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When the Los Angeles Sparks lost Rickea Jackson temporarily due to the WNBA’s concussion protocol, that put them at only nine available players and eligible for a hardship contract. Needing the additional roster depth, the Sparks opted to bring back rookie wing Liatu King via said hardship contract.
Liatu King had been one of the Sparks’ final roster cuts in training camp after being selected by the team with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Back during Sparks media day, head coach Lynne Roberts expressed her opinion that King was a WNBA talent and had a future in the league.
The Sparks front office apparently was of the same opinion as King was their choice for a hardship contract. On a hardship contract, King’s time with the Sparks is only as long as they don’t have the minimum number of players available. As soon as they are healthy enough, her contract is automatically terminated.
Back with the franchise after a couple of weeks, King understands that each second counts and that she could be gone without warning.
“Being on a hardship, I know I can be gone any day of the week. Just knowing that, having that at the back of my mind, it drives me and pushes me to go harder than anybody on the floor,” King told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I don’t have to come here and score 30 points. That’s not what the goal is. I got to come in here and play hard, when I’m on the floor be effective. Help the team get extra possessions and stop the opposing team from getting extra possessions.”
Liatu King’s role with Sparks
Liatu King got her first WNBA regular season minutes during the Sparks’ loss to the Phoenix Mercury last Wednesday. She came off the bench and finished with four points, three rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes, knocking down both of her shots.
With Jackson still in concussion protocol, King was back with the Sparks during their loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Friday. She finished with two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 11 minutes. With the Sparks in need of production off the bench, King knows the best way she can make an impact is simply by playing to her strengths.
“It’s doing what I always do, doing what I was drafted here to do which is play defense and rebound. And that’s nothing different than what I always do. It’s not like I got to come here and change my identity which is a great thing,” King said. “I got waived, but I got picked up, so that’s a saying in itself. . .I don’t have to come in here and do something spectacular. I don’t have to do something I’ve never done before. I got to bring effort and energy every day, and those are the controllables.”
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When King was drafted by the Sparks, it was those intangibles that stood out. King spent four seasons at Pittsburgh before transferring to Notre Dame for her final season of college basketball. She was a solid scorer in college, averaging a career-best 18.7 points in her final season at Pittsburgh.
But it was all the little things that really shaped her game. She had back-to-back seasons of double-digit rebounding with 10.3 and 10.4, respectively. During her lone season at Notre Dame, she averaged a career-high 2.0 steals. She doesn’t shoot from the three-point line, preferring to play to her strengths.
In today’s day and age where players can tend to be a little too concerned with their points per game and wanting to score the basketball, King credits her upbringing as to why she focuses on toughness.
“I’m from Southeast D.C. . .I’m from a spot where not a lot of people have the opportunity to be successful. I was one of the few. Just having a city on my back, having people there to support me. . .You can make it out if you put your mind to it,” King said. “If you’re tenacious, if you’re determined to do so. Growing up I played against guys so I was always tough. And playing football helped me become tough in middle school.”
When Jackson clears concussion protocol and returns to the lineup, that will mean the end of King’s hardship contract as the Sparks will have ten available players. But in the meantime, she’s getting valuable experience that will only help her moving forward.
Whether King’s career continues with the Sparks at some point or another team, she’s picked up valuable lessons that will help her succeed in the WNBA.
“It’s gonna be fast and it’s gonna be competitive. Training camp was competitive. The game is way more physical. Knowing that, you got to be tough. You got to be in that weight room,” King said. “That’s what I would say is probably the number one thing I’ve picked up. And when we were playing in preseason, calls are different, jump balls are different, but you learn as you go through it.”
