Julie Vanloo stood outside Barclays Center waiting the final minutes to clear waivers.

She had flown to New York a day earlier after getting cut by the Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday. When the clock struck 5, she walked into the arena and joined her new team, the Sparks.

It has been a rollercoaster week for the 32-year-old, who helped Belgium win the EuroBasket ttile. She skipped the celebration in Belgium to fly back to San Francisco to rejoin the Valkyries only to be waived an hour after her arrival.

“To hear 1 hour upon arrival: We have to waive you. Honestly, that stung. I understand it’s business, but nothing prepares you for the loneliness that comes with getting cut,” she said on social media. “It feels like the whole world suddenly crashes on your shoulders.”

The Sparks were happy to add her, giving the team another talented guard.

“I’m so happy, so excited for her,” said Sparks guard Julie Allemand, who played on the Belgium team with Vanloo. “First of all, happy to have her in the team. She’s going to help us a lot, but happy for her because, like, the last days were crazy for her.”

Allemand said she had been talking to her friend all week and had hoped the Sparks would pick her up after she was cut. She was texting with Vanloo in the final minutes leading up to her joining the team. It takes 48 hours for players to clear waivers.

“It was crazy because, like, we were in the locker room and we were waiting for her,” Allemand said. “Like she was waiting outside.”

In the preseason, Vanloo torched the Sparks for four 3-pointers in a what felt like under 2 minutes.

“When we heard that the Valkyries had waived her, I immediately said to our GM, let’s see if we can get her,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.

Caitlin Clark was unavailable for the Indiana Fever’s home game Thursday night against Las Vegas, missing her fourth consecutive game with a strained left groin.

“She’s making progress,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “Making progress and feeling good are two different things. We want to make sure that she feels good. We want to make sure that she’s confident. We want to make sure that we’re not putting her in a position to have any setbacks.”

NBA

The Dallas Mavericks are poised to add Frank Vogel to coach Jason Kidd’s staff in a reunion for a tandem that won an NBA title with the Lakers in 2020, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday night.

Vogel was the head coach and Kidd one of his assistants when the Lakers won their 17th championship in the Florida “bubble.” The roles will be reversed this time, with Vogel serving as associate head coach after spending this past season as a consultant for the Mavericks. Both coaches are 52.

GOLF

Doug Ghim holed out for eagle on the par-4 sixth hole and kept bogeys off his card on a day of low scoring Thursday at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill. Ghim opened with a 9-under 62 in a bid to become the latest first-time PGA Tour winner. He had a one-shot lead over Max Homa and Austin Eckroat among early starters at the TPC Deere Run, where the winning score has been 20-under par or lower 12 of the last 15 years.

NHL

Nikolaj Ehlers opted to sign with the Carolina Hurricanes, taking the top player available off the market more than 72 hours since the NHL’s signing period began.

Ehlers agreed to terms on a six-year, $51 million contract. He’ll count $8.5 million against the salary cap through 2031. He’s coming off being nearly a point-a-game player with 63 in 69.

Ehlers’ contract is the most lucrative of any signed by an unrestricted free agent who left his team this week and $250,000 more than Brock Boeser got to re-sign with Vancouver.

The only bigger contracts have been K’Andre Miller’s eight years and $60 million — also with Carolina in a sign and trade from the New York Rangers — and Ivan Provorov staying with Columbus for $59.5 million over the next seven seasons.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Dmitry Orlov is heading to the spend-happy San Jose Sharks, who have been active this week and even made a pickup off the waiver wire to reach the salary floor.

Orlov, who turns 34 later this month, signed a two-year contract worth $13 million.

San Jose also claimed Nick Leddy off waivers from St. Louis to add to its new-look blue line that includes recently signed veteran John Klingberg, who got $4 million for next season.

Brent Burns, who played alongside Orlov the past two seasons with the Hurricanes, agreed to terms with Colorado on Wednesday night to a one-year contract worth $1 million with up to $3 million more attainable through performance bonuses. The 40-year-old who won the Norris Trophy as top defenseman in 2017, is set to become the 23rd player in league history to play at least 22 seasons.

SOCCER

Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother died in a car accident in Spain, police said Thursday.

The Spanish civil guard confirmed to The Associated Press that Jota and his brother were found dead after their car went off a road near the western city of Zamora. Authorities said the car — a Lamborghini, according to police — was in flames.

Police were investigating the causes of the accident that happened past midnight local time. They said there were no other vehicles involved.

The 28-year-old Jota and his brother, 25-year-old Andre Silva, both Portuguese players, were in the car.