LOS ANGELES — DeLisha Milton-Jones stood under the Crypto.com Arena rafters Tuesday night, watching her No. 9 jersey get hoisted up for good. She became just the fourth player in Sparks history to have her number retired, a well-earned honor for a two-time champion and one of the franchise’s foundational players.
But even in the middle of a celebration, she couldn’t ignore what this team has become.
Before the ceremony, Milton-Jones ran into Thomas Archie, the Sparks’ longtime team manager and scout. They exchanged pleasantries. Then the Hall of Fame forward cracked a joke that landed harder than she probably intended.
“I said, ‘Thomas, you need me to throw on a jersey tonight?’” Milton-Jones recalled. “And he said, ‘Yeah, one more time D. That would be great.’”
If only it were that simple.
The Sparks are mired in a mess that goes well beyond one roster hole. They’re staring at a sixth straight missed playoff appearance. General manager Raegan Pebley was fired before the All-Star break. And star guard Kelsey Plum is reportedly planning to bolt in free agency, according to league sources. This is not a quick fix. This is a franchise that has lost its identity.
The Glory Days
Milton-Jones arrived in Los Angeles in 1999 after the ABL folded and she was scooped up in a dispersal draft. She played six seasons, won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 alongside Lisa Leslie, and established herself as one of the toughest forwards in the league. The Sparks never had a losing record during that stretch.
She returned in 2008 and played through 2012, a period that overlapped with Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike arriving. Those Sparks teams were contenders again, making three Western Conference Finals appearances. Winning was the expectation, not a distant hope.
Now? The franchise has cycled through front offices and coaching staffs, never landing on a coherent plan. The roster doesn’t fit. The culture feels hollow. And the standings reflect all of it.
“I think that yes, we want to win every game. You want to be in the top 3-5 when it comes to the standings,” Milton-Jones said. “But we know that as this league has grown, teams have gotten better even with the expansion of it all. So everyone’s not going to have the year that they wish they could have.”
She paused and framed it in broader terms, the way someone who has been around long enough to see cycles come and go naturally does.
“These things come with sport. It’s just a down moment. When you look at the overall work of everything that the Sparks have done, this has been one of your premier franchises perennially. So this is just a moment.”
Whether that moment stretches into another lost season depends on what happens this offseason. Plum’s looming departure would be a massive blow. And there’s no guarantee the Sparks can lure a star to replace her — not with the current state of things.
Milton-Jones’ jersey will hang in the rafters for decades. The team beneath it has a lot more work to do.
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