Rickea Jackson’s return to form is coming at the perfect time for the Sparks

It was a slow start to the year for Rickea Jackson, but her recent play has the Sparks playing their best basketball in years.

Entering this season, the expectations were high for Rickea Jackson.

She was coming off a season where she earned All-Rookie honors and started in 35 games for the Sparks. After a strong showing in Unrivaled, the expectation was that she’d build on that momentum and be even better in 2025.

Unfortunately, progress isn’t always linear. Jackson struggled during the first two months of this WNBA season, becoming a more tentative and passive player than she was as a rookie.

Sophomore slumps are common and Rickea found herself square in the middle of one for much of the first half of the season. The good news is that she has certainly broken out of it.

Over the past five games, she is averaging 18.4 points on 51% shooting from the field to go with 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

Jackson attributes this recent uptick in production to her willingness to attack offensively when the opportunity presents itself.

“Just being aggressive from the jump, getting downhill,” Jackson said. “I feel like that’s when I’m playing my best basketball, when I’m being aggressive, from the jump, not overthinking and just taking what the defense gives me, but doing it with pace. And again, I feel like when we’re flying around on both ends of the floor, pace and moving the ball as we do, we’re going to play good.”

Jackson’s assessment of the rising tide lifting all boats has borne true for the Sparks. It’s no coincidence that during her recent stellar stretch, the team is playing its best basketball of the season.

Los Angeles has won four of their last five games and is currently on a three-game winning streak, their longest since 2023.

In the Sparks’ latest win, a 93-86 victory over the Mystics on the road, Jackson led the charge in the second half. She scored 20 points in 20 minutes and shot 50% from three.

That flow state Jackson reached in the second half won’t be replicable on a nightly basis, but her aggression, confidence and improved shot selection are sustainable.

On shots 10-16 feet away from the basket, Jackson is shooting 31% on the season. Compared to the rest of her shot diet inside the 3-point line, it’s clear these attempts need to go away.

She’s shooting 71% on attempts at the rim, and is sitting above 40% on all other two-point field. Her struggles have come on the mid-range jumpers, which she has shied away from of late. During July, Jackson has taken only four of them across six games.

Defensively, she’s also shown growth as the season has progressed.

After L.A.’s win over Washington, head coach Lynne Roberts wanted to make certain her defensive performance was just as highlighted as her offensive one was.

“Defensively [she] was fantastic,” Roberts said. “She guarded [Sonia] Citron a lot, down the stretch was on [Brittney] Sykes and, I don’t know the numbers obviously, but she did a tremendous job defensively too and often you don’t talk about that, but that was huge.”

If the Sparks are going to take this winning streak and use it as the turning point of the season, Jackson will be a key to that happening.

They can’t ask much more from the rest of their core players. Kelsey Plum is an All-Star, having a career year. Azurá Stevens has improved well beyond expectations, and Dearica Hamby is right around her best averages in points and rebounds. Despite all that, the wins haven’t come.

With Jackson playing at a higher level and Cameron Brink nearing a return, suddenly, this team’s chances of making the playoffs are much improved.

If this is Jackson’s new standard of performance, she can help break that postseason door wide open, helping the Sparks end their longest playoff drought in franchise history.

That’s a lot to put on a two-year player, but pressure can make diamonds. When Jackson is firing on all cylinders, few can shine brighter than her.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.