LOS ANGELES -- Two-time WNBA champion Cappie Pondexter was released by the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, a decision that stemmed from her inability to find regular playing time, head coach Brian Agler said before his team played Thursday in Seattle.
"We really enjoyed having her on our team," Agler said. "It came down to playing time, her desire to play more. We just couldn't provide that for her with the way Riquna [Williams] and Odyssey [Sims] are playing."
Pondexter, who averaged 27.2 minutes last year with the Chicago Sky, was averaging a career-low 10.2 minutes in 13 games this season, her first with the Sparks. She was playing behind both Sims (27.2 mpg) and Williams (14.4 mpg) at shooting guard and making just 35 percent of her shot attempts, also a career low.
The move came three days before Sunday's WNBA deadline to release players before their contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the season. Agler says he believes the timing will benefit both parties.
"Now she has the ability to talk to 11 other teams," Agler said, "and we have the ability now to free up cap space to potentially sign somebody else."
The Sparks expect to wait and see what other players are waived before Sunday's deadline before adding to the roster, probably with a seven-day contract.
Pondexter, a two-time WNBA champion with the Phoenix Mercury and the MVP of the 2007 WNBA Finals, will hope that a roster spot comes open with another team to continue her career at age 35.