soccer and for women," he told reporters. "You can be sure, with no vanity, we will accomplish the best World Cup for women."

"We are working on a transformation, not only for the country but for the continent," added bid team operational manager Valesca Araujo.

Brazil intends to use 10 of the venues utilized at the 2014 men’s World Cup, including holding the final in Rio de Janeiro on July 25th. The CBF's proposal outlines that the 2027 tournament run from June 24th through the end of July. Last summer’s World Cup began at the end of July and concluded on August 19th.

Another notable element of Brazil's newly unveiled plan to grow of the women’s game is that "all [men’s] clubs wishing to take part in high-level national and continental competitions must now provide a structure for a women’s team." While the definition of "structure" was not specifically identified, the country has set targets with CONMEBOL to help increase the number of women’s club teams in the country.

In last week's inspection findings, FIFA noted that selecting Brazil as the next WWC host could "have a tremendous impact on women's football in the region."

Chelsea did what they needed to do on Wednesday in order to make Saturday's slate of season-ending WSL fixtures interesting: Beat Tottenham.

The Blues are now number one in the league, with an edge over Manchester City on goal differential thanks to an eight-goal outing against Bristol City last week. 

Yesterday's result tees up a league finale for the books as Chelsea looks to send coach Emma Hayes off with another trophy to add to her cabinet. The Blues will play FA Cup winner Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday, while City is away at Aston Villa.

"We will be leaving nothing on the pitch, we will be giving everything and no matter what the result is," Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert said after Wednesday's win. "At least we can look each other in the eye and say we gave everything."

It makes for a thrilling end to Chelsea's Emma Hayes era, as the decorated WSL coach will take over the USWNT in June. And it comes after Hayes all but conceded the title race early this month after Chelsea fell to Liverpool 4-3.

"I think the title is done," Hayes said at the time. "Of course, mathematically, it's not, but I think the title is done. Our job between now and the end of the season is to keep pushing until the end, but I think it will be very difficult.

"We will never give up. But the title is far from us; it's not in our hands. I think City are deserving, their consistency has put them in that position. Of course, we will go to the end, but I don't think the title will be going to us this year."

Be it mind games or Hayes truly thinking her team was that far off, her words lit something in Chelsea. Their following two performances showed the team’s determination to have a shot at some silverware.

As for Saturday's schedule, Hayes believes her team is facing the "tougher of the two games."

"It's a fitting finale for me, being my final game," she told BBC Sport. "As I said to the players if someone gives you a second chance in life, make sure you don't need a third one. We're in the position we want to be in, and we'll give it everything on Saturday no matter what."