Usually, when a player wins the Rookie of the Year Award, their career is a little more certain and secure. But that hasn’t always been the case for Los Angeles Sparks guard Crystal Dangerfield and her WNBA career.
After being named the 2020 WNBA Rookie of the Year with the Minnesota Lynx, Dangerfield has ended up shuffling between various teams for the past three seasons. The No. 16 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, she’s yet to find any type of career stability. But that’s a common scenario for many of the rank-and-file WNBA players.
In a league that offers only 144 roster spots, with some teams opting to carry less than the maximum of 12 players due to salary cap restraints, the WNBA has become arguably the toughest professional sports league to break into. Dangerfield is well aware of that.
She began training camp with the Dallas Wings, was traded to the Atlanta Dream before the season began, and was then cut about a month and a half into the season before signing with the Sparks. One of the key things that Dangerfield has had to do is be able to make an impact on the fly. Going from team to team and system to system, it’s not always an easy thing to do.
“It’s just knowing what I’m good at. I know defensively I can bring a spark. I know I can fight on the boards and be a pest on the ball,” Dangerfield told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Offensively, that’s probably the hardest thing, getting familiar with the offense. But also just making sure that I’m confident in what I know I can do and just do that.”
Crystal Dangerfield signed a 7-day hardship contract with the Sparks back on July 4 and was at practice that same day. She signed a second 7-day hardship contract on July 13, but with the WNBA taking a pause for the Olympics, the remaining days on her second contract were deferred until August.
Her current 7-day runs until this coming Saturday, Aug. 17. As per the WNBA’s CBA, teams are allowed to sign a player over the 12-player roster maximum to hardship contracts if they do not have the requisite number of players available on the active roster.
The first time Dangerfield signed a hardship contract was during the 2022 season with the Indiana Fever after she was cut by the Lynx. The Fever would end up releasing her, and she signed another hardship contract with the New York Liberty. She ended up catching on with the Liberty for the remainder of that season.
Essentially, hardship contracts are temporary auditions. Once a team’s active roster is back to the required minimum, the hardship contract is immediately terminated. Every second on the court counts from practice to actual games. For Dangerfield, the key to adapting to an uncertain future is just understanding what she brings to the table as a player.
“Just understanding that my work doesn’t fall just within these four lines when I step out on the court. But other than that, it’s understanding that every little thing you do is under a microscope if you’re not on that guaranteed contract,” Dangerfield said. “And then obviously just knowing yourself as a player, knowing what you can bring to a team. And I think understanding that within myself, wherever I end up, whatever team I’m on, I’ve always done that.”
Crystal Dangerfield can bring defense, leadership to Sparks
Through the first half of the 2024 WNBA season, Crystal Dangerfield has appeared in only three games for the Sparks. She’s tallied only two points so far in 13 total minutes. The Sparks have had a heavy guard rotation though which has made consistent minutes hard to come by.
Since practice has resumed this month, Dangerfield has gotten better accustomed to her teammates on the court. With the Sparks’ current injury report including starting point guard Aari McDonald, Dangerfield could be in line for more playing time. Going back to her college days at UConn, she’s always been a solid playmaker and floor leader. It’s that aspect of her game where she can really help the Sparks.
“Just kind of be me, be vocal, be a leader and just bring my talents. Not really just look to defer when I get in, and that’s really what I feel like this break has allowed me to do,” Dangerfield said. “When I first came, it was a little hard because we were already into the swing of games. But this break has really allowed me to get comfortable with my teammates and to see what I’m most successful at.”
Crystal Dangerfield’s time at UConn prepared her for the WNBA
Long before Crystal Dangerfield got the WNBA, she was harnessing those talents at UConn under Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma. Dangerfield played all four seasons of her college career at UConn and left the university as the school’s fifth all-time career assists leader. She is also third behind Sue Bird and Nika Muhl with the most number of assists in a single season.
Coming into the 2024 WNBA season, Auriemma had the most number of former players in the league with 16. It’s been four years now since Dangerfield left UConn, but what she learned has stuck with her including the keys to being successful in the WNBA.
“I can’t even put that into words. I think about that a lot actually, what they put us through physically and mentally to prepare us as basketball players, prepare us as people for life, I would say it’s second to none,” Dangerfield said. “You learn a lot about yourself. I’m 26 now, I graduated four years ago and even now the things that I do, that carry over to this team, to when I was in Atlanta, are things that I was doing back when I was 18 years old as a freshman.”
Crystal Dangerfield’s second 7-day contract with the Sparks ends on Saturday. As per WNBA rules, she can sign a third 7-day contract before she either has to be signed for the remainder of the season or released.
In Dangerfield’s case though, her 7-day is a hardship contract. Should the Sparks’ active roster return to the requisite number of players, her contract would be immediately terminated. The Sparks had 12 players on their roster before Dangerfield’s signing. Brink is lost for the season, but there is no timetable yet for the rest of the Sparks’ injuries/absences.
But for now, Dangerfield is focusing on what she can control, and that’s the next couple of days and games the Sparks have as the second half of the season resumes.
“This team wasn’t winning too many games, but I feel like right before the All-Star break and Olympic break, our team started to put some really great games together and pick up a few more wins before going into the break,” Dangerfield said. “I think the days that we put together in this short kind of mini-training camp is going to translate into some more wins the second half of the season.”
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