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Sparks finalizing one-year deal with Jordin Canada in free agency

(Norm Hall/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Sparks are finalizing a one-year deal with two-time WNBA champion Jordin Canada, bringing the Los Angeles native home, sources tell Just Women’s Sports.

The Seattle Storm rescinded Canada’s qualifying offer over the weekend, making the 5-foot-6 point guard an unrestricted free agent. The protected contract she’s signing with the Sparks is worth $98,000 in 2022, according to sources.

Canada spent the last four seasons with the Seattle Storm after the team selected her with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft. She averaged 7.2 points, 4.1 assists, 1.3 steals in 21.7 minutes per game with the Storm, primarily serving as the team’s sixth woman outside of the 2019 season, when she started 29 of 30 games.

To go along with her two championship rings in 2018 and 2020, the 2019 WNBA steals leader and All-Defensive First Team member brings experience, poise and a high basketball IQ to the Sparks after backing up Sue Bird for the last four years. Canada knows how to defend, how to run an offense and how to win.

Canada, who grew up in Los Angeles and played college basketball at UCLA, will join a reloading Sparks team that has been highly aggressive in free agency.

Last week, the Sparks traded Gabby Williams to the Storm for Katie Lou Samuelson and the No. 9 pick in this year’s draft, opening up significant cap space for additional major signings. Los Angeles then traded Erica Wheeler, a 2022 No. 15 pick and a 2023 first-round pick to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for Chennedy Carter and the rights to 6-7 post player Li Yueru.

The package deals created enough cap space for the Sparks to officially court star center Liz Cambage, who reportedly “verbally committed” to play for Los Angeles over the weekend.

Rachel Galligan is a basketball analyst at Just Women’s Sports. A former professional basketball player and collegiate coach, she also contributes to Winsidr. Follow Rachel on Twitter @RachGall.

Football Manager Adds Women’s Teams to FM26 Video Game Release

A graphic from video game Football Manager depicts a match in progress.
Approximately 40,000 players from 14 women's soccer leagues will feature in the popular video game's latest FM26 release. (Football Manager)

Football Manager is expanding its virtual horizons, with the popular soccer video game's latest release — FM26 — featuring women's teams for the first time in history.

The FM26 lineup spans some 40,000 players across 14 leagues, including the NWSL, the UK's WSL and WSL2, Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, and Japan's WE League as well as the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Football Manager's new women's soccer offering follows similar moves from other video game entities, with EA Sports also expanding its integration of women's teams and players across its NHL, FC, and NBA2K games in recent years.

Launched in 2004 by British developer Sports Interactive and gaming giant Sega, Football Manager puts users in the driver's seat of their favorite teams, navigating club finances, player transfers, tactics, and even training plans in the hunt for success.

To mimic the manager role most realistically, FM amasses extensive data on players and clubs — with that information bank now so deep on the men's side that clubs have employed it for scouting purposes for over 10 years.

The road to launching a similarly real-world women's game required similar stat-gathering, a project which began in 2021.

"An army of people from the women's game helped us, who wanted us to ensure that women's football was properly represented," said Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson.

Football Manager also recreated their motion capture models using former WSL and WSL2 professional players, twins Mollie and Rosie Kmita, to accurately portray women's movement and body structure in FM26.

"Growing up, I would never have imagined playing Football Manager because it wasn't a space for us," Mollie told BBC Sport. "I think we're about to engage a whole new audience and I'm excited to see how this community continues to grow."

How to play Football Manager 26

FM26 is currently available for download across multiple gaming platforms.

USA vs. Canada Rivalry Series Hits the Ice in Sneak Peek of 2026 Olympic Hockey

USA hockey star Hilary Knight chases Canada forward Emily Clark across the ice during the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship final.
The world's two top women's hockey nations — the USA and Canada — will play each other four times before the end of the year. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)

With the 2026 Winter Olympics only a few months away, hockey giants Canada and the USA are hitting the ice, tuning up for February's global showdown with the pair's annual Rivalry Series.

The four-game slate kicks off in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday before the titans clash again in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, with the 2025 Rivalry Series finishing up with two games in Edmonton, Alberta, next month.

This sixth edition of the series will serve as both teams' final international face-offs before heading to Milan, Italy, where five-time Olympic champions Canada will aim to repeat their 2022 gold-medal run while the two-time winning US will hunt a return to the top of the podium.

No other nation has ever won Olympic gold in the seven editions of the women's hockey competition.

The last time the pair met was in April's IIHF World Championship final, in which the US topped Canada 4-3 to lift the 2025 trophy — though Canada holds the all-time head-to-head advantage with a 106-82 record.

Four-time Olympian Hilary Knight and three-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield headline Team USA's Rivalry Series squad, backed by 11 additional US Olympians.

Longtime Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin leads her side, alongside 20 of her fellow 2025 IIHF Worlds silver medalists.

How to watch the 2025 Canada vs. USA Rivalry Series

The puck drops on the four-game docket in Cleveland at 7 PM ET on Thursday before the teams take the ice in Buffalo at 6 PM ET on Saturday.

