The Los Angeles Sparks Got Run Over by Carla, Janelle, & a 26–1 Avalanche!!

We already know how expansion teams are supposed to go.

But once again, Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase is shattering the mold.

Gone are the days when expansion teams stumble through the season collecting moral victories like they’re straight out of Aesop’s fables—full of “growth moments” and quotes about “finding identity” and “building a winning culture.”

Nobody gave that memo to rookies Carla Leite and Janelle Salaün.

On Friday night in Los Angeles, the Golden State Valkyries went full “we’re not here to make friends” mode and outworked the Los Angeles Sparks for a gritty 82–73 win. That’s back-to-back victories for a franchise that’s only three games old—the first official winning streak in team history.

That’s right: history. And it happened because two rookies with French passports and ice in their veins showed up ready to scrap.

Carla Leite & Janelle Salaun, Are Problems! 

If you don’t know, now you know. Carla Leite & Janelle Salaun are two of the best rookies in the WNBA.

The rookie guard, Leite came off the bench, looked the Sparks in the eye, and dropped 19 big points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting. You name it, she hit it. Everything. Spot-ups, transition buckets, a spicy and-one late that had the bench on their feet and a few Sparks players wondering if they’d just been put on a mixtape.

This is not a fluke.

This is two straight games where Leite’s been the most dynamic player on the floor. And with Julie Vanloo still trying to find her shot, Leite’s looking like the go-to option in crunch time whether she’s technically a “starter” or not.

Meanwhile the sniper, Salaun finished with 18 points on just 11 shots and buried 4-of-8 from three, including a couple heat-checks that would’ve gotten her benched in college.

She didn’t blink. Just jogged back down the court like she meant to do that. Which she did time and time again.

The French forward also pulled down 8 boards and didn’t let herself get pushed around by Hamby and Azura Stevens, even when the Sparks started getting chippy. She held her own. At this present moment, Salaun might be Golden State’s best shooter already.

They did it with Nakase’s fingerprints on every damn inch of the game.

HomeTown Hero

Natalie Nakase Came Back to Los Angeles. Stole a win, and left the Sparks holding the bag.

 

“It kind of gives me goosebumps…It’s kind of really neat,” Nakase said, her voice half-laugh, half-homegirl-holding-back-tears. “It’s full circle. Being in this building, on the other bench… it’s really special.”

The Golden State Valkyries just walked into Crypto.com Arena, hijacked the vibes, and bounced with another dub—and it wasn’t just any dub. This one was personal.

This one was poetic.

This one had Natalie Nakase standing in her hometown, on a sideline where she used to assist, coaching a first-year expansion team past a team she used to help build.

 

“Yeah, a ton of emotions, like when we were just flying over the city, I was like, ‘oh, there’s where I used to live,’ and just everything comes back. I mean, obviously, my dad, just a lot of memories of my dad here, and with the Clippers and everything. It kind of gives me goosebumps.”

Let’s back up for a second. The Valkyries are 2–1. They’ve now beaten the previously undefeated Mystics and an L.A. Sparks team that had more top-tier talent, more experience, and more reasons to win on paper.

That’s not a fluke.

That’s a culture.

That’s a coach who spent a decade working her way from the shadows of the league into a spotlight she had to build herself. Who’s walking into gyms with Jordans on and schemes dialed in. Who’s already got her team talking like her, moving like her, and believing like hell in what she’s selling.

And now she’s got a second win—in her hometown, against a team that never quite made her their head coach.

Let that sink in.

She didn’t just coach circles around L.A.

She came home and left a footprint the size of Northern California.

26-1 Run, Seriously? 

Let’s talk about that. The Valkyries were down 9 with two minutes left in the first quarter. Then the Sparks forgot how to basketball. Golden State went on a TWENTY-SIX TO ONE run. L.A. missed 15 straight shots, committed six turnovers, and probably thought about calling the league office for emotional support.

Temi Fagbenle ended the run with a layup to make it 42–26. By that point, half the Sparks’ bench looked like they wanted to sub out of life.

Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts didn’t mince words:

“I was really frustrated with the second quarter. We missed some shots that I think we were expecting to make and then that just affected our defense and we stopped the game plan. Like we weren’t running, we weren’t moving it, we got caught trying to do too much one on one. Yeah, it’s bad. We gotta fix it. We gotta put up a full 40 minutes together. We haven’t done it yet this season.”

Hamby Tried to Save Them

Dearica Hamby gave it everything. Season-high 25 points. Three blocks. Got to the line. Dominated. As per usual, Hamby brought the energy, especially late when she and Kelsey Plum tried to drag L.A. back into it with a 10–0 run. The problem was, it wasn’t enough.

Because, well… Carla Leite happened.

“I just do what I do consistently, just trying to bring energy,” Hamby said postgame. “Definitely picked up the defensive energy. Got some good hustle plays and wanted to get us the momentum, but I want to win, so I’m willing to do whatever.”

When asked about the physicality of the game, Hamby didn’t shy away:

“I mean, that’s been the emphasis all season. Everybody’s going to come and be physical, and we need to match it. And we talked about setting that tone early on our end. So we just gotta match it. And clearly, the [referees] are going to let things go on and keep (from blowing) their whistles, but we just got to match it.”

The Vibes? Chaotic.

This game was wild.

Golden State had five players in double figures.

Meanwhile Kayla Thornton did what Kayla Thornton does: hit floaters in traffic, body up anybody who drives, and scream after every big stop like she’s mic’d up. She posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and was the only Valkyrie who could get a bucket when the offense went cold late.

She also iced the game at the line, hitting three huge free throws after a 10–0 Sparks run cut the lead to single digits. That’s called being an adult in the room. The rookies looked like vets, and for five straight minutes in the second quarter, the Sparks were doing cardio.

Golden State is 2–1, and this might not be a cute expansion story. It might be the start of something real.

More Carla Leite highlights please.

Somebody tell the league.