McDonald says to expect ‘Arizona Aari’ with WNBA’s Sparks

Calls and texts were flowing in as many — that includes McDonald, herself — heard that she was traded from the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream to the three-time champion Los Angeles Sparks.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the Fresno, California, native and she couldn’t be more excited to don the purple and gold uniform that has so much history behind it.

“I remember Lisa Leslie being part of the Sparks and doing huge things. I remember her making her first dunk in the game,” McDonald said last week.

With the opportunity to also play much closer to her second home in Tucson, the former UA standout added that her new Sparks’ fans will see “My energy night in and night out, my defense, my grittiness, my leadership skills and just my playmaking skills and bring back a little bit of that ‘Arizona Aari.’”

The transaction that sent McDonald to L.A. included the Sparks also receiving the No. 8 pick in the upcoming draft in exchange for former UCLA standout Jordin Canada and the No. 12 pick in the the draft.

This offseason, McDonald is playing for the Perth Lynx in Australia’s WNBL. At the end of December, she suffered a minor ligament tear in her knee and is rehabbing. Before she went on the injured reserve list, she was vying for MVP of the league, averaging 18.8 points, 5.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She was fourth in the league in field goal percentage (46.1).

McDonald, who was the third pick of the 2021 WNBA Draft by the Dream not long after leading the Wildcats to within a bucket of a national championship, was initially surprised when she heard the news. Being dealt was not on her bingo card, especially as the Dream had invested heavily in her, which included sending a development coach to Tucson to train her during the 2023 offseason while she worked for the UA as the program’s director of recruiting last season.

McDonald joked that in the moment…