Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson liked what the Los Angeles Sparks did with their first selection in the WNBA Draft on Monday night. And Johnson’s opinion might count more than most. Not only is he one of the game’s all-time greats, Johnson also is the co-owner of the Sparks.
Los Angeles used the ninth pick in the WNBA Draft to acquire Alabama guard Sarah Ashlee Barker.
“I want to welcome Sarah Ashlee Barker to our Los Angeles Sparks!” Johnson wrote on social media. “I believe we are building a special team this season! Sarah gives us everything we are looking for in a player. She can score off the dribble, she’s a dead-eye 3-point shooter and she’s a defensive specialist. We are thrilled to have her on the Sparks! We are going to have an outstanding season, especially when Cameron Brink is back in our lineup!”
Barker enters the WNBA after averaging 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals in 28 games for the Crimson Tide in the 2024-25 season.
Before earning back-to-back All-SEC recognition at Alabama, Barker starred a Spain Park High School, where she paced the Jaguars to two AHSAA Class 7A girls’ basketball championships and was Alabama’s Miss Basketball for the 2019-20 season.
“I’ve loved basketball since I was 6 years old,” Barker said on Monday night, “so when I got in high school and started getting recruited by colleges, I knew that I wanted to play at the next level and I knew that I wanted to play basketball for as long as I could.
“When I was in eighth grade, I had a knee injury that could have taken me away from the game of basketball. And so for me at 13 years old, I couldn’t run for nine months and I was out for a whole year – or over a year – and so for me to even be able to step on the floor, it means the world to me. And so I’m just so grateful that I have the opportunity to continue playing, and I just love it so much that I knew I wanted to play as long as I could.”
Barker initially chose Georgia as her college destination. A reserve in her freshman season, Barker started every game and averaged 7.7 points per game for the Bulldogs in her second year before transferring back home.
In her first season at Alabama, Barker averaged 6.9 points per game. But in the 2023-24 season, her scoring average jumped to 16.8 before climbing again in 2024-25. Barker improved her shooting percentage every season of her college career. She sank 33.3 percent of her shots as a freshman and climbed to 51.4 for her final season.
“I think it’s just understanding you never know what you can do,” Barker said, “and so if you just give it your all and give it your best shot that you can do anything in life. As long as I try my hardest, I’m not worried so much about that outcome.”
One of the three franchises from the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997 that hasn’t relocated, Los Angeles owns more all-time victories than any team in the league and won the WNBA championship in 2001, 2002 and 2016.
But the Sparks are coming off the worst season in franchise history with an 8-32 showing that was Los Angeles’ fourth consecutive losing record.
The Sparks will have a new coach in 2025 with Lynne Roberts taking the helm after nine seasons at the University of Utah.
Los Angeles also added three-time All-Star guard Kelsey Plum in a three-team trade in February. The deal also netted the draft pick that the Sparks used to add Barker on Monday night and gave the Las Vegas Aces the No. 13 pick, which they used on Alabama wing Aaliyah Nye.
Los Angeles also expects Brink to return to the court during the 2025 season. The No. 2 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Brink sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee that limited the 6-foot-4 forward to 15 games during her rookie season.
Barker said she is looking forward to the learning that she’ll do with the Sparks.
“There’re so many great players in the W,” Barker said, “and I’m so excited for the competition, the athleticism and just a new chapter in my life. I’ve been in college for five years, and so I’m just ready to start the next chapter.”
