WNBA draft
UCLA’s Onyenwere goes to New York; Sparks take Alabama’s Walker and UNC’s Watts.
Thirty-six of the brightest stars from women’s college basketball and pro leagues overseas heard their names called Thursday in the 25th WNBA draft, but it might have been UCLA star Michaela Onyenwere’s grandmother who proved the most dazzling during a selection process that often veered wildly from how it was projected to play out.
The Dallas Wings made Texas star Charli Collier the No. 1 overall pick, and Onyenwere, who was considered a first-round talent, was selected No. 6 overall by the New York Liberty.
As the Bruins’ fourthleading all-time scorer introduced herself to an ESPN audience, her grandmother, clothed in bright colors, danced behind her, the celebration at the Onyenwere household in full effect.
“This is what people dream of, and you work so hard to get to the pinnacle of your career, and this is it,” Onyenwere said via a Zoom video conference with reporters around the world. “My agent was kind of telling me, ‘You might go here and here and here,’ and I was kind of expecting New York a little bit — but it still doesn’t compare to actually hearing your name and just the rush you get and all the excitement of all my family and friends.
“It’s definitely a cool feeling. My legs were shaking for a while after — that might be because of these heels, but you know what? I’m just gonna stay with my excitement.”
When it was over, Sparks
WNBA DRAFT LIST
coach Derek Fisher said he was more in the mood for a strong cup of coffee than a celebratory jig.
The Sparks’ third-year coach oversaw an especially busy first draft as general manager with five selections, including two in the first round, starting with No. 7 — a pick they’d traded up for, swapping a 2022 pick with Dallas on Wednesday.
In perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening, the Sparks also wound up with Rutgers star Arella Guirantes, whom they selected 22nd overall — much later than predicted by analysts who expected the 5-foot-11 wing would be taken as high as third overall.
Before that, the Sparks selected Alabama’s hardworking 6-3 wing Jasmine Walker at No. 7 and then, at No. 10, Stephanie Watts, an experienced 5-11 guard from North Carolina, who also played part of an injuryshortened season at USC.
Expecting Walker — who averaged 19.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39.8% from 3-point range in college — would be a first-round selection, Fisher said the Sparks wanted to be aggressive in their pursuit.
“One of the main reasons why we moved up to No. 7 was, fingers crossed, that she would still be there,” said Fisher, who then defied expectations by picking Watts, who wasn’t on anyone’s firstround radar but whose size and skill the Sparks coveted.
Add Guirantes and Fisher said he felt as though the Sparks got three first-roundcaliber talents ahead of training camp, which starts in just 10 days — before which he’ll have a difficult decisions about who even to invite. Before making five picks in Thursday’s draft, the Sparks already had 15 players signed — the maximum number that WNBA teams are allowed to have in camp.
“To have a lottery talent available at 22, an opportunity that we could not pass,” Fisher said. “We really didn’t expect it, and so this changes some of our decision-making for sure in terms of how we put our final 15 players together going into camp. But it’s a problem worth having.”
And then, once camp starts, teams must cut their rosters to no more than 12 players before the season starts May 14. Russian center Maria Vadeeva isn’t expected to join the team until later in the season, temporarily opening one slot in L.A.