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LA Sparks Sign Former Indiana Fever Star

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 1:21 PM ET

The Los Angeles Sparks have announced a splashy new signing midway through their 2025 comeback season.

It's no secret that L.A. has been angling to return to the playoffs for the first time since future first ballot Hall of Fame power forward/center Candace Parker's defection to her hometown Chicago Sky, ahead of the 2021 season.

To that end, the Sparks pulled the trigger on a blockbuster offseason trade, swapping their No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, along with other pieces, for La Jolla native Kelsey Plum, already a three-time All-Star and two-time champion with the Las Vegas Aces.

Plum, 31, was reunited with her former Aces teammate Dearica Hamby through the deal. Combined with promising 2024 first round draft picks Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink, plus 2025 rookie guard Sarah Ashlee Barker out of Alabama, expectations were high for L.A.'s new core.

Sporting an underwhelming 4-8 overall record, the Sparks are currently two games behind the Fever for the eighth and final playoff spot this season, but it's early yet in a 44-game season.

Now, the Sparks have brought in a backcourt reinforcement from another rising rival, the Indiana Fever.

According to the Sparks' PR account on X, Los Angeles has inked free agent guard Grace Berger to a rest-of-season hardship deal.

The Los Angeles Sparks have signed guard Grace Berger to a rest-of-season hardship contract. In 47 games over two WNBA seasons, the 26-year-old is averaging 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, converting 44.1% from the field and 46.2% from beyond the arc. Berger…
— LA Sparks PR (@LASparksPR) June 17, 2025

Berger, the No. 7 pick out of Indiana University in the 2023 WNBA Draft, was a four-time All-Big Ten honoree in college. She hasn't quite replicated that success at the pro level, but is an efficient shooter and could still fulfill a role on a quality club.

The 5-foot-11 point guard has averaged 3.9 points on .441/.462/.769 shooting splits, 1.6 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 steals a night across her two seasons with the Fever. She appeared in just one of the Fever's playoff games last fall, playing two mop-up minutes.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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