Augustus signs Sparks deal after 14 seasons with Lynx

LOS ANGELES (AP) Seimone Augustus has left the Minnesota Lynx after 14 seasons to join the Los Angeles Sparks.

The All-WNBA guard Augustus was a key piece of four championship teams in Minnesota, which drafted her with the first overall pick out of LSU in 2006. With Maya Moore on hiatus from the sport and Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Brunson retired, the Lynx are in rebuilding mode. After their last title in 2017, when they beat the Sparks in the WNBA finals, the Lynx have lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two years.

Augustus, who has appeared in eight WNBA All-Star games and won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, has career averages of 15.9 points per game and 48% shooting from the field.

''Through intense playoffs battles and time with Team USA teammates, I have come to know the Sparks character and commitment to winning,'' Augustus said in a statement distributed by the Sparks. ''I'm excited to join friends who are now teammates to chase another championship.''

Said Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, in a statement distributed by the team: ''Coaching Seimone Augustus was one of the greatest joys of my coaching life and I wish her the best as she says goodbye, for now, to the Twin Cities.''