LOS ANGELES – As the sun sets on the 2026 WNBA season for Los Angeles Sparks, one of the most pressing questions surrounding the team is the future of head coach Lynne Roberts. Coming into the final game of the year, Roberts has a combined record of 37-50 across the last two seasons and amid a new front office hire, her future might not be as certain.

But prior to the Sparks’ season finale against the Golden State Valkyries, Lynne Roberts was emphatic when asked if she feels like she’s done enough to warrant returning at the helm for 2027.

“Yeah I think I have. I think again, we’ve had two tough years of injuries, and I’m not trying to blame anything on that, it’s just the reality,” Roberts said during her pregame press conference. “There has been a lot of change. Our president’s been here … four months. So just again, so much change.

Prior to joining the Sparks, Roberts was a successful college coach, guiding the Utah Utes to an overall record of 165-116 and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances in her final three years leading the program. When she was hired as Sparks head coach, it was supposed to be the start of a new era for the franchise.

Immediately after Roberts’ hire, the organization brought in one of their biggest player acquisitions in two-time champion Kelsey Plum. But as Roberts alluded to, injuries hit the team hard, especially this season as Plum was limited to only 12 games before being traded.

“I think what this org needs is some stability, some vision and direction, like a plan,” Roberts continued. “Not that we haven’t had one, but I think now that we’ve got people in place, just give us a goalpost and we’ll march down the field in that way.”

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Roberts is right in that the Sparks have not had much stability in the past several years on the coaching front, going to back to 2020 which was the last time the team made the playoffs. Derek Fisher was the head coach then, hired in 2019.

He made it to the first half of the 2022 season, as one of the franchise’s longest-tenured coaches in recent memory before he was let go. Assistant Fred Williams finished out that year as the interim. Curt Miller took the reins in 2023, and he was shown the door at the end of the 2024 season.

In terms of the front office, Penny Toler was fired in 2019 and Fisher took up the mantle of dual general manager and head coach. Since his firing, the Sparks have had several different names as their lead decision maker leading up to this month’s hire of Ariana Andonian.

Karen Bryant had a stint as Sparks’ general manager followed by Raegan Pebley who fired back in July. And then assistant general managers Zach Knowlton and Nate Nielsen had been serving as interim until Andonian’s arrival.

Throughout the year, Roberts has not lost the support of her players, something that she’s mentioned at various points in the season as meaning a lot to her. But only time will tell whether or not the Sparks’ decision-makers feel the same way.