It was the clash between the best and worst teams in the league and a surprise took place between the Sparks and the Liberty. Embarked on a complicated season since the injury of rookie Cameron Brink, the Sparks are flirting with the bottom of the league and are even accused of “tanking”. Despite this, they still imposed themselves against the Liberty.
“If I read the word ‘tank’ one more time…”, warns the Sparks coach, Curt Miller. “We're trying to get better and we're building something special. No team in this league is going to give up. With the cumulative record over two years, it's stupid to talk about it.”
To avoid tanking, it is indeed necessary to remember that since 2015, the WNBA lottery has been reformed. In a championship where 8 of the 12 teams go to the playoffs, the 4 non-qualified teams are ranked according to their cumulative record over two seasons. To get the best chance of having the first choice of the 2025 Draft, it is therefore necessary to accumulate bad results in 2023 and 2024.
A lottery with a cumulative balance sheet over two seasons
Sure, the Sparks haven't reached the WNBA playoffs since 2020, but last year, the Los Angeles team still had 17 wins. That's why suspicions were growing around this streak of 7 straight losses. What if the Sparks were losing on purpose in order to have the worst cumulative record and give themselves the best chance of getting the first pick in the 2025 Draft.
Tanking or not, the Sparks are well on their way to being the favorites in the lottery. With 9 or 10 games left depending on the team, all of the franchises currently out of the playoffs (the Wings, Mystics and Dream) had a better record than Los Angeles last season.
