At 6 a.m. Sunday, Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller could hardly contain himself.
“First day of training camp,” he tweeted. “I am like a kid on Xmas waiting for parents to wake up. Let’s go – let’s get day 1 started. Go Sparks.”
Seven hours later, after an energetic session that showcased a lot of on-court talking and ended with sweat-drenched jerseys, longtime team captain Nneka Ogwumike echoed that enthusiasm.
“I can’t tell you how much I learned just today,” the 12-year veteran said. “We are understanding how to play basketball while still playing to our strengths. I love what Curt has done today to get us straight into what our structure will be on the court.”
Miller is part of a Los Angeles reboot this year that culminated in January with the hiring of longtime executive Karen Bryant as the organization’s chief executive officer and general manager. Training camp this year, as a result, has a completely different tone.
After almost two decades heading up the American Basketball League’s Seattle Reign, and then the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, the Sparks hired Bryant in 2021 as an advisor and interim president of business operations.
She was instrumental in…
