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LOS ANGELES – Throughout this season, Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller has continuously referred to this season as a build. Building culture and cultivating key habits towards ultimately becoming a winning team. To that end, the Sparks have seen key growth from several young players. But one player in particular who has not seen much of an opportunity this season for the Sparks is Zia Cooke.
Zia Cooke is in her second season with the Sparks but has seen her playing time diminish from last year as a rookie. She hasn't featured much in the team's rotation, but with the regular season winding down, Cooke has gradually been given more of a shot on the court.
During the Sparks' 85-81 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, Cooke had one of her best games of the season with nine points on 3-0f-4 shooting from the three-point line. Following the game, she spoke about how she's grown as a player despite not getting much playing time.
“I think I've grown a lot more than anything in the mental space. Just understanding that a lot of things haven't went my way this season. Haven't really got a lot of opportunities, but I just knew with each and every opportunity I got, that would give my all,” Cooke said. “I'm super thankful and try to give myself as much grace as possible, but to be able to come out and shoot the ball the way I did in the first half, it definitely gave me a breath of fresh air, something I've been needing. Definitely something I'm happy to see and hopefully it carries on.”
While the Sparks would eventually lose the game, Cooke came into the game and helped give the Sparks momentum in the first half as they took early control of the game.
Zia Cooke's future with the Sparks uncertain after this season
Once the WNBA offseason hits, Zia Cooke will still be under contract with the Sparks on her rookie deal. She is due around $76,630 next season as per Her Hoop Stats. However, her contract is unprotected. She will have to make the team out of training camp.
It's hard to say what the Sparks' future plans are regarding Cooke and they likely won't become clear until 2025 training camp. If this past game is any indication though, she can play in this league, it's just being able to play like this on a consistent basis. Following the game, Miller credited Cooke with raising the confidence level for the team during an offensive drought.
“Zia gave us really good minutes in that first half when we needed it,” Miller said. “Made three threes with confidence for us when we weren't shooting the ball well.”
Cooke was the No. 10 overall pick by the Sparks in the 2023 WNBA Draft. Her playing time is down this season at 9.1 minutes per game compared to the 14.1 minutes she averaged as a rookie. Her shooting efficiency has increased though going from 28.9 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from three-point range last year to 32.1 percent from the field and 29.7 percent from three-point range this year.
But those shooting percentages have to increase and stay at a high, consistent level for Cooke to be a true WNBA rotation player.
