Amid rumors that Liz Cambage “quit” the team after playing 24 games in Los Angeles, she and the Sparks have agreed to a “contract divorce,” the team announced Tuesday.

“It is with support that we share Liz Cambage’s decision to terminate her contract with the organization,” said Sparks Managing Partner Eric Holoman. “We want what’s best for Liz and have agreed to part ways amicably. The Sparks remain excited about our core group and are focused on our run towards a 2022 playoff berth.”

According to a Yahoo Sports report, Cambage exited the locker room after her team’s 84-66 loss to the Aces, her former squad, and left the team with a parting message: “I can’t do this anymore. Best of luck to you guys.”

Cambage is not the first to go through a contract divorce this season. It’s a term WNBA fans have heard four other times in 2022. The most significant, and most recent, was that of eight-time All-Star Tina Charles, who departed the Mercury on June 25 before joining the Storm. Angel McCoughtry (Lynx), Jantel Lavender (Fever) and Bria Hartley (Fever) have also negotiated contract divorces from their respective teams.

Here’s Cambage’s situation, explained.

What is a contract divorce?

A contract divorce is pretty much what it sounds like. The two parties — in this case, Cambage and the Sparks — agree to terminate their legally binding agreement in a way in which both sides benefit. Essentially, it’s a fancy term for a buyout.

Cambage, who signed a one-year, $170,000 deal with the Sparks in February, reportedly agreed to $141,386 in exchange for the contract divorce. That figure reflects the per-game rate of the 25 games she played for the Sparks this season.

The Sparks’ chemistry issues have been building all season, according to multiple reports. While a preseason of heightened expectations turned into lackluster performances, the sixth-place Sparks remain in the playoff hunt at 12-15 with nine games to play. The team clearly feels it will no longer benefit from Cambage’s services, and the 30-year-old no longer wishes to play for L.A.

What does it mean for the Sparks?

Beyond what was going on behind the scenes and in conversations and body language on the court, the 6-foot-8 center was making an impact on the Sparks’ box score. She was L.A.’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 13 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Defensively, she led the Sparks with 1.6 blocks per contest.

Without Cambage, the Sparks will need to find someone — or more than likely, a combination of people — to replace her 24.5 minutes per game. At first glance, losing Cambage’s on-court abilities isn’t ideal for the playoff hopeful Sparks. But chemistry issues among players have a way of coming out in high-pressure situations. Replacing Cambage won’t be easy, but it’s better to part ways now than to wait and have the team fall apart in the postseason. At least this way, the Sparks have time to figure out a solution.

As it stands, their options at the post position are limited. After Nneka Ogwumike, who at 18.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game is likely maxed out in terms of production, the Sparks have four forwards/centers listed on their roster. One is Katie Lou Samuelson, who is more of a guard. They will likely turn to Chiney Ogwumike, who out of the remaining forwards plays the most minutes (18.5) and has the highest production (7.5 points). After her, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Jasmine Walker combine to average 4.2 points per game.

To make matters worse, Cambage’s departure isn’t the only dramatic exit the Sparks have endured in recent years.

In 2021, both Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray left the team as free agents, with Parker signing with the Sky and Gray with the Aces. Losing a player in free agency isn’t as dramatic as a contract divorce, of course, but it begs the question: “How did L.A. lose not one, but two top talents to other teams?”

It wasn’t a good look for the Sparks, and led to continued questions about coach and GM Derek Fisher’s leadership. Those questions came to a head on June 7 when he was let go.

There’s also the issue of Chennedy Carter, who signed with the Sparks in free agency after a contentious 2021 season with the Dream. Despite internal opposition to the move, as The Athletic has reported, Fisher pushed for the Sparks to trade for Carter. The guard, after not playing the second half of last season while suspended, has averaged just 15.3 minutes across 19 games for Los Angeles this year.

The Sparks, despite all the turmoil, are somehow still in the playoff hunt. The best they can do at this point is muddle through the rest of the season, hope for a playoff berth and then get to work on a total rebuild in the offseason.

What does it mean for Liz Cambage?

This isn’t the first time Cambage has been embroiled in controversy. Most recently she had a messy exit from the Opals, Australia’s women’s national team. In November, Cambage was reprimanded for an on-court altercation during a practice game with Nigeria. She then withdrew from the Tokyo Olympic team, citing mental health concerns and eventually said on Instagram that she would never play for the team again.

