​LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell (12) celebrates a three-pointer at a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics, Friday August 28th, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. LOS ANGELES – It was July 6 of this year before the Los Angeles Sparks’ game against the Seattle Storm at Crypto.Com Arena. I was behind the courtside seats when I saw a familiar face run sideways at midcourt. I decided to mimic the sideways run and meet up with said face as she ran towards the sideline to do what has become somewhat of a pregame ritual.“Hi, Rey!”“Hi, Rae!”It’s funny because our names sound the same. Har har.We have done it so much that people expect us to “say hi” every time we meet. Sparks wing Rae Burrell has a sense of humor and is very much a character on the team and in the league. She doesn’t remember that she was the one that actually started this whole “Hi, Rey/Rae” thing.“I feel like you just said it and then I just said it back,” Burrell mused when I asked her about it.One night last year, an injured Burrell actually called out and yelled, “Hi, Rey!” after the game while I was working at media row behind the basket doing the night’s recap. On another occasion, my colleague, Holland Kaplan, and I came out of the media room when a cart went by us. On the back of the cart was Burrell and she yelled out, “Bye, Rey!”I finally caught our goofy exchange on video at the press conference after Cameron Brink’s first game back from her ACL injury (against the Aces, July 29th of last year). I had wanted to ask Burrell a question and opened with, “Hi, Rae.” Burrell said, “Hi, Rey,” back and she started to giggle as Coach Lynne Roberts realized we had the same-sounding name. The rest of the media room looked on quizzically.They just figured out the whole Rey/Rae thing. Asked Rae Burrell about being all the way back. pic.twitter.com/Lc7l5I3rub— Rey-Rey (@TheNoLookPass) July 30, 2025That Rae. Such a funny personality. She’d be the first to tell you, too.”I’ve just always been goofy since I was young,” Burrell admitted. “It’s not something that I really think about. Yeah, I kind of just like to have fun. Like you said, I like to make people laugh and lighten the mood and bring that energy.”Rae Burrell has many sides. But what’s prominent on the basketball court is that Burrell has a forever chip on her shoulder. Her parents were both athletes; her father, John, ran track while her mother, Ann, played basketball. She can get fiery and emotional on the court but that just really shows her competitiveness.“I think I’ve just always been like that growing up,” Burrell said. “I grew up with a brother and boy cousins so I was always the smaller one. I even always played up when I was playing soccer and when I was playing basketball, I always played grades up. So I always had to be the one that was more aggressive and I had to do that extra work. I think it’s just something that you learn as a kid and I honestly think it’s just