For three Sparks rookies, the WNBA journey is one of uncertainty and promise

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Well before fans stream into Crypto.com Arena for the Sparks' rematch against the Phoenix Mercury, Sarah Ashlee Barker is on the court two and a half hours early. The first out of the tunnel, as she's been all season, she fires off jump shots with a stone-faced expression.
Thrown unexpectedly into a starting role as a rookie, Barker's rise in the WNBA has outpaced even her own expectations. Amid a season riddled with injuries, the Sparks have leaned on their first-round pick.
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On this day, Barker was trying to adjust to a new role coming off the bench after forcing some plays that hindered the team's success.
Life for a rookie in the WNBA demands adaptability.
An uncommon sight across the league, the Sparks kept all three of their recent draft picks on the roster. They are former college standouts who earned conference honors, with one winning a national championship. But they face far greater physicality, speed and overall grit in the WNBA.
A quick promotion
Sparks guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, right, drives to the basket against Golden State Valkyries guard Julie Vanloo on May 6.
(Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
For Barker, the jump to the WNBA has been grueling. In a short time, she's faced some of the league's top players — Chelsea Gray, Nneka Ogwumike, Rhyne Howard. At times, she's held her own. But there are also moments when she's looked every bit like a rookie.
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When Sparks coach Lynne Roberts first told Barker she'd be starting, the message was short and direct: 'Hey kiddo, you're going to be starting. I believe in you. I have confidence in you. I trust you.'
'Those matchups are tough,' Roberts acknowledged. 'That's throwing a rookie in the deep end, but I do think she was ready for it.'
Barker was soon shifted to the bench to "take some pressure off," but it didn't last long. The injury-plagued Sparks needed her to start again.
Back in the starting lineup, she delivered her best stat line of the season: 12 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes during a loss to the Seattle Storm on Tuesday.
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Read more: Kelsey Plum returns, but Sparks fall to Minnesota for their third straight loss
She continues to bounce in and out of the starting lineup, depending on the team's needs. Barker credits veterans on the team, especially from Kelsey Plum, for helping her adapt.
'She's been a leader to me pretty much since I got to L.A.,' Barker said. 'She has so much experience, so I listen to everything she says.'
When Barker arrived in L.A., she joined Plum's intense workouts — a challenge that left her breathless but determined, Roberts said. At practice, Plum takes a hands-on approach, guiding Barker through defensive shifts and assignments.
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Off the court, Plum's is just as involved. In a now-viral clip , Plum revealed Barker had played through training camp wearing an 'old' pair of Sabrina Ionescu's signature shoes — 'a disaster,' Plum joked. That led Plum to contact Ionescu, who sent Barker six new pairs.
'She's always telling me just to have fun too with the game,' Barker said. 'But being able to have that presence and being able to teach me in any way, it does mean a lot.'
A lower-profile journey
Sania Feagin, right, poses for a photo with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected 21st overall by the Sparks in the WNBA draft in April.
(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)
Sparks second-round pick Sania Feagin has seen little game action. For Feagin, this isn't uncharted territory.
Despite being the nation's No. 1 high school forward and a five-star recruit, she had to wait her turn as a freshman at South Carolina behind some of the country's top talent, including Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere and Victaria Saxton.
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Facing a logjam of talent, much like her current situation with the Sparks, Feagin didn't start until her junior year and didn't become a regular in the Gamecocks' rotation until her senior season. Just as she did in college, Feagin is using time on the sideline to observe, learn and prepare — knowing that when her name is called, she doesn't want to squander the minutes she gets.
'I knew it was going to be different,' Feagin said of her rookie year. 'But since I am in the same boat, I can't do nothing but to learn to trust the process.'
Read more: Sparks' Rickea Jackson continues a smooth transition to stardom
Feagin has only spoken once with Roberts about earning more minutes. Roberts encouraged her to keep learning and assured her that things would eventually fall into place. She has repeatedly said Feagin is working her way into the rotation and believes she'll be a starter in the league one day.
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For now, Roberts knows Feagin is itching to play, which makes keeping her engaged and motivated during this waiting period a delicate balancing act.
'You don't want them to be OK with not playing,' Roberts said. 'They have to understand that they don't control when I put them in, but when you do get put in, you control how ready you are. … Those are the conversations we've had with her. And of course, she wants to play. ... She's staying ready.'
Just before training camp cuts, general manager Raegan Pebley and Roberts told Feagin she had made the team — and made sure she understood how rare that was for a second-round pick.
Trying to stay on roster
Sparks guard Liatu King shoots over Minnesota's Maria Kliundikova during a game on June 14.
(Matt Krohn / Getty Images)
The odds of landing a roster spot are stacked heavily against a third-round pick. One of just three currently on a WNBA active roster, forward Liatu King's rookie season has been nothing short of a whirlwind.
