1997 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
---|---|
Coach | Linda Sharp (fired Jul. 16, 4–7 record) Julie Rousseau (10–7 record) |
Arena | Great Western Forum |
Attendance | 8,931 per game |
Results | |
Record | 14–14 (.500) |
Place | 2nd (Western) |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.
Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|
Lisa Leslie | ![]() | USC |
Penny Toler | ![]() | Long Beach State |
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | Daedra Charles | ![]() | Tennessee |
2 | 16 | Zheng Haixia | ![]() | China |
Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Jamila Wideman | ![]() | Stanford |
2 | 14 | Tamecka Dixon | ![]() | Kansas |
3 | 19 | Katrina Colleton | ![]() | Maryland |
4 | 30 | Travesa Gant | ![]() | Lamar |
Date | Transaction | |
---|---|---|
January 22, 1997 | Drafted Lisa Leslie and Penny Toler in the 1997 WNBA Allocation Draft [1] | |
February 27, 1997 | Drafted Daedra Charles and Zheng Haixia in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft [1] | |
April 16, 1997 | Hired Linda Sharp as Head Coach [1] | |
April 28, 1997 | Drafted Jamila Wideman, Tamecka Dixon, Katrina Colleton and Travesa Gant in the 1997 WNBA Draft [1] | |
July 16, 1997 | Fired Linda Sharp as Head Coach [1] | |
Hired Julie Rousseau as Head Coach [1] |
1997 Los Angeles Sparks roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix Mercury x | 16 | 12 | .571 | 9–3 | – |
Los Angeles Sparks o | 14 | 14 | .500 | 8–4 | 2.0 |
Sacramento Monarchs o | 10 | 18 | .357 | 4–8 | 6.0 |
Utah Starzz o | 7 | 21 | .250 | 3–9 | 9.0 |
Legend | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader |
Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Penny Toler | 28 | 28 | 32.4 | .426 | .184 | .839 | 3.4 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 13.1 |
Lisa Leslie | 28 | 28 | 32.2 | .431 | .261 | .598 | 9.5 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 15.9 |
Tamecka Dixon | 27 | 21 | 26.5 | .456 | .423 | .773 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 11.9 |
Jamila Wideman | 28 | 14 | 22.6 | .236 | .194 | .794 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
Katrina Colleton | 28 | 14 | 21.9 | .437 | .360 | .567 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 4.9 |
Zheng Haixia | 28 | 21 | 19.9 | .618 | N/A | .661 | 4.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 9.3 |
Linda Burgess | 28 | 6 | 17.6 | .541 | .500 | .735 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 6.5 |
Mwadi Mabika | 21 | 1 | 15.5 | .390 | .184 | .542 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 6.0 |
Heidi Burge | 22 | 6 | 12.8 | .444 | .000 | .511 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 4.0 |
Daedra Charles | 28 | 1 | 10.1 | .403 | .000 | .667 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.3 |
Travesa Gant | 2 | 0 | 6.5 | .000 | N/A | N/A | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Kim Gessig | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began. Like some other WNBA teams, the Sparks have the distinction of not being affiliated with an NBA counterpart, even though the market is shared with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Lisa Deshaun Leslie is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on Bally Sports Florida. In 2002, Leslie made history as the first player to dunk during a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) game. Leslie was ranked 5th on ESPN.com's 2021 list of the WNBA's greatest players of all time.
Candace Nicole Parker nicknamed "Ace", is an American former professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She spent 13 seasons on the Sparks, two seasons with the Chicago Sky, and one season with the Las Vegas Aces, winning a championship with each team.
Tamika Whitmore is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA.
Virginia Marlita "Penny" Toler is an American basketball executive and former player who served most recently as the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Toler holds the distinction of scoring the first field-goal and the first free throw in WNBA history.
Zheng Haixia is a Chinese retired professional women's basketball player for the China women's national basketball team and the Women's National Basketball Association.
The 1997 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's inaugural season. It started off with 8 franchises: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and the Utah Starzz. It featured an inaugural game between the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284. The season ended with the Comets defeating the Liberty in a one-game series 65–51. Cynthia Cooper was named MVP of the game.
The 2008 Los Angeles Sparks season was the 12th season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks returned to the postseason for the first time since 2006.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the New York Liberty.
The 1997 WNBA season was the first for the Phoenix Mercury.
The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Utah Starzz. The Starzz were partially named after the old ABA team, the Utah Stars, but with the zz at the end like the Utah Jazz. The franchise held the distinction of having the worst record in the WNBA in 1997.
The 1997 WNBA season was the inaugural season for the Sacramento Monarchs.
The 2003 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2003 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Detroit Shock, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Sparks, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, two games to one in a best-of-three series. This was Detroit's first title.
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Pollyanna Casanga Johns Kimbrough, formerly Pollyanna Johns is an American former basketball player. She was born in Nassau, Bahamas, grew up in Jamaica and moved to the United States at age 13. She played for six seasons as a center and forward in the WNBA for the Charlotte Sting (1998), Cleveland Rockers, Miami Sol (2002), and Houston Comets (2004).
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