"No sophomore slump, basketball Gods. No, no, no!: Rickea Jackson on 2nd year prep, Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink, and more (EXCLUSIVE)

Sparks’ Rickea Jackson dishes on Kelsey Plum trade, Cameron Brink’s return and how to avoid a ‘sophomore slump’

The off-season schedule became so busy that Rickea Jackson admittedly lost track of her day-to-day itinerary.

Despite spending her offseason playing for the Unrivaled league during its inaugural season and landing various endorsement deals, Jackson faced a much more hectic schedule leading into her WNBA rookie season.

Less than a month after Jackson played with the University of Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the LA Sparks selected Jackson with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Jackson then spent the following month during training camp learning how to play multiple positions with a comprehensive playbook.

Jackson still thrived well enough to land on the WNBA’s All-Rookie Team. But with the Sparks missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year amid various injuries, including rookie center Cameron Brink tearing the ACL in her left knee in her 15th game.

Since then, the Sparks made various changes. The Sparks replaced Curt Miller with Lynne Roberts as head coach. The Sparks also acquired an elite point guard that has two WNBA championships and three All-Star appearances (Kelsey Plum) as part of a multi-team trade with the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm.

Jackson spoke to Sportskeeda on what how she expects Plum will elevate the Sparks, how Brink will return from injury and how she hopes to build off of her rookie season.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been condensed and edited.

What did you take away from your time at Unrivaled?

Jackson: “I love having help defenders in 5-on-5. That was the biggest thing. But just growing on the court, I felt like I got more confident being more at the guard spot. I was at the 4 spot. And then halfway through the season, I got placed at the 3 position. So I felt like I was developing more guard skills and developing more confidence at the 3. I was defending better one-on-one. I feel like all of those things will translate to the W, which I’m excited for. But I feel like it overall helped my game.”

What differences did you notice in the game with the 3-on-3 format?

Jackson: “Being in shape was one of the big things. The court was the biggest adjustment, though. Normally when you’re defending someone, you’re like, ‘I probably got about five steps before I need to start pushing up.’ Here it’s like, ‘No, you take two steps and they will shoot a 3 in your face.’ So it was about getting used to the side of the court and the pace of the game. You score and next thing you know the ball is getting thrown over your head and there’s layup on the other end as well. Those were the two biggest adjustments – getting used to the court size and the pace of the game.”

What were your overall impressions of the setup and the facilities?

Jackson: “I was highly impressed. For it to be the first year and they were able to basically get all of our needs, necessities and wants as well, I was highly impressed. It was year one, and I’m already in awe. They had everything we could ask for. This doesn’t pertain to me. But they even had nannies on site. That was cool. Playing in the women’s game, to have that help is very important. It goes to show that it’s a players’ league. They truly care for the players.

We had hot meals after every practice and after every game. That was one of my favorite things about it. The food was really good. Everything, honestly, was good. Everything about it, I felt like it was for the players and by players. I felt like that was very important to have. And I think it’s only going to get bigger and better. They asked for our input a lot. You could tell that they really care for us. So it makes us want to continue to give back to them as well.”

That’s really cool to hear. Given what you outlined, what do you expect it will look like next year and beyond?

Jackson: “I think it’s going to continue to get bigger and better. People were really tuning in. From the looks of it, we got really, really good views. So I feel like it’s going to continue to get bigger. I’m excited to see the league continue to grow. For that to be the first year, it started off great. But I’m excited to see what is to come as well.”

I saw in another interview that you said that you “want to continue to be a dominant player and in Year 2, I’m coming for it all.” What does that look like for you after having a successful rookie season?

Jackson: “Just staying in the gym and doing things that are asked of me and doing the little things. I really want to make that jump in my sophomore season. No sophomore slump, basketball Gods. No, no, no! But I definitely want to continue to grow. I want to be more tenacious on the defensive end. I want to hunt for my shot more on the offensive end and rebounding way better. It’s definitely about upping the pace and upping the competition level.”

How do you look at your rookie season through your success and jumping right into the thick of it with an immediate training camp and compressed schedule?

Jackson: “It was a growth moment for me. I’m grateful for my rookie season. There were lots of ups and downs, especially at the beginning. It was really tough going into training camp and learning all of this new terminology and not knowing what position I’m going to play. I’m going into a new environment at a quicker pace with millions of plays, and you’re trying to learn all of these things at three positions.

I feel like that is something that people don’t talk about with being a versatile player. We don’t just get to know one position. All in all, you kind of look at a point guard’s job. I don’t know how you can do it because you need to know all five positions because you have to know where everyone goes. I had to learn three [positions] and having to know three. But I’m also physically having to do the three [positions] as well. So I feel like that was pretty tough because I didn’t know where I was going to be playing.

