On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Howard Megdal sat down with LA Sparks assistant general manager Eli Horowitz to take a look at the team from the inside. The two go back into Horowitz’s history and discuss what brought him to the Sparks organization. They also talk about the team’s future, how analytics impacts the game, what stars like Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson can bring to the table, and more.
To start out the show, Megdal asks Horowitz when he fell in love with the game of basketball. “I’ve been a basketball junkie my whole life,” Horowitz explains. “After college, I did a program called Teach for America, ended up coaching high school girls basketball for three years.” Horowitz goes onto explain how, during his experience as coach, he witnessed a disparity in the resources allocated to boys and girls teams. “From that moment,” he explains, “I felt a passion to change that at all levels of the game.”
Later on, Megdal and Horowitz discuss the talent that the LA Sparks brought in for the 2024 season. “The numbers is a big part of what I do,” Horowitz explains, “but in evaluating this class, we used our eyes, ears, and numbers.” Per Horowitz, while the numbers predicted a highly-defensive year, they saw all types of versatility from rookies like Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson. Even accounting for Brink’s injury, Horowitz still sees the 2024 talent as “really, really encouraging.”
Megdal and Horowitz close out the show by discussing Dearica Hamby, as both a player and a person. “She’s had an incredible year,” Horowitz explains. “And off the court … her demeanor, her work ethic, just who she is as a person … she’s been that consistent voice in our locker room every single day.” The foundation, plus the new talent, makes Horowitz feel optimistic about the direction in which the Sparks are heading.
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