After Finals run, Miller leaves Sun to lead Sparks

Coming disconnected a WNBA Finals appearance, Curt Miller is leaving the Connecticut Sun and volition beryllium the adjacent manager of the Sparks, Los Angeles announced Friday.

A erstwhile Sparks adjunct coach, Miller was with the Sun since 2016 and led them to the WNBA Finals successful 2019 and 2022, erstwhile they mislaid to the Las Vegas Aces. Connecticut made the playoffs the past six years of Miller's seven-year tenure, during which helium was 140-86 and won the WNBA Coach of the Year Award doubly (2017, '21).

Miller, who besides served arsenic Sun wide manager, was named the league's Executive of the Year successful 2017.

The Sparks person not announced who volition service arsenic wide manager. They fired coach/GM Derek Fisher successful June aft 12 games of the 2022 season, and helium was replaced connected an interim ground arsenic manager by Fred Williams. The Sparks finished 13-23 and missed the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season.

Miller, 54, was a collegiate manager from 1991 to 2014, including arsenic a caput manager astatine Bowling Green and Indiana. He moved to the WNBA arsenic an adjunct to then-head manager Brian Agler successful Los Angeles successful 2015 earlier taking implicit successful Connecticut the pursuing year.

"I loved my instauration to the league successful 2015," Miller told ESPN connected Friday. "L.A. holds a peculiar spot successful my heart, and I ever said if I had an accidental astatine immoderate constituent successful my vocation to pb this iconic franchise, it would beryllium hard to walk up."

Miller said it was "bittersweet" leaving the Sun, who volition articulation the Dallas Wings and Indiana Fever successful seeking a caller caput coach.

"It's a peculiar franchise with an unthinkable instrumentality basal with truthful overmuch cognition of women's basketball," Miller said of Connecticut. "But I'm a builder, and there's conscionable thing truthful amusive astir that. And L.A. is successful this epoch close now, a caller beginning. I deliberation it's an accidental with the Sparks to travel successful and retool and rebuild it and pursuit a 4th title for the franchise."

Los Angeles is the past WNBA franchise to triumph back-to-back titles, doing truthful successful 2001 and 2002. The Sparks besides won a title successful 2016. However, they missed the playoffs successful 2021 and 2022, the archetypal clip they were retired of the postseason successful consecutive years since 1997 and 1998, the opening seasons of the WNBA.

Sparks managing spouse Eric Holoman said successful a connection that Miller "is the close idiosyncratic to pb the adjacent epoch of Sparks basketball."

"Curt brings extended acquisition arsenic a WNBA caput coach, wherever helium has won astatine a historical gait and helped make respective All-WNBA and MVP-level players," Holoman said. "His teams play with an strength and attraction to item our players volition embrace, and a passionateness our fans volition appreciate."

The Sparks person six unrestricted escaped agents going into 2023, including franchise prima Nneka Ogwumike. She has said she hopes to proceed her vocation successful Los Angeles, wherever she was drafted No. 1 successful 2012.

"I deliberation there's an breathtaking equilibrium successful L.A.," Miller said. "People privation to beryllium here. We tin person a operation of veterans done escaped bureau on with continuing to make young talent. And there's nary amended person than Nneka successful this full league.

"I similar that it's player-first successful L.A. It's astir stars successful L.A. I tin manager and assistance these players, but it's astir them."