Then I’m getting acclimated with the plays and making sure I’m understanding the playbook. You want to perform. Everyone wants to do well. Everyone wants to perform at the highest level. But I feel like as the season went on, I continued to stick with it. I continued to overcome adversity and grow. It had its ups and downs. But I loved it, honestly. I loved the grind of it and the adversity that I overcame.”

Now that you’re past that, what do you think that can do for you in your second season?

Jackson: “I feel like it’s going to do a lot for me. I feel like being able to play as much as I did for the second half of the season gave me a confidence boost. My coaches were important to me. Of course, we have a new coaching staff now. So I’m excited to see where that goes. But I feel like I’m really taking it seriously. I’m making sure I’m doing all the right things that I can do to make sure that I’m producing well on the court.”

You also have a new teammate with Kelsey. What was your reaction when you heard the news about that trade?

Jackson: “Oh, I was so excited. Kelsey Plum is out there, so we needed to get her real quick. I’ve watched her play over the years. She’s such an amazing player and such an amazing person. I’m excited to learn from her and play with her. She’s a dawg. So to add that piece to our puzzle, I feel like it’s going to be real exciting and fun to watch.”

Given Kelsey’s pedigree and experience, what do you think she can do to help you get your game to an even bigger level?

Jackson: “I feel she can do that with who she is as a person. I haven’t seen her in practice. But even on the court and in games, she was helping me and giving me advice and joking with me. And we were on opposite teams. I can only imagine what being her teammate will do for me.

I feel like it’s going to open up the floor. I feel like she’s going to teach me a lot in practice and in film. But on the court, I feel like she’s going to open things up because you have to respect her drive, her shot, her jumper, everything. You can’t sag off of her. I feel the same way about myself. So it’s going to open up the floor for me, her and my teammates. The world is going to be ours when we figure it out.”

What do you expect how Cam will come back from her injury after having a strong rookie season before getting hurt?

Jackson: “I expect good things from Cam. She’s always been a hard worker and very high IQ basketball mind. So I feel like she’s going to come back strong. This is a bump in the road for her. But the way that she’s been handling it, you can just see that she’s ready to come back and ready to do great things.

I know it’s a process and things of that sort. But with her being a hard worker that I know she’s going to be, of course she’s going to take time, realistically. But I know Cam and how great she wants to be. So I’m excited for her to come back. I’ll have my shot blocker. She’ll smack it into the fifth row. To have that back will be amazing.”

You all formed such a great partnership last season. What inspiration do you take on how she’s tried to tackle this challenge?

Jackson: “I feel like just having her my rookie year helped me a lot. She and I were going through the process together. So I feel like our relationship continued to build through the season. Even though she wasn’t with us as much because she was rehabbing and things like that, toward the end of the season, we would still text every and now then. She would tell us how proud of us she is. She would come into practice, and everyone’s faces would light up when we saw her. She always just had great energy. She always brightens up any room that she walks in. To go through my rookie season with her, I am so grateful for that. I just can’t wait to have her back.”

The Sparks are going to retire Candace Parker’s jersey on June 29. What will that mean to you given she is a player you have tried to model your game after and you have both gone to Tennessee at different times?

Jackson: “I’m so happy and excited for her. This is something that she deserves. She put being a versatile and tall guard on the map. She made it cool for people that would probably consider themselves post players also to be big guards. That puts confidence in people like myself and other people that are taller that have those guard skills. I admire her work.

She was a Lady Vol. I went to Tennessee for two years. She played for the LA Sparks. Now I’m with the LA Sparks. With kind of having a similar journey from college to W, I just admire her and her hard work. The things that she told me when she came to watch us at Tennessee and things of that sort, I definitely don’t take lightly. I take it with everything. I’m excited every time I see her, honestly and every time I see her doing her broadcasting. It just makes me happy. She really paved the way for a lot of us.”

What has been her feedback and messages to you over the years?

Jackson: “When I see her, she always says that she’s proud of me and to keep going. She’s giving me little knick-knack advice on my game, which I’ll show ya’ll in the season. I can’t tell you all.” (laughs).

What does your shoe deal with Skechers mean to you?

Jackson: “It means a lot. To be the first of anything is history in and of itself. So for Skechers to see something in me and I saw something in them, it’s a great collaboration and we’ll continue to build. I’m just excited for what the future has for us. But as of right now, it’s just been nothing but amazing with building from within a shoe company and building relationships. They see me, and I see them. There are lot of exciting things coming. I love them a lot.”

Mark Medina is an NBA/WNBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.