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The former Pitt and Notre Dame star was selected by Sparks with their final draft pick and spent the next month battling for a roster spot during training camp. When final cuts were revealed, King found herself on the outside looking in — waived and boarding a flight back to South Bend, Ind.
For many, getting cut is a tough pill to swallow. But King chose not to dwell on the disappointment. Instead, she returned to Notre Dame and got back in the gym with coach Carlos Knox.
Pebley and Roberts gave King specific areas to work on — feedback she took seriously. And Pebley told her to stay by the phone.
Read more: WNBA motherhood: The balancing act between career and kids
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'She said this league is so crazy, anything can happen,' King said of Pebley. 'She was true to that. People get hurt. People have to go places. The unknown is always happening.'
King's phone rang a week and a half later. The Sparks were already down a key contributor after Rae Burrell injured her knee in the season opener. Then Rickea Jackson suffered a concussion in the next game and entered protocol, leaving the team in urgent need of reinforcements.
The first call went to King, who signed a rest-of-season hardship waiver contract. The turnaround from waived to role player came even faster than from draftee to cut.
'It's been surreal, to be honest, and I didn't know it would happen that quickly,' King said of her Sparks debut, when she played 13 minutes. 'I Ubered to Chicago [from South Bend, Ind.]. Then I flew from Chicago to LAX, and then the same day, we [flew] ... to Phoenix to play the Mercury the next day. I was literally in three different time zones.'
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Unfazed, King said Roberts told her she'd be playing at the three-spot in place of Jackson and Burrell. Her quick insertion into the rotation, she says, 'is just a testament to always being ready, always keeping close connections.'
An unclear future
Roster moves in the WNBA come with a heavy dose of uncertainty — and for rookies, that volatility is even sharper. With the WNBA All-Star break less than a month away, nearly half of this year's rookie class (42%) have already been released from teams across the league. Of those, some were initially cut and re-signed, like King, or were picked up by other teams.
Now, King is one of the 22 rookies still active on a WNBA roster and currently in the rotation. But her future remains in limbo. With only 12 coveted roster spots and several sidelined players expected to return, the Sparks' front office will soon have to decide which hardship signees will be dismissed.
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Julie Allemand is expected back from EuroBasket in late June. It's unclear when Odyssey Sims, out for personal reasons, will return. Cameron Brink, who suffered a torn ACL last season, had targeted a return around the all-star break. The biggest factor affecting King's spot is Burrell's potential return. She was injured May 17 and expected to miss six to eight weeks, making her comeback possible between late June and mid-July.
King has done enough to earn praise from teammates and coaches, with Roberts saying 'she has earned my trust, because I know when she goes out there, she will give me everything she has.'
Read more: Sparks' Sarah Ashlee Barker overcame a debilitating condition to become a pro
The next few months will serve as a long-term tryout for King to prove her worth, not just to the Sparks, but to teams around the league.
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Like King, teammate Emma Cannon faced similar challenges nearly a decade earlier. Undrafted out of Florida Southern, she spent six years bouncing around overseas — in Australia, Germany and Russia — before finally making her WNBA debut at 28 with the Phoenix Mercury.
'It's super hard, especially when at that time, it was only 144 spots and you're trying to get one,' Cannon said, noting the league's notoriously limited roster spots.
With King in particular, Cannon sees a reflection of her own journey, having been waived and signed to hardship contracts multiple times throughout her career. When King was let go, Cannon was one of the first to reach out.
'I've been in Liatu's shoes before,' Cannon said. 'I wanted her to know that just because one door closed, doesn't mean that another one won't open. I told her to make sure that she stays confident in what her abilities are, that she continues to work hard. … Look, we called her right back.'
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Cannon relates to each of the rookies, having walked their paths at different points in her career. She started at the bottom, coming off the bench with limited minutes, averaging just 13 per game as a rookie.
'Just that first year, it was super nerve-wracking, I'm not gonna lie,' Cannon said. 'You finally get to where you wanted, and it's here — and you just want to make sure you do everything in your power to stay.'
Read more: Caitlin Clark pushed to ground, and does some shoving of her own, during testy win over Sun
Cannon recognizes the daily grind and small victories that are keeping the trio on the roster. She sees Barker embracing an unexpected starting role, Feagin staying ready and making the most of limited minutes and King clawing her way back from being waived to logging meaningful time.
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Only three rookies — Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen — have more starts than Barker this season.
Barker admits the start to her pro basketball career has 'definitely been a lot,' but says she's found ways to stayed grounded.
'I've learned to be where your feet are, be exactly where you are in the moment,' Barker said. 'That's the mindset I need to be in, because if you make it just about basketball 24/7, it will kind of overtake you.'
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.