The exact details of the altercation are unknown, with plenty of rumors swirling. But former Opals teammate Jenna O’Hea confirmed to Australian journalist Kelli Underwood in May that Cambage had told Nigerian players to “go back to your third world country.”

Cambage denies the claim.

It’s not a stretch to see the connections between Cambage’s supposed comments about Nigeria and her exit from the Sparks. Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, two of her LA teammates, are Nigerian and seeking to play for the Nigerian national team.

It’s also not a stretch to say that we may not see Cambage in the WNBA again.

After Cambage’s rookie season with the Tulsa Shock in 2011, she left the WNBA for four seasons because she didn’t want to play for the franchise. Her exit from Tulsa started in 2012, when Cambage said she would sit out the rest of the season following the Olympics due to exhaustion. She did not return to Tulsa, instead choosing to sign with a team in China.

It’s worth noting that Cambage has not played more than one consecutive season with any WNBA squad since being drafted in 2011, a tenure that included stops in Dallas and Las Vegas. With her latest departure, Cambage may no longer be a risk teams are willing to take.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist and basketball expert Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes all things women's sports. And in today's episode, the crew is joined by his week, the crew is joined in the studio by two-time Olympic diver — and Stanford Cardinal alum — Kassidy Cook.

Of course, the co-hosts waste no time in getting down to the biggest conversations in women's sports. And this time of year, that can only mean one thing: March Madness.

"Some would say this is the most exciting Sunday in women's sports," says O'Hara, kicking off a deep dive in the college basketball's fast-approaching Selection Sunday. "Based on this weekend and season overall, who are your number one seeds? Up for discussion we've got Texas, USC, UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame. What are we saying?"

"I'm a little worried about Notre Dame. Going into the season, I was expecting them to have an elite season," Diaz admits. "But losing to Duke? Bro. They do have a great coach, but Notre Dame on paper should have won that game."

"I think UT is still going to get a number one seed," says Cook. "Throughout the year they've had the number one seed. And even though they lost, I'm going to say South Carolina because they just won. And I'm going to say USC because they're a powerhouse. Then UCLA because their only two losses were to USC."

"I want to say UConn as well, because out of the top teams, they are the underdog of that list. I would love to see them walk away with it," Cook adds. "And like you guys said last week, Paige Bueckers doesn't have a championship yet, right?

The co-hosts additionally tackle the NWSL Challenge Cup, the likelihood of a WNBA lockout, Trinity Rodman and Ben Shelton soft launch, and so much more!

'Sports Are Fun!' announces Final Four live show in Tampa

In between hot takes, the Sports Are Fun! team also shared some big news.

JWS is heading to Tampa! Get ready for a live recording of Sports Are Fun! with Kelley O'Hara on Thursday, April 3rd ahead of the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

This exclusive event only adds to the madness of March Madness. There, O'Hara, Greydy Diaz, Merritt Mathias, and JWS intern BJ bring interactive moments, surprise guests, and behind-the-scenes access to the biggest weekend in college basketball.

“There’s never been a better time to be a women’s sports fan, and I couldn’t be more excited to bring Sports Are Fun! to Tampa during the Final Four,” says O’Hara. “The energy around this weekend is going to be electric, and we’re giving fans a front-row seat to be part of it.”

Tickets are $20 and include a complimentary drink and JWS party favor. Get yours now.

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

WSL side Manchester City parted ways with manager Gareth Taylor on Monday, just five days before the club faces table-leaders Chelsea in Saturday’s League Cup final — and nine days before they meet Chelsea once again in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.

In his nearly five years at the helm, Taylor led Man City to an overall 117-15-29 record, picking up the 2020 FA Cup and 2022 League Cup along the way.

Taylor departs just one year into a three-year contract renewal with the club.

"Manchester City prides itself on competing at the top of the WSL and on its outstanding record of qualifying for European competition," said Man City managing director Charlotte O'Neill in a club statement. "Unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard."

Former City coach Nick Cushing — who led the team from 2013 to 2020 — will take over interim manager duties for the remainder of the season.

Taylor’s dismissal follows a number of big-name WSL coaching changes, with Arsenal’s Jonas Eidevall and Liverpool’s Matt Beard both exiting the league this season.

Eidevall has since taken over as head coach for the NWSL’s San Diego Wave.

Despite rumblings that Taylor could follow suit and fill the vacancy with the Wave’s SoCal rival Angel City, those rumors appear to be overblown.

