2016 Los Angeles Sparks season

2016 Los Angeles Sparks season
WNBA champions
Coach	Brian Agler
Arena	Staples Center
Attendance	9,638 per game
Results
Record	26–8 (.765)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Champions (Defeated Minnesota Lynx 3-2)
Team Leaders
Points	Nneka Ogwumike – 19.7 ppg
Rebounds	Nneka Ogwumike – 9.1 rpg
Assists	Candace Parker – 4.9 apg
Media
Television	Time Warner Cable SportsNet ESPN2, NBATV
← 2015 season 2017 season →

The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 15 at home, against the Seattle Storm. ^[1]

The Sparks started the season well, winning all five of their games in May. Three of the five wins came by double-digits, and the closest was a five-point win over Connecticut on May 26. The team continued its hot streak into June and did not lose until June 21. The three-point loss, which came at home against Minnesota, ended an eleven-game winning streak. The Sparks got revenge on Minnesota, winning three days later in Minnesota by a score of 94–76. The Sparks did not lose again in June and finished the month with a 10–1 record. The team went on a nine-game winning streak, which lasted until July 17. They then lost back-to-back games for the first time in the season, with losses coming on the road against Atlanta and Indiana. The team won its final game heading into the Olympic break to finish July 6–2. The return from the break was a rocky one with the Sparks losing both of their games in August. However, a trip to Texas to begin September saw the team return to its winning ways when they defeated San Antonio and Dallas. The Sparks lost three straight games from September 6 to September 11 before finishing the season with two wins. Their September record was 5–3 and they finished the season 26–8 overall.

The Sparks' 26–8 record earned them the second overall seed in the WNBA Playoffs and they finished two games behind top seed Minnesota. The Sparks earned a bye into the semifinals where they matched-up with fourth seed Chicago. The Sparks won the first two games at home, 95–75 and 99–84. When the series moved to Chicago, the Sparks lost Game 3 66–70. A return to Los Angeles wasn't needed as the Sparks won Game 4 95–75 to advance to the WNBA Finals and matched-up with first seed Minnesota. The series began in Minnesota and the Sparks won Game 1 78–76, but lost Game 2 60–79. The two teams again split Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles, with the Sparks winning Game 3 92–75 and losing Game 4 79–85. In the deciding Game 5, the Sparks won in Minnesota 77–76 to secure their third WNBA title. ^[2]

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2016 WNBA draft

The Sparks made three selections in the 2016 WNBA Entry Draft in Uncasville, Connecticut:

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	School/Team/Country
2	15	Whitney Knight	United States	Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun	Florida Gulf Coast
2	23	Brianna Butler	United States	Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun	Syracuse
3	29	Talia Walton	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Washington

Trades and Roster Changes

Date	Transaction
February 11, 2016	Signed Candace Parker [3]
February 17, 2016	Signed Nneka Ogwumike [4]
March 1, 2016	Acquired Riquna Williams and the 6th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft from the Dallas Wings in exchange for Erin Phillips, the 5th pick in the 2016 draft and, the 11th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. [5]
March 31, 2016	Signed Essence Carson [6]
April 14, 2016	Acquired Chelsea Gray, the 15th and 23rd picks in the 2016 draft, and the 4th pick in the 2017 draft from the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Jonquel Jones and the 17th pick in the 2016 draft. [7]
May 11, 2016	Waived Talia Walton
August 30, 2016	Waived Whitney Knight [8]

Roster

2016 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 0 Beard, Alana 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 1982-05-14 Duke 12 F 10 Belyakova, Evgeniya 6' 0" (1.83m) 150 lb (68kg) 1986-06-27 Russia R G/F 17 Carson, Essence 6' 0" (1.83m) 163 lb (74kg) 1986-07-28 Rutgers 8 G 23 Dabović, Ana 6' 0" (1.83m) 157 lb (71kg) 1989-08-18 Serbia 1 F 28 Dubljević, Jelena 6' 3" (1.91m) 179 lb (81kg) 1987-05-07 Montenegro R G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1992-10-08 Duke 1 F/C 7 Gruda, Sandrine 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 1987-06-25 France 4 C 42 Lavender, Jantel 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 1988-11-12 Ohio State 5 F 30 Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 1990-07-02 Stanford 4 F/C 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 1986-04-19 Tennessee 8 G 20 Toliver, Kristi 5' 7" (1.7m) 130 lb (59kg) 1987-01-27 Maryland 7 C 21 Wauters, Ann 6' 4" (1.93m) 193 lb (88kg) 1980-10-12 Belgium 8	Head coach Brian Agler (Wittenberg) Assistant coaches Tonya Edwards (Tennessee) Amber Stocks (Cincinnati) Athletic trainer Courtney Watson (California) Strength and conditioning coach Kelly Dormandy (Springfield) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Pre-season