Both games will air live on the NHL Network.

UCLA Leans on Star Lauren Betts as 2025/26 NCAA Basketball Season Tips Off

UCLA basketball center Lauren Betts yells in triumph after a play during a 2025 Elite Eight game.
Senior center Lauren Betts will be key in the 2025/26 NCAA season success of UCLA. (Tyler McFarland/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

After crashing out of their first-ever Final Four last season, No. 3 UCLA enters their 2025/26 campaign with heightened promise and added depth as the new-look Bruins take aim at another deep NCAA basketball tournament run.

"This is probably the most complete team I've ever coached, and I think if we can stay healthy and stay focused, we're going to have big things ahead," head coach Cori Close told JWS ahead of this week's season tip-off.

"We have an abundance of opportunities to invest in each other," she continued. "We have an abundance of ways in which we can improve week by week, and we're going to stay focused on those."

The Bruins' success could hinge on next year's projected No. 1 WNBA draft pick Lauren Betts, though Close indicated that teamwork would be key to unlocking the senior center's full potential.

"We both agreed she needs to have less minutes than in the past, and honestly, maybe even less shots, but more efficiency," said Close. "Everybody wins that way, including Lauren."

Recent transfers like former Utah forward Gianna Kneepkins and ex-Washington State guard Charlisse Leger-Walker should balance the 2025/26 UCLA basketball lineup alongside top freshman recruit — and Betts's little sister — Sienna.

How to watch UCLA basketball this week

While forward Sienna's NCAA debut has been postponed due to a lower leg injury, UCLA fans can catch the elder Betts and the rest of the No. 3 Bruins in action against unranked UC Santa Barbara at 2:30 PM ET on Thursday, streaming live on B1G+.

Unrivaled 3×3 Drops 2026 Team Rosters Ahead of January Tip-Off

Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier dribbles the ball during a 2025 Unrivaled game.
Minnesota Lynx star and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier will be returning to the Lunar Owls in 2026. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball is gearing up for its 2026 return to the court, dropping all six-player team rosters plus a six-athlete development pool ahead of its expanded eight-squad second season on Wednesday.

Reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers was the distribution draft's first pick, with the Dallas Wings star joining expansion side Breeze BC under recently dismissed Seattle Storm head coach Noelle Quinn.

Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell went second, set to lead fellow expansion team Hive BC under head coach Rena Wakama.

Not every Unrivaled lineup saw significant changes, however, with reigning champion Rose BC returning four of their six original players while all inaugural teams opted to protect at least one top performer.

Napheesa Collier and Skylar Diggins are back on the Lunar Owls, Kahleah Copper and Chelsea Gray remained with Rose BC, and Alyssa Thomas and Jackie Young will encore for the Laces while the Vinyl protected Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard.

Even non-playoff teams held onto key talent, with Satou Sabally returning to the Phantom and Breanna Stewart staying with the Mist.

A trio of 2025 WNBA rookies also headline Unrivaled's new development group, with Chicago Sky guard Hailey Van Lith, Indiana Fever forward Makayla Timpson, and Dallas Wings guard Aziaha James part of the six-player group that will fill in across the league to offset any injuries during the season.

How to buy 2026 Unrivaled player jerseys

While Bueckers's Breeze BC replica jersey sold out just minutes after Wednesday's roster reveal and subsequent merchandise drop, fans can gear up for the 2026 Unrivaled season by snagging other player's jerseys from the Unrivaled shop.

The 2026 Unrivaled team rosters

Breeze BC:

  • Cameron Brink
  • Paige Bueckers
  • Rickea Jackson
  • Dominique Malonga
  • Kate Martin
  • Aari McDonald

Lunar Owls BC:

  • Rebecca Allen
  • Rachel Banham
  • Napheesa Collier
  • Skylar Diggins
  • Aaliyah Edwards
  • Marina Mabrey

Rose BC:

  • Shakira Austin
  • Kahleah Copper
  • Chelsea Gray
  • Lexie Hull
  • Azurá Stevens
  • Sug Sutton

Hive BC:

  • Monique Billings
  • Sonia Citron
  • Natisha Hiedeman
  • Ezi Magbegor
  • Kelsey Mitchell
  • Saniya Rivers

Mist BC:

  • Veronica Burton
  • Allisha Gray
  • Arike Ogunbowale
  • Alanna Smith
  • Breanna Stewart
  • Li Yueru

Vinyl BC:

  • Rae Burrell
  • Brittney Griner
  • Dearica Hamby
  • Rhyne Howard
  • Erica Wheeler
  • Courtney Williams

Laces BC:

  • Jordin Canada
  • Naz Hillmon
  • Maddy Siegrist
  • Brittney Sykes
  • Alyssa Thomas
  • Jackie Young

Phantom BC:

  • Aliyah Boston
  • Natasha Cloud
  • Dana Evans
  • Kiki Iriafen
  • Kelsey Plum
  • Satou Sabally

Development Pool:

  • Laeticia Amihere
  • Emily Engstler
  • Aziaha James
  • Haley Jones
  • Makayla Timpson
  • Hailey Van Lith