The Sparks have made a concerted effort to push their players into the public eye. Since getting drafted second and fourth overall, respectively, rookies Brink and Rickea Jackson have appeared on SportsCenter, rubbed elbows with Lakers greats in a suite at a Lakers playoff game and sat courtside with Sparks teammates Dearica Hamby and Kia Nurse at a Clippers playoff game. The night before Brink and Jackson played career-bests in minutes to help the Sparks hold off the Mystics, they threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers game.

“The L.A. fans are the best,” Brink said, “so just hoping to bring some of them to Crypto for our next game.”

Monjer credited Sparks director of public relations and communications Lauren Douglas with increased public appearances. Growing the team’s influence in the community is at the top of everyone’s mind in the organization, from the front office to the bench, where Miller has marveled at the way Brink and Jackson have balanced the transition to WNBA play while also handling their off-court opportunities with enthusiasm.

“They’re going to go represent us, which is so important to build our brand back up to what has been a long time: a championship [team] and the gold star for our league for so long,” Miller said Tuesday. “Those two are going to help bring that gold star back, that people are going to want to play in L.A., people are going to see what the Sparks are going to be again.”

Despite being in their new era, the Sparks are never too far from their old glory days. The team is one of just three original WNBA franchises remaining. As the franchise welcomes the wave of new fans, Monjer also wants to honor those who have stuck around through the back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002, the arrival of Candace Parker and the former most valuable player’s departure, leaving the team in its current rebuild.

Being there for every up and down has been a thrill for Susan Burden and Jennifer Scott. They’ve already loyally supported the team with season tickets for more than 20 years, but seeing the WNBA “take a jump up” this season has been “really wonderful to see,” Burden said.

Even when Parker and former point guard Chelsea Gray bolted during free agency in 2021, Burden and Scott never wavered. After a particularly lean year, when the Sparks reached out about season ticket renewals during the spring, maybe the longtime fans jokingly wondered if they really wanted to sign up again.

“Now,” Burden said, “we’re really lucky that we bought tickets last spring.”

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