As the sun set on the 2026 WNBA regular season, it’s tough to find anyone within the Los Angeles Sparks organization who would say that this year has gone as expected. Not even close, as veteran guard Ariel Atkins puts it. A team that was supposed to be a playoff contender will miss the postseason for the sixth straight year. But the team’s faith never wavered, and that’s largely due to the presence of Sparks veterans like Atkins and Erica Wheeler.

If you ask both Erica Wheeler and Ariel Atkins, the Sparks’ team record aside, neither one has had the type of individual season that was expected from them when they were acquired in the offseason. Veterans of many playoff battles, and in Atkins’ case, a champion as part of the 2019 Washington Mystics’ roster, they’ve struggled to find a consistent rhythm.

But on a team that had several rookies playing major minutes to close the season, several rookies whose eyes and ears are very impressionable, the team’s spirit never broke. The vets wouldn’t allow that to happen. Everyone continued to show up for one another no matter how many twists and turns the season took.

And Atkins and Wheeler took the lead in that regard. Despite how poorly the season went or how inconsistent their play was, the duo continued to show up, compete and most importantly, take accountability. They both consistently addressed media after tough losses and provided honest perspective. And that goes a long way towards setting an example.

“I think it just goes to show individual characters. I don’t think it has anything to do with anything in the organization …. Every player on this team is professional. They take their job seriously, you can see that,” Wheeler told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I think it’s just credit to everybody individually … that’s one thing I love about this group, you know they’re gonna fight. Sometimes you have good games, sometimes bad games, but the one thing I know is we always fight.”

The Sparks finished the year at 16-28. Last season, they finished 21-23 and just one game out of the playoff picture. Wheeler and Atkins weren’t here then. The former was signed as a free agent and the latter was acquired via trade with the Chicago Sky which cost the team a promising young player in Rickea Jackson.

But the motivation behind the moves was that the veteran duo would propel the Sparks into the playoff conversation. Two battle-tested players along with the return of franchise star Nneka Ogwumike, to add to All-Stars Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby and budding young stars in Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell would certainly do the trick.

The plan never came to fruition on the court as Plum got hurt early on and was ultimately traded at the deadline. It would have been easy for the Sparks to fold and mail in the season, but that’s not what happened. And that was because of who was still on the team.

“It’s just a testament to the people that are in that locker room. We want to stay together, we want to build, want to find a way even when it’s hard,” Atkins told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Every day is not great. But at the end of the day, it’s our job to show up. And we chose to show up for each other.”

At the season’s end, Atkins and Wheeler are shooting a combined 39.2 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from the 3-point line. Both have been prolific 3-point shooters throughout their careers. Prior to this season, Atkins has not had a year where she’s shot less than 33 percent from beyond the arc. Wheeler is a little more streaky, but in three of the past five seasons prior, she’s shot 33 percent or better from deep.

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But regardless of the numbers, Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts was overjoyed to have them on the team prior to her dismissal on Friday. The coaching staff can only go so far in terms of keeping the locker room together amid adversity. The rest of that has to come from the players wanting it. And that’s exactly what she’s seen from both Wheeler and Atkins.

“It’s hard to really quantify how valuable they’ve been. In addition to them not having the individual years that they wanted, for them to do that in spite of that, it speaks to their character,” Roberts had said following the Sparks’ final shootaround of the season this past Thursday. “They have just been incredible and it’s a huge reason as to why we’ve been able to keep the group together.”

For Atkins, this season has tested her leadership style as well. Soft-spoken, she’s tended to lead by example and to pick and choose when she steps in and says something. It’s not that she’s shy, as she acknowledges, but more so about finding her comfort level.

“Good relationships, that’s really what it’s about. It’s my favorite part of the job … just good relationships with people and you get to know them for who they are. Then it allows you to see who the player is and it helps you figure out how to navigate the team,” Atkins said. “You can see it now, nobody’s moping around, nobody’s pissed off … everybody who is coming to this place is about pouring into each other. And to me, that’s what can make some organizations great.”

And when it comes to Wheeler, she’s always been more of an outspoken voice in the locker room. She isn’t one to shy away from what needs to be said, but she also provides an encouraging and honest voice for her teammates.

She also was among the most vocal in support of Roberts. It matters seeing one of the team’s most prominent players going to bat for her coach and teammates on a nightly basis. And in the offseason, Wheeler will finally take the time to process the year and try and make sense of it.

“What we went through happened for a reason. We may not understand why we’re going through it, but later on maybe next year, we might understand it,” Wheeler said. “There’s so many things that happened that nobody would have ever thought would have happened in the beginning of the season. So I just lean on God in those moments. Whatever these moments are, what they’re creating and what can I learn from them.”