Ex-Rams’ star Gray happy with Sparks

Posted Jun. 12, 2016 at 8:55 PM

ARLINGTON, Texas — Chelsea Gray has taken a long and winding road to get here, but the St. Mary’s High product admits it’s all been worth it.

Gray, 23, is in her second WNBA season after spending 2015, which ended up being her rookie season after she missed 2014 rehabbing from a fractured right knee cap sustained at Duke, with the Connecticut Sun. Last offseason, the Los Angeles Sparks acquired her in a trade with the Sun, and she can’t be happier about the move westward.

“It’s been great,” Gray, who is averaging 4.9 points, 2.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds in nine games with the Sparks, said. “It’s been great being back home, being back in California. My family has gotten out to some games, a lot of close friends have been to some games, so it’s great to be out here. We have a great team. It’s just an excellent deal for me.”

As a rookie, she played for a young Connecticut team with no shortage of talent but lacking experience. However, in 2016 that paradigm has shifted the opposite direction as the Sparks are a talented, veteran team led by the likes of Candace Parker, a two-time WNBA MVP.

And being surrounded by so many experienced veterans has been a blessing. “You can totally see the difference,” Gray said. “You look at Candace (Parker), Alana (Beard), Essence (Carson), Kristi (Toliver), Jantel (Lavender), you can go down the line, even Nneka (Ogwumike), she’s been there. Without playing games, I would be getting better just playing against them in practice, hearing them in my ear and everything like that, so it’s been great for me in that aspect. I love it.”

The move west also has her playing for a new head coach in Brian Agler, the 2010 WNBA Coach of the Year, an award he also earned twice in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL).

Gray has already made a favorable impression on Agler, but like every coach he still sees areas where she can still improve. “Well, she gives us depth on the perimeter, gives us another point guard,” Agler said. “She knows how to play. She’s got great basketball instincts.”

Specifically, Agler wants to see Gray and fellow point guard Ana Dabovic look for the simple and lower-risk play first instead of forcing things, rash decisions which can often lead to turnovers. “I’ve just been trying to work with her on keeping her turnovers down,” he said. “They (Dabovic and Gray) think everybody on the court’s open all the time and they’ll just try pinpoint passes, thread the needle and you don’t have to play that way all the time. But she’s coming around. She’s really doing well defensively and (has) got great vision.”

As a rookie, Gray averaged 6.9 points per game in 34 games with the Sun, and despite coming off the bench ranked second on the team in assists. The biggest lesson she took away from her debut campaign was learning how to be smarter in taking care of herself off the court, something she made her primary focus this offseason.

But after battling that knee injury late in college and early in her professional career, the 11th pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft is now healthy and keeping her focus simple with the Sparks, one of two unbeaten teams remaining in the WNBA at 9-0.

“I think we’re just taking it one game at a time,” Gray said. “We learn from these games, from these practices. We’re doing a good job on the road, but we have a span right now that we have a lot of home games, so we got to take care of our home court.”