LOS ANGELES -- It's a new season. A new year. A new day for the Los Angeles Sparks.
And what a day it will be on Sunday as they open the season at home against...
...of course, it's the Las Vegas Aces, the defending champions and winners of three of the last four WNBA titles.
The Aces will move on and let go of Saturday's disaster and play in Los Angeles the very next day.
And since they haven't played yet, the Sparks will have jitters like it's the first day of school.
Or will they?
"I don't really get butterflies," second-year Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said at practice on Saturday afternoon. "If you prepare, it gives you confidence. I've done this long enough. But I am excited. I'm ready to get going. I am happy with where the group's at and who we have. Just ready to get going."
"I would say more just like gratitude this season," Sparks forward Dearica Hamby said. "When I got drafted, I was 6th pick and at the time, the average time in the league was like three years. I never imagined playing basketball this long or even playing basketball at all. I'd say more so gratitude but of course, I'm going to feel butterflies and excitement on the first game of the season."
The Sparks have a lot of new faces in Ariel Atkins, Ta'Niya Latson, and Chance Gray as well as familiar faces in Nneka Ogwumike and Erica Wheeler. And the Sparks have holdovers like Hamby, Kelsey Plum, Rae Burrell, and Cameron Brink. Most importantly, they are all starting the season healthy.
Coach Roberts likes the progress of this new group.
"We've got six new players but it doesn't feel like it," Roberts disclosed. "The group is very bought-in to one another, to the system, both sides of the ball. We're already better defensively than we were at the end of the season last year. And so I don't know if it's been a surprise but that's been the most encouraging thing. It's just the buy-in, the way they're talking to each other."
And that's what the Sparks are looking to improve on in 2026: defense. They were the fourth worst in defensive rating in 2025.
"I think (the defense) looks great," Hamby said. "We're kind of perfecting our schemes and what we think that we're good at with what we have. Obviously, we know what our offense was last year so I think finding ways to plug the defensive side while also not losing too much offense, I think it's going to make us special."
The Sparks are no longer a young team and full of veterans. But that means that this team is ready to win.
"We've got really strong leadership with our vets," Roberts acknowledged. "With Nneka, KP, Dearica, Erica Wheeler, Ariel Atkins... those guys have played a lot of ball. They're here to win so they're taking ownership."
As mentioned, the Sparks are taking on the Aces. They've got the best player in the world in A'ja Wilson. They've got the best point guard in the world in Chelsea Gray. They've got the strongest guard in Jackie Young. And they've got such a luxury with two proven scorers in Jewell Loyd and Chennedy Carter coming off their bench.
"There's no mystery," Roberts said. "They're loaded. But I think we've got a good shot. They are who they are as a team and as individuals and so we've got to be locked in. We have to do our best to make things hard for them and I know that sounds simplistic but that really is it. Know who you're guarding. Know what they like to do."
Wilson led the league in scoring the last two years and has won four MVP awards. Chelsea Gray is one of the most clutch players in WNBA history and has won four WNBA championships. Jackie Young has been an all-star for the last four seasons. Jewell Loyd is also a decorated player herself with three championships and six-time all-star selections. And this team won their last 16 regular season games on their way to a 2025 WNBA championship. During that span, they were first in offense and second in defense.
That's who the Sparks are guarding. That's who the Aces are.
Whatever happened on Saturday doesn't matter because the Aces were seemingly in a bad predicament last season before August rolled around. A switch flipped. And the Aces can do that when they feel that their backs are against the wall.
"We're going to make sure we focus on ourselves and do what we've been doing in training camp," Hamby said. "And it's time to put it against competition and execute it."
Oh, yeah. The Aces also added Chennedy Carter, a talented scorer who last played in the league in 2024, when she was in Chicago.
"(Carter) has the ability to get downhill and finish," Roberts said. "She's (unbelievable), especially in transition. She's lethal."
"I think she brings a little bit of an edge to them," Hamby confessed. "She's super fast downhill. Yeah, I'm interested to see it myself."
And we're all interested to see how the Sparks fare in their first game of 2026. Against the Aces, the mother of all WNBA teams.
Speaking of mothers, hope everyone has a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday!