Sun coach Curt Miller is switching coasts in the WNBA—and Los Angeles could sure use his help, benpickman writes
In 2016, when Curt Miller took over as the coach of the Sun, he inherited stewardship of a WNBA franchise that had missed three consecutive postseasons. On Friday, the Sparks announced Miller as their next coach, hoping for a similar turnaround, with the 54-year-old leaving Connecticut having made six consecutive playoff appearances and the Finals in two of its last four campaigns.
That feat, Miller said after a practice midway through his team’s 2022 Finals matchup with Las Vegas, was what he was most proud of throughout his Connecticut tenure: “of this franchise’s sustained success, and we’re doing it without No. 1 draft picks,” he said. “We’re doing it by developing players.”
Miller will now have another development project in front of him, moving from one coast—the Sun’s Mohegan Sun Arena is only around a 25-minute drive to the shores of New London—to another.
Forward Jonquel Jones went from averaging 14.1 minutes per game as a rookie to a Most Improved Player award winner in her second season, a Sixth Person of the Year winner in her third and a league MVP in 2021. Center Brionna Jones followed a similar path to Jonquel, making the All-Star Game in each of the past two years, taking home Most Improved and Sixth Person honors. She is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, tellingafter Game 4 of the Finals she hadn’t thought about her future yet.