Exclusive: Life in the WNBA came fast for Sparks’ rookie Chance Gray

The very first time Los Angeles Sparks rookie guard Chance Gray stepped foot on a WNBA court for the regular season, she found herself matched up against the Las Vegas Aces’ championship duo of Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.

It didn’t get any easier in the second game of her early career when it was Indiana Fever stars Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell on the opposite side. And then to top off the first week of her rookie season, she had back-to-back to games facing off against Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes, the self-proclaimed, ‘don’t look forward to’ players.

Every player experiences their ‘Welcome to the WNBA’ moment at various during their rookie season. For Gray, this was it. Having to defend some of the best guards in the league as a way to jump start her career.

“It’s been crazy having to guard some of these people that I’ve grown up watching and been a fan of,” Gray told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “But it’s been a blessing. I feel like if I can start off my career guarding them, it can only get better from here. So I’ll just keep working as hard as I can, trying to get better and taking the opportunity to give my coaches trust that I can defend these type of players.”

With the Sparks figuring out lineups and rotations and trying to establish consistency from the second unit, head coach Lynne Roberts chose to essentially throw Chance Gray into the fire from the get-go of her rookie year. The Sparks went 1-3 to start the year, but Gray’s defense stood out.

It was back during training camp where Roberts was first impressed by what she saw from the rookie guard on the defensive end.

“Chance has been a great surprise in that regard. A lot of times with college players, they come in and the offense comes easier than the defense, but she just has a way of keeping the ball in front of her,” Roberts said back on May 13 before the Sparks’ second game of the season.

“From the first day of training camp we were conscious like, ‘oh wow, she can defend.’ She went out there and actually stood up Chelsea Gray. It’s a big moment for a rookie to stand up the ‘Point God.’”

Chance Gray’s defensive impact

Going back to her days at both Oregon and Ohio State, Gray carved out a role as a defensive stopper on the perimeter. With the Ducks, she was named as a Pac-12 All Defensive Team Honorable Mention. With the Buckeyes, she continued to improve her perimeter defense.

And now with the Sparks, she’s learned that one of the quickest ways to playing time is by making a consistent impact in making things harder for opposing offensive players. That as well as fitting in with the team’s primary scoring options.

“I think I’ve made it a focal point, that’s the way I can carve out minutes on the floor being with All-Stars,” Gray said. “That’s what I try to make my focus. Every time I go out there, I try to guard the best player on the floor if that’s the matchup they have for me. That’s what it’s been the last couple of games so I’ve just been making that a focus.”

Looking at Gray’s early play, she is without a doubt a legitimate WNBA rotation player who has a place on this Sparks’ team. But one month ago, that wasn’t a certainty. It wasn’t because she wasn’t good enough for the league, far from it. It’s just the nature of trying to make a WNBA roster.

The added expansion teams and the introduction of developmental contracts have somewhat eased the difficulty of securing a coveted roster spot, but it’s still a tough situation for many young players and rookies, entering the WNBA for the first time.

Gray knew the situation she was coming in to once training camp rolled around, and she reached out to a fellow Buckeye for pointers on how she could make herself standout.

“I texted Kelsey Mitchell before camp and I was like, ‘what’s your advice?’ I wanted to make the team, I wasn’t just coming here to be cut. I wanted to try to have a chance at this roster,” Gray said. “I took it one day at a time and just tried to stay as humble as I could. So I was very well prepared going into camp and just made it a focal point every day to be the first one in and be the last one out.”

Chance Gray’s developing offense

In addition to her defense, Gray brought an offensive skill-set to the Sparks that was much-needed coming into the season. In college, she was known for being able to consistently knock down outside shots. She thrived off catch-and-shoot opportunities and during her senior year at Ohio State, she shot a career-best 40.5 percent from 3-point range.

In the WNBA, her percentages have quite caught up to her yet, but she’s had a couple of games already where she’s knocked down multiple 3-point shots at an efficient rate. During the Sparks’ recent road trip to the East Coast with games against the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun, Gray shot 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.

Outside of that mini-stretch, the jumpers just haven’t as fallen consistently for her as they did in college, but Roberts and her teammates trust her to take those shots. Gray knows being able to knock down the open 3-ball consistently is one of the best ways she can fit alongside the Sparks’ other scoring threats, as well as attack the heightened defensive pressure that comes with being in the WNBA.

“Just run my lanes, keep space and if they get me the ball, shoot the ball. That’s what my job is to do. I don’t have to do anything special on this team, we have people to do that so I’m just gonna be the best fit for them,” Gray said. “The WNBA is a lot more physical, that’s something I have in my film every day. That and making decisions under a lot more fast-paced pressure.”

While Gray is more of a traditional shooting guard, she’s not averse to handling the ball and being a playmaker. In Roberts’ early rotations, Gray has kind of become the default point guard off the bench with Erica Wheeler in the starting lineup alongside Kelsey Plum.

Roberts often plays a strict nine-player rotation with third-year wing Kate Martin and rookie Jihyun Park alternating in that final spot. Cameron Brink and Rae Burrell are the other players part of the second unit, leaving Gray to be best ball-handler of the regular reserves.

“I think it helps me a lot. I played point guard my sophomore year at Oregon. And then I had Jaloni Cambridge [at Ohio State] so I moved off the ball a little bit. But I think it’s great because in ball screen pick-and-roll, I can pass and I have vision,” Gray said. “A lot of people don’t know that I have that just because I’m known as a shooter … but I have the ability to pass and move the bal, share the ball and relocate without the ball. So I think it’s helped me a lot just to be in different systems and playing with different people.”

The night of the WNBA Draft, one of the biggest things that impressed the Sparks’ brass the most about Gray was her work ethic. Work ethic is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but Gray truly embodies it. Roberts loves to recall Gray’s initial reaction, or lack thereof, to being selected as the team’s introduction to how she would translate to the league.

When the Sparks were up at No. 24 and drafted Gray, she had no idea what had just transpired. She was oblivious to the fact that her name was called because she was in the gym at that very moment getting shots up. Now that she’s in the WNBA, that mentality has manifested with trying to pick the minds of the Sparks’ leaders as much as she can.

She’s in a good learning situation on veteran-heavy team and she plans to take full advantage as her rookie year progresses.

“I just want to learn, I just want to soak up as much as I can. I don’t think any rookie could be in a better situation than me,” Gray said. “We have some of the best vets, we’re playing with some of the best players in the world, in this country. So I just want to learn and soak up as much as I can about how they prep for games, how they practice, how they play, how they lead. That can take me a long way.”

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