Sparks hire Kari Korver and Rushia Brown to front office roles

Both have extensive basketball experience, with Korver having played at UCLA.

The Los Angeles Sparks made a pair of personnel moves in the last week, hiring Kari Korver and Rushia Brown to front office roles.

Korver was hired to be the team’s Director of Basketball Operations, a role that Michael Fischer held until 2018, when he was promoted to Assistant General Manager. She’ll play a large role in the direction of the team as they gear up for an important 2021 offseason, in which many of their star players will be free agents.

She’s also no stranger to Southern California basketball, as she grew up in Los Angeles, and played collegiately at UCLA from 2012 through 2017. Korver spent the last two years as an assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado. She also comes from a strong basketball family, as her cousin Kyle Korver is a 17-year NBA veteran. For another local connection, her brother-in-law is reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger.

Brown was hired to be the team’s Director of Community Relations and Youth Sports. She’ll be tasked with continuing the off-court growth after the organization was named the 2019 WNBA Franchise of the Year. She comes to the Sparks straight from the rival Las Vegas Aces, where she was the team’s Player Programs and Franchise Development Manager.

Like Korver, Brown is a former player, and played in the first seven WNBA seasons for the Cleveland Rockers and Charlotte Sting. A 6-foot-2 forward, Brown averaged 5.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.0 assists for her career.

There’s still no timetable for when the WNBA season — which was set to tip off in a few weeks — will begin. But that’s not stopping the Sparks from making moves to get better on and off the court.