The Audible: How the Sparks looked, whom will the Lakers hire, and what's up with Chris Taylor?
Jim Alexander: The good part is that the Sparks – a team that coach Curt Miller candidly acknowledges is in a rebuild – looked pretty good for most of its opening night Wednesday, and basically lost because of an 11-0 surge by Atlanta at the start of the fourth quarter. Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson had their rookie moments, as expected, and Brink was limited by early foul trouble … but oh, my gosh, her fourth-quarter block on Cheyenne Parker-Tyrus was one for the highlight reel. Also a tease for the column: Layshia Clarendon, pride of San Bernardino's Cajon High and one who absolutely gets it, had some pretty pertinent things to say about where the league is now and, in response to my question, where it will be in another 27 years or so. There's some veteran leadership on the roster, with Clarendon, Dearica Hamby and Kia Nurse, who had a triple double (11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists for Clarendon), a double-double (20 points, 14 rebounds for Hamby) and an 8-for-16 shooting night with 5-for 11 from beyond the arc (Nurse, with a team-high 23 points).
