The LA Sparks playoff hopes are starting to dwindle again after it was announced that Kelsey Plum will be sidelined with a lower-leg injury for at least four weeks. The Sparks are in 10th place in the WNBA with a record of 8-10, so missing Plum doesn't make the road to the playoffs easier.
However, not all hope should be lost for Sparks fans. With Plum gone, LA has another guard who can step up in her absence: Rae Burrell. Burrell has the potential to be a consistent starter, but has tough competition because of the guards that the Sparks signed in the offseason. Still, Burrell has proven that she is a difference maker and can handle the extra minutes.
Rae Burrell is ready for a bigger role on the LA Sparks
Burrell was drafted by the Sparks ninth overall in the stacked 2022 draft class that featured players such as Veronica Burton, Rhyne Howard and Shakira Austin. Since then, Buerell has played every role asked of her in the four years with the Sparks.
During her rookie season, she only played three games before sustaining a season-ending knee injury. Since then, she's been a consistent player on the roster, being a productive guard for the Sparks through all of their turmoil.
With Plum out for weeks, she has an opportunity to make an impact on the starting rotation and make a case for why she deserves to stay there. Burrell is currently having the best season of her career with 11.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
As time goes on, Burell looks more developed as a league guard, but what makes her stand out is her clutch factor. She has the ability to change a game for her team with her infectious effort on the court. She will make big defensive stops when her team needs it the most and lay in a tough bucket.
The most recent example is the Sparks buzzer-beater win against the New York Liberty for the special 30th WNBA anniversary game. The Sparks had already lost two in a row and were not trying to make it a streak, but this game had even more importance because it was celebrating the league's first-ever game. 30 years ago, the Sparks lost, but in that game, they flipped the script.
Credit is due to Nneka Ogwumike's buzzer-beater three-pointer to take the win, but Burrell's impact can't be overlooked in that game. She scored 19 points and had four assists off the bench. 12 of those points and three of those assists came from the second half to help close the 17-point lead the Liberty once had. She made huge buckets for the team, firing them up. Then, she banked two free throws at the end of the game to set up Ogwumike's three-pointer to seal it.
Obviously, Dearica Hamby and Ogwumike will also need to keep having a good season to help the Sparks, but Burrell's presence can make their playoff dreams come faster. Her "dawg" mentality is similar to Plum's and can't be overlooked. Burrell's fiery presence for the Sparks offense will be the difference in keeping the Sparks playoff dreams alive.
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