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The Los Angeles Sparks is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1997, the Sparks are one of the eight original WNBA teams. Also one of the teams that participated in the league's inaugural game, the Sparks are the sister team of the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. Since their inception, the Sparks have been a focal point of the league. The team's major star was former USC standout Lisa Leslie, who led the Sparks since the team's inception until her retirement in 2009.
[edit] Franchise History[edit] In the Shadow of the Comets (1997-2000)The 1997 WNBA season, the league's first, opened with a game between the Sparks and the New York Liberty. The Sparks lost the game 57-67. Sparks player Penny Toler scored the league's first two points with a lay-up 59 seconds into the game. The Sparks had what many considered to be a disappointing season in 1997, finishing with a record of 14–14. The team did compete for a playoff spot, but because of a loss to the Phoenix Mercury in the final game of the season, the Sparks missed the playoffs. In the 1998 WNBA season, the Sparks finished 12–18, missing the playoffs once more. The 1999 season featured the development of Lisa Leslie and the Sparks' first playoff berth, as the Sparks posted a 20–12 record. The Sparks won their first playoff game and series with a win over the Sacramento Monarchs. They played a competitive Western Conference Finals but fell to the defending champion Houston Comets, 2 games to 1, in the three-game series. The 2000 season was a record one, as the Sparks tore up the WNBA with a 28–4 record, the best in league history. In the playoffs, the Sparks swept the Phoenix Mercury in the first round but lost in the Western Conference Finals again, when they were swept by the Comets. Ultimately, the Sparks were playing in the shadow of the Comets, as they won the first four WNBA championships. [edit] Sparks Begin to Fly (2001-2002)The 2000-01 offseason saw an important coaching change, when the Sparks hired former Los Angeles Lakers player Michael Cooper as head coach. During the ensuing regular season, the Sparks again posted a 28–4 record. In the 2001 playoffs, the Sparks finally eliminated the Comets, sweeping them in the first round. The Sparks took all three games to eliminate the Monarchs to earn their first berth in the WNBA Finals, in which they swept the Charlotte Sting, 2–0, for their first league championship. In 2002, Leslie became the first woman in the league to dunk the ball during a game, and once again the Sparks dominated the regular season, posting a 25–7 record. The Sparks then flew through the playoffs, sweeping both the Seattle Storm and the Utah Starzz. In the finals, the Sparks were matched against the Liberty, who were still looking for their first championship. After splitting the first two games, the Sparks pulled away in game three to win their second WNBA title. [edit] Battle for the Three-Peat (2003)In 2003, the Sparks posted a 24–10 record and went into the playoffs looking for a "three-peat." Both the first and the second rounds were forced to decided third games, as they beat the Minnesota Lynx and Sacramento Monarchs. The Sparks then faced the upstart Detroit Shock in the Finals. The Shock were on a roll after having been the worst team in the WNBA in 2002. The Finals were a battle fueled by the relationship between head coaches Michael Cooper (Sparks) and Bill Laimbeer (Shock) which stemmed back to their days in the NBA. The rough road to the finals and the tough play of the Shock wore down the Sparks, which lost the series, two games to one, and failed to three-peat. [edit] End of the Glory Days (2004-2006)During the 2003-04 off season, the Sparks signed two standout players, Tamika Whitmore and Teresa Weatherspoon, both of whom had played for the rival New York Liberty. When the season began, the Sparks got off to a great start, but coach Cooper left at midseason to seek a coaching job in the NBA. The loss of their coach was a factor in the team's so-so finish to the season, which ended with a record of 25–9. During the playoffs, the team stumbled, losing in three games to the Sacramento Monarchs. The Sparks owned and never looked back through the 2005 season and finished with a 17–17 record. They barely made the playoffs; they received the number-four seed. In the first round, the Sparks were outplayed and swept by the eventual champion Sacramento Monarchs. In 2006, the Sparks played much better, posting a 25–9 record. In the playoffs, they defeated the Seattle Storm in three games. However, in the Western Conference finals, the Sparks' season was ended by the Monarchs for the third year in a row. [edit] Leslie's Pregnancy (2007)After the 2006 season ended, team owner Jerry Buss, who also owned the Lakers, announced he was selling the Sparks. On December 7, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported the sale to an investor group led by Kathy Goodman and Carla Christofferson. Goodman is currently a high school teacher at HighTech-LA in Lake Balboa and was a former executive for Intermedia Films. Christofferson is a litigation attorney for the O’Melveny & Myers law firm and was Miss North Dakota USA in 1989. The day after the sale was announced, team star Lisa Leslie announced that she was pregnant and would not play in the WNBA in the 2007 season despite Michael Cooper's return to the team as head coach. The loss of Leslie for the year proved devastating, as the Sparks posted a league-worst 10–24 record. The record was also the worst in Sparks history, as the Sparks missed the playoffs for the first time since 1998. [edit] Candace Parker Joins the WNBA (2008-present)Before the start of the 2008 season, the team's prospects improved dramatically. Lisa Leslie returned to the team, and on April 9, 2008, the team used its number-one draft pick to select Candace Parker, the college player of the year, the morning after Parker had led the University of Tennessee Lady Vols to their second-straight NCAA championship. Within hours of drafting Parker, the team posted pictures of Leslie and Parker on the welcome page of its official Web site. In 2008, the Sparks posted a so-so 20-14 record and finished 3rd in the West. In the playoffs, the Sparks beat the Seattle Storm 2-1 to reach the Western Finals and compete against the San Antonio Silver Stars. The Sparks were on track to win game two of the series, but Silver Star Sophia Young made a turn around bank-shot with a second left on the clock to force the series to a deciding game three. The Sparks lost game three, and the Silver Stars moved on to the WNBA Finals. During the 2008-09 offseason, Parker announced that she was pregnant. With the baby due in May 2009, it was uncertain when she would be ready to return to the court despite the fact that she claims she will definitely join the Sparks for the 2009 season. To compensate for Parker's absence, the Sparks signed free agent Tina Thompson who was from former rival Houston Comets. Thompson, the four-time WNBA champ and eight-time WNBA All-Star, also went to college with Leslie at USC.  By the 2009 All-Star break, the Sparks had not lived up to expectations. Picked to win it all in a preseason GM survey, the Sparks were plagued by Parker's late maternity leave return and an injury to Lisa Leslie. However, despite the early struggles, the Sparks managed to clinch a playoff berth for the tenth time in thirteen years. In the first round, the Sparks defeated the Seattle Storm for the third time in four years, making the conference finals. However, in the West Finals, the Sparks' road back to the Finals came up short and lost in the conference finals to the eventual champion Phoenix Mercury in three games. It was also the end of Lisa Leslie's career and Michael Cooper's end of tenure with the Sparks as head coach. [edit] Current HomeThe Los Angeles Sparks currently play in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The capacity for a Sparks game is 13,141 because the upper level is closed off (capacity for a Lakers game is 18,997). The Sparks have played in the Staples Center since the 2001. Their previous home was the Great Western Forum, but the Sparks organization moved after claiming "the Forum" was the reason for the low attendance at Sparks games. [edit] Uniforms
[edit] Season-by-season records
[edit] Players[edit] Current Roster
[edit] Former Players
[edit] Retired Numbers
[edit] Head Coaches
[edit] Media coverageThe Sparks games not on national television are shown on Fox Sports Net West/Prime Ticket with Larry Burnett and Ann Meyers as the announcers, along with the recent addition of Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher. Burnett also calls the games on radio, on KTLK AM1150. [edit] All-Stars
*Injured [edit] References[edit] External links
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