Sparks to Hire Curt Miller as New Head Coach

One of the best coaches in the WNBA is on the move from the east to the west coast. 

The Los Angeles Sparks have reached an agreement with Curt Miller to serve as the team’s new head coach, Rachel Galligan confirmed on Friday, poaching Miller from his longtime role with the Connecticut Sun. 

 

The Sparks fired their previous head coach, Derek Fisher, early in the 2022 season, leaving Fred Williams to step up in an interim capacity. The team announced Williams would not return full-time after a 13-23 mark placed Los Angeles 11th in the standings. Fisher was hired ahead of the 2019 season, but failed to connect with many of his players and was unable to take a talented roster to the WNBA Finals. 

Miller has had a long career patrolling the sidelines, dating back to 1991. After spending decades—first as an assistant and then head coach in the NCAAMiller graduated to the professional ranks in 2015, spending the season under Brian Agler on the Los Angeles bench. Following that campaign, Connecticut hired Miller to replace Anne Donovan as the Sun’s head coach. 

Miller headed the Sun from 20162022, leading the team during a highly impressive seven-year run that featured two WNBA Finals appearances (2019, 2022). Though the team lost to Washington in 2019 and Las Vegas in 2022, Miller’s Sun teams were almost always near or at the top of the standings. He led Connecticut to a 136-86 record during his Sun tenure, earning Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2021. Miller also served as the Sun’s general manager. 

Miller now takes over a Los Angeles team that has suffered back-to-back disappointing seasons after losing Candace Parker and Chelsea Gray in free agency following the 2020 season. The Sparks will have cap flexibility moving forward, but don’t own their 2023 first round pick. 

 

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