{"id":717863,"date":"2026-06-21T19:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/717863\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T19:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:11:10","slug":"exclusive-how-ariel-atkins-has-tried-to-make-a-difference-for-the-sparks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/717863\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: How Ariel Atkins has tried to make a difference for the Sparks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Sparks<\/a> head coach Lynne Roberts has a specific way of how she wants to run her offense. Going back to her days at the University of Utah, she\u2019s stressed shots at the rim and 3-pointers. But when the Sparks acquired Ariel Atkins this offseason<\/a>, it made Roberts consider radically altering her offensive game plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018you\u2019re making me rethink my whole philosophy of no midrange,\u2019\u201d Roberts joked following Sparks practice back on May 26.<\/p>\n

Atkins has a propensity for getting to the elbow<\/a>, or right outside the paint, and being able to knock down the pull-up jumper. Last season with the Chicago Sky, she shot 55.6 percent from 10-16 feet. The year before that with the Washington Mystics, she shot 55.4 percent from the same range.<\/p>\n

That shot hasn\u2019t quite caught up with her just yet as she\u2019s still feeling her way out in the Sparks\u2019 offense. But it\u2019s a good shot for her and one that she plans to continue shooting when she has it. With the shifting emphasis on paint touches and 3-pointers in today\u2019s game, overall, Atkins believes most players aren\u2019t even able to make midrange shots anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my favorite shot in the game. It\u2019s not a shot that many people love anymore, but I think it\u2019s because a lot of people can\u2019t make it. So that\u2019s on them, that ain\u2019t on me,\u201d Atkins told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. \u201cBut for me, it\u2019s a high percentage shot. It\u2019s something that I continue to do, continue to work on, finding different ways to get to my spots. Obviously threes are more than twos, but if I can hit the pull-up, I\u2019m gonna hit the pull-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for Roberts, it\u2019s not that she frowns on players shooting midrange shots. Her whole philosophy is for players to take great shots for them and their skill set. When it comes to Atkins, she can shoot midrange jumpers with high efficiency.<\/p>\n

Shots at the basket are obviously higher percentage with a better chance of drawing a foul, and 3-point shots are worth more, but Roberts encourages Atkins to shoot more pull-up jumpers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s driven by if it\u2019s a great shot, and Ariel is a great pull-up shooter, so take it \u2026 it\u2019s personnel driven in that way,\u201d Roberts continued. \u201cShe\u2019s used to running sets every possession, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. It\u2019s just different \u2026 they\u2019ve got to be okay with just pushing through it, not being told what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ariel Atkins\u2019 role with Sparks
\"LasJayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ariel Atkins\u2019 role in the Sparks offense this season is a stark contrast to last year with the Sky. In Chicago, she was asked to be more of an on-ball creator due to the team\u2019s roster makeup, especially after losing starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot to a season-ending ACL injury.<\/p>\n

This year, the former first round pick has been able to play more off-ball alongside the Sparks\u2019 ball-handlers in Kelsey Plum and Erica Wheeler. The result is Atkins receiving more catch-and-shoot opportunities than she\u2019s had in quite some time.<\/p>\n

The nine-year veteran has always been a capable 3-point shooter with a career efficiency of 35.7 percent. Through the first eight years of her career, Atkins has had only one season where she\u2019s shot under 35 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

The Sparks are still trying to figure things out offensively with Atkins still searching for a bit of a consistent rhythm. Through the first 12 games of the season, she\u2019s shooting a career-low 24.5 percent from distance. But she\u2019s going to continue to take full advantage of the increased offensive space she\u2019s been afforded alongside the Sparks\u2019 other offensive threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe highest shot percentage in the game of basketball is catch-and-shoot. Anytime somebody can get their feet set and just be sitting there ready \u2026 they\u2019re supposed to be able to hit shots,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting to know each other better and better each and every game in my opinion. Each and every practice we\u2019re figuring it out. It is a different role for me from what I\u2019ve been in the last few years which is nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of basketball, being able to be adaptable. If you ask me how I like it, I love it. I\u2019m getting more catch-and-shoot threes than I\u2019ve got in, honestly, a couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The offensive end of the court was only half of why the Sparks wanted Ariel Atkins this season. The biggest offseason priority for the team was to get better defensively. The chance to add a veteran like Atkins, albeit having to give up a promising young player in Rickea Jackson, was a trade-off the Sparks felt was necessary.<\/p>\n

A starter on the Mystics\u2019 2019 championship team, Atkins was named to an All-Defensive team for her first five seasons in the league, including a First Team selection in 2022. She\u2019s the Sparks\u2019 best on-ball perimeter defensive player. And a lot of what she does defensively isn\u2019t always reflected via stats.<\/p>\n

Take for example the Sparks win against the Phoenix Mercury back on May 21. That was Atkins\u2019 first game back following a two-game absence<\/a> after a stint in the league\u2019s concussion protocol. She set the tone early on the defensive end with multiple deflections, a statistic that isn\u2019t officially recognized as a category.<\/p>\n

She followed that up being the team\u2019s primary defender on Jackie Young in a win against the Las Vegas Aces, holding the four-time All-Star scoreless with only two shot attempts. For Atkins, she has a similar approach to defense as she does to shooting midrange jumpers.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefense has always been my way of being on the floor. Yeah I can shoot the ball, yeah I can do all these things, but I think defense is something that I can control. A lot of it is effort and wanting to do something. That\u2019s just my mindset behind it,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cI really just enjoy playing it for the simple fact that everybody\u2019s not willing to do it, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Atkins is still searching for a consistent offensive rhythm with the Sparks, she\u2019s still valuable to the team in that she provides another veteran voice in the locker room, especially as the team has gotten off to an inconsistent start to the season.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s picked and chosen her spots in terms of when to speak up and say things, and she balances that out with leading by example. She keeps an even temperament that the rest of the team can get behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just got to find your voice. I think we got a ton of vets around here, a lot of experience, a lot of people that not only have wisdom in the game but are sure of who they are as people,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest part of leadership. Me finding my spots is honestly just being my complete self. Being steady, making sure the young ones are good and then making sure I\u2019m doing my job on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being the calm person that I am. I never really get too high, never get too low, I just try to stay locked into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts has a specific way of how she wants to run her offense. Going back to her days at the University of Utah, she\u2019s stressed shots at the rim and 3-pointers. But when the Sparks acquired Ariel Atkins this offseason, it made Roberts consider radically altering her offensive game plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts has a specific way of how she wants to run her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[186,3029,581,99,434],"class_list":["post-717863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-exclusive","tag-los-angeles-sparks","tag-reporting","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}