L.A. Sparks Promise Thorough Background Checks On New Male Practice Squad After Players Express Concern

The Los Angeles Sparks aren't going to let just anybody square up against their players.

The organization advertised open tryouts earlier this month for an all-male practice squad for the 2025 season. Male practice squads — oftentimes comprised of guys who played in high school but weren't good enough to make the jump to college ball — are quite common for elite women's teams as they can provide bigger and stronger competition than they'd get from females.

The Sparks got such an overwhelming response from this post that they had to stop accepting applications.

The problem, though, is that many of the responses on social media weren't serious inquiries. They were just comments from dudes who wanted to get up close and personal with female athletes like Kelsey Plum, Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink.

The Sparks clarified on Wednesday that anyone who makes the practice squad must undergo an extensive background check.

"The Los Angeles Sparks are committed to fostering a safe and respectful environment for all our players and want to emphasize that player safety remains our top priority," the team said in a statement. "Any players selected for the practice squad will undergo a thorough background check process to ensure the safety and well-being of our athletes."

The Sparks' male practice squad members will undergo a thorough background check.

(Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

The team's statement came shortly after Brink expressed concern about all the inappropriate comments she read on social media regarding the tryouts. During the most recent episode of her Straight 2 Cam podcast, last year's second overall draft pick said she was "icked out" by the idea of random men signing up just to bump bodies with her and her teammates.

"My confession is I'm really icked out by the potential new practice players," Brink said. "Usually, we use [USC] college guys that also do it for the women's team at USC. 

"All the comments are, like, 'Let Cameron Brink back me down' or something about Rickea or something about Kelsey, and now I'm just like ... preferably they're gay."

Hopefully, the background checks will weed out any weirdos and give Cam and her teammates some peace of mind.