{"id":868762,"date":"2026-06-15T11:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/868762\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T11:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:32:18","slug":"sparks-face-big-decision-as-fan-favorite-kate-martin-nears-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/868762\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks face big decision as fan favorite Kate Martin nears limit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SAN FRANCISCO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The toughest decision of the Sparks\u2019<\/a> season to date is fast approaching.<\/p>\n

Within the next few games, the team will have to decide whether they are going to keep fan-favorite Kate Martin<\/a> around.<\/p>\n

She joined the roster on a developmental contract at the start of the season after being waived by the Golden State Valkyries the day of roster releases. Developmental contracts were introduced this year as part of the league\u2019s new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

Each team can carry up to two players on developmental deals<\/a>. Those players are allowed to practice and travel with the team, but they can only be active for a maximum of 12 games during the season.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Sparks\u2019 Kate Martin shoots over the Fire\u2019s Nyadiew Puoch at Crypto.com Arena on June 7.<\/p>\n

(Luiza Moraes \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Typically, developmental players are used as emergency depth, stepping into the lineup only when injuries create a short-term need. That hasn\u2019t been the case for Martin, who has been active for eight of the Sparks\u2019 first 13 games, making her a regular part of the team\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been activated for quite a few games and that is a blessing,\u201d Martin said. \u201cI feel very grateful to have been activated for so many games so far, but I think just like not knowing until like game day, trying to figure out, like, \u2018Oh, am I going to be activated, am I not?\u2019 I think that\u2019s probably the biggest difference, but you know, they don\u2019t treat me any differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

When given the opportunity, Martin has brought energy and impact off the bench. She is shooting 47.4% from the field and taking 1.6 shots from three-point range per game despite playing just 7.4 minutes. Martin often receives the loudest cheers from fans during home games.<\/p>\n

She delivered her strongest offensive performance in a loss to the Tempo on May 17, scoring 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but since then she has been used as a first-half rotation player to rest the Sparks guards as a reliable shooter and defender.<\/p>\n

Even with the Sparks at full strength against the Portland Fire last week, Martin still earned eight minutes of play. Then she played four minutes in Saturday\u2019s overtime win against Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re figuring it out in real time,\u201d Sparks coach Lynne Roberts<\/a> said. \u201cThese are new positions, and so each player only gets 12 games, but Kate does have experience. She is a spark off the bench. Everyone out there trusts her. There\u2019s value to that. It\u2019s hard, though, as a [developmental] player, to play one game and not play the next, and like it\u2019s just hard for the rest of the group. So that part\u2019s been tricky, and we\u2019re figuring it out as we go.\u201d<\/p>\n

With seven active appearances already used, Martin has just four games remaining under the terms of her developmental contract. The Sparks must either preserve those appearances for later in the season or make a long-term commitment by signing her to a standard contract or she will become a free agent again.<\/p>\n

The challenge is that Los Angeles does not currently have an open roster spot, meaning the team would need to waive a player to make room.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Sparks\u2019 Dearica Hamby and Kate Martin chest bump to celebrate after scoring against the Dallas Wings at Crypto.com Arena on June 5.<\/p>\n

(Luiza Moraes \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Rookies Jihyun Park and 2026 second-round draft pick Ta\u2019Niya Latson have both appeared in fewer games than Martin, as have veteran Emma Cannon and second-year forward Sania Feagin, who was injured earlier this season but hasn\u2019t claimed a rotation spot since her return.<\/p>\n

Martin was a regular part of the rotation with the Valkyries in her one season with the franchise, playing in 42 games and averaging 6.2 points per game and 31% shooting from three-point range. She was inconsistent at times, but also provided a spark off the bench and it was a surprise when they cut her.<\/p>\n

After an emotional few days after being waived, Martin joined the Sparks, where she was excited for the opportunity to develop. Now, she sees herself as a fit beyond the 12-game limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system that we want to run at a very fast pace,\u201d Martin said. \u201cSpread the floor and shoot a lot of threes, and I think that I am good at spacing the floor, and I think that what they want to run here offensively benefits my game in a lot of ways, and I think I fit kind of seamlessly in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The toughest decision of the Sparks\u2019 season to date is fast approaching. Within the next few games,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":868763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[68967,342612,353720,1910,10442,11148,353719,5996,9323,449,5950,5612,4232,62,3007,24565,67,132,68,232],"class_list":["post-868762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-bench","tag-developmental-contract","tag-fan-favorite-kate-martin","tag-game","tag-martin","tag-minute","tag-next-few-game","tag-part","tag-player","tag-point","tag-season","tag-spark","tag-sparks","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-three-point-range","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116753908622457953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}