Pebley out as Sparks GM, assistants to share interim role - ESPN

The Los Angeles Sparks announced Sunday they have agreed to part ways with general manager Raegan Pebley.

The Sparks have missed the WNBA playoffs the past five seasons and are currently 10-11 and just out of playoff position in ninth place. They are coming off consecutive victories, though, having defeated Indiana 106-92 on Wednesday and Chicago 102-87 on Friday.

The team has been without leading scorer Kelsey Plum (leg injury) since June 21.

Assistant GMs Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen will serve in the role as general manager on an interim basis, the Sparks said.

«We are grateful to Raegan for her leadership and commitment to the Los Angeles Sparks and women's basketball,» managing partner and governor Eric Holoman said in a statement. «Her work on the Sparks roster and player experience will have a lasting positive impact on our organization. We sincerely thank her for all she has invested in the Sparks and wish her success in her next chapter.»

Pebley, who played in the WNBA in 1997 and 1998 and then was a longtime college coach, was named Sparks GM on Jan. 5, 2024. She was the fifth GM in the history of the Sparks, an original WNBA franchise dating back to 1997, but the team's third over the past six years, following Derek Fisher and Karen Bryant.

The Sparks have had instability at that role since the departure of Penny Toler, a former WNBA player who was the franchise's GM from 2000-2019. During that time, the Sparks won all three of their league titles. She was fired on Oct. 4, 2019, after the Sparks were swept in the WNBA semifinals, a series in which Toler gave a fiery speech to the team that included a racial epithet.

The team went without a GM for the 2020 season, and Fisher, who was serving as its coach at