Under sunny skies, at the historic St. Mary's academy in Inglewood, CA the debut of the new coaching staff that includes Joe "Jellybean" Bryant (father of NBA star Kobe Bryant) and the 2011 Sparks first round draft pick Jantel Lavender was eagerly anticipated along with the arrival of Candice Parker, and veterans Delisha Milton-Jones and Tina Thompson. The atmosphere in the building was very upbeat, energetic, and all of the Sparks team can agree on one thing, they know they have the talent and depth to compete and win a WNBA title this year.
I had an opportunity to speak with the rookie & first round draft pick center Jantel Lavender about this season and what she's looking forward to bring to this team "Just want to be the anchor of the defense, help out wherever I can. The training camps have been intense, but we are a team, when one girl may go down, some one like Candace [Parker] or Delisha will step right in and continue the play." I asked how she liked Southern California "I like it, I haven been to too many places yet, but I like it". Lavender is definitely going to be a defensive presence in the middle, where opposing offenses will have alter shots or even pass the ball, which will give the Sparks time to swarm on other teams offenses.
The healthy return of Sparks forward Candice Parker, fresh off a stint in Russia, was back and looking in the best shape of her basketball career. I asked her how special was it to be playing in the 15th season of the WNBA "I think its great, to have an opportunity to play basketball, fortunately my daughter will never know that there was never a WNBA, and I hope to keep it going for another 15 years and beyond". Her pre-game music ritual is playing Jay-Z, to which Candace knows all of his songs, even the remixes. She is definitely set on winning a WNBA championship this year, and is confident of the talent that they have have can get the job done.
The 12 year veteran Delisha Milton-Jones was excited and looked to be ready to play the season opener right now. I asked her how confident is she that the Sparks will bring a championship back to Los Angeles (who hasn't seen a championship since 2002) "I'm very confident in our team, last year I felt we had a championship caliber team, but we were plagued with injuries, but this year we're healthy, so no excuses". The look on Delisha's face was of pure excitement & joy as if she was envisioning her team winning the title already.
The multi-time champion and 15 year veteran Tina Thompson stopped by and I wanted to know what her goals were for this season "I think its important to no to have individual goals, if you're doing all the right things for your team, and playing together as a team, all the MVP awards, offensive & defensive awards will come. However when you're playing as a team, thats how you when championships. So for me I've never set my own goals just team goals, that's what's worked for me. Its all about a championship this year". Wondering who was the team the Sparks have to beat this season in order to have a strong chance of winning a championship, "there alot of good teams out there, but definitely Seattle, they're the defending champs". Tina along with the other players Ticha Penicheiro, Courtney Paris, Loree Moore, Natasha Lacy, and the rest of team echoed the same mentality, that this is our year.
If head coach Jennifer Gillom has anything to do with it, she's ready to take what she feels is her teams property, that WNBA trophy. Assistant coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant preaches defense, which is going to be key according to him if they want to be successful this season and into the playoffs. "Its also about playing with confidence, a little bit of swagger, being a little cocky, but not disrespectful, that's what I try to instill in our players. One team, one mission".
It looks like the L.A. Sparks have their mission, and are ready for battle, their first test will be at Staples Center June 3rd as they take on the the number draft pick Maya Moore and the Minnesota Lynx. Media Day was a success, and much say the PR staff did an outstanding job, making the players accessible and this team I must say is the best I've seen in a long time. The teams in the WNBA better be equipped to handle the Sparks because they are coming with vengeance.
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