Manchester City still in the hunt for non-WSL titles

Sitting 12 points behind Chelsea with just six matchdays left in their 2024/25 season, fourth-place Man City's WSL title hopes have dimmed. However, they remain very much in the running for the League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League honors.

That said, the Citizens are staring down an unusually demanding gauntlet against one of the world’s top clubs this month.

After facing Chelsea in Saturday's League Cup final and next week's Champions League quarterfinals, City will again take on the Blues in a March 23rd regular-season matchup before wrapping up the pair's two-leg Champions League quarters on March 27th.

Ultimately, the pressure for top WSL teams to properly challenge Chelsea’s years-long dominance is mounting — and some coaches appear to be bearing the brunt of those ambitions.

The buzzer sounded on the eight-week regular season of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball on Monday, as the inaugural league bids farewell to two teams who failed to advance to the four-squad playoffs.

Both the Mist and Phantom BC fell below the four-team cutoff line, eliminating each club from playoff contention and sending superstars like Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart and Phantom center Brittney Griner home.

Neither team fully found their rhythm in 3×3 play, with both struggling out of the gate to ultimately take the longest to register their first wins in the offseason league.

That said, while the Phantom's elimination was clear-cut, the Mist fell from the playoffs on what was arguably a technicality.

Locked together with Vinyl BC on the Unrivaled table, the final postseason spot came down to multiple tiebreakers. With head-to-head records being equal at 1-1, the final semifinal spot went to the team with the better record against the other three playoff teams — the Lunar Owls, Rose BC, and Laces.

The Vinyl's 3-6 record against that trio edged the Mist's 2-7 record — though one of those three Vinyl victories came from a February forfeit by the injury-laden Laces.

That stat booked Rhyne Howard and the No. 4-seed Vinyl a semifinal matchup with co-founder Napheesa Collier and the top-seeded Lunar Owls, a team that blasted through the season to finish with five more wins than any other club.

After clinching the No. 2 seed, Rose BC — the only team to defeat the Lunar Owls all season — will battle Kayle McBride's No. 3-seed Laces in the second single-elimination semifinal. That said, Rose may be without star Angel Reese, who exited Monday's regular-season finale after re-injuring her wrist.

How to watch the 2025 Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball semifinals

The four squads still standing tip off Unrivaled's first-ever playoffs on Sunday, March 16th, setting the stage for Monday's championship game.

The first semifinal between the Rose and Laces will begin at 7:30 PM ET, immediately followed by the Vinyl's battle against the Lunar Owls.

Sunday's semifinals will air live on TNT.

ESPN’s women's college basketball coverage has exploded across the broadcast giant's platforms, with regular-season viewership 3% up from last year’s record-breaking run and 41% up from 2022/23.

ESPN reports that 2024/25’s overall ratings were their highest since the 2008/09 season, with 2.9 billion minutes of live women's college basketball games consumed.

While this year’s regular-season peaks outdrew last year’s top matchups, ESPN also saw significant growth in steady viewership.

Across the 87 games the broadcaster aired, each game averaged 280,000 viewers, with a record-breaking 15 games drawing over 500,000 viewers.

Due to network partnership deals, ESPN is still missing the rights to Big Ten coverage, while the SEC continues to pull in the heaviest numbers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Flagship channels see top women's college basketball viewership

The company's flagship networks also saw significant individual ratings growth in their NCAA women's basketball coverage. Games on ESPN drew an average of 511,000 fans, for an increase of 13% over last season's coverage on the network.

Even more, the three games the broadcaster upgraded to ABC gave the channel an average of 1.3 million viewers, for an overall increase of 120% over 2023/24 games.

ABC also the regular season's two biggest audiences.

Just one week after ESPN broke the 1 million viewer mark with then-No. 4 Texas' upset win over No. 2 South Carolina, ABC's February 16th UConn vs. South Carolina plus Texas vs. LSU shattered double-header that stat.

Then-No. 5 UConn’s 87-58 blowout of the reigning national champion Gamecocks attracted the season’s biggest audience, garnering an average of 1.8 million viewers with a peak of 2.2 million.

Texas’s 65-58 victory over the then-No. 7 Tigers snagged the 2024/25 season's second-biggest audience, peaking at 2.3 million viewers while drawing an average of 1.7 million fans.

Besides leading this season's ratings, those two blockbuster matchups registered as the third and fourth highest regular-season women's college basketball viewership in ESPN's history.