2016 pre-season game log Total: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0)
Pre-season: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 7 Atlanta W 88–80 Candace Parker (22) Rebecca Tobin (10) Gray, Dabović (4) Pasadena College 460 1–0 2 May 9 @ San Antonio W 77–70 Chelsea Gray (18) Chelsea Gray (6) Ana Dabović (7) AT&T Center 2,307 2–0 3 May 10 @ Atlanta W 69–63 Essence Carson (11) Parker, Wauters (6) Chelsea Gray (3) McCamish Pavillion 1,385 3–0
2016 season schedule

Regular season

2016 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 14–3 Road: 12–5)
May: 5–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 4–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 15 Seattle W 96–66 Candace Parker (34) Nneka Ogwumike (7) Parker, Toliver (4) Staples Center 10,591 1–0 2 May 20 @ Washington W 97–67 Kristi Toliver (19) Candace Parker (9) Candace Parker (6) Verizon Center 7,807 2–0 3 May 21 @ New York W 79–72 Nneka Ogwumike (25) Nneka Ogwumike (15) Dabović, Parker, Toliver (3) Madison Square Garden 9,417 3–0 4 May 24 @ Chicago W 93–80 Candace Parker (26) Ogwumike, Parker (9) Kristi Toliver (10) Allstate Arena 5,554 4–0 5 May 26 @ Connecticut W 77–72 Candace Parker (22) Nneka Ogwumike (11) Ogwumike, Parker, Toliver (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 4,766 5–0
June: 10–1 (Home: 7–1; Road: 3–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 June 2 San Antonio W 68–61 Nneka Ogwumike (21) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Candace Parker (7) Staples Center 8,341 6–0 7 June 4 @ San Antonio W 74–61 Candace Parker (15) Kristi Toliver (7) Gray, Lavender (3) AT&T Center 5,403 7–0 8 June 7 New York W 100–77 Jantel Lavender (22) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Chelsea Gray (6) Staples Center 7,103 8–0 9 June 11 @ Dallas W 97–73 Nneka Ogwumike (32) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Candace Parker (6) College Park Center 5,061 9–0 10 June 14 Chicago W 98–85 Nneka Ogwumike (27) Nneka Ogwumike (12) Alana Beard (6) Staples Center 7,348 10–0 11 June 17 Phoenix W 77–71 Candace Parker (24) Candace Parker (11) Nneka Ogwumike (5) Staples Center 8,964 11–0 12 June 21 Minnesota L 69–72 Kristi Toliver (20) Candace Parker (8) Candace Parker (6) Staples Center 9,112 11–1 13 June 24 @ Minnesota W 94–76 Kristi Toliver (25) Ogwumike, Parker (9) Alana Beard (7) Target Center 13,003 12–1 14 June 26 Connecticut W 80–73 Nneka Ogwumike (27) Kristi Toliver (8) Kristi Toliver (5) Staples Center 9,441 13–1 15 June 28 Dallas W 89–84 Candace Parker (31) Candace Parker (13) Candace Parker (7) Staples Center 7,823 14–1 16 June 30 Atlanta W 84–75 Nneka Ogwumike (38) Nneka Ogwumike (11) Kristi Toliver (8) Staples Center 10,215 15–1
July: 6–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 July 3 New York W 77–67 Nneka Ogwumike (22) Nneka Ogwumike (15) Kristi Toliver (6) Staples Center 10,003 16–1 18 July 6 Indiana W 94–88 Nneka Ogwumike (23) Jantel Lavender (7) Chelsea Gray (8) Staples Center 8,224 17–1 19 July 10 Washington W 93–82 Candace Parker (26) Candace Parker (11) Candace Parker (9) Staples Center 19,076 18–1 20 July 13 @ Chicago W 77–67 Nneka Ogwumike (20) Nneka Ogwumike (11) Candace Parker (9) Allstate Arena 16,444 19–1 21 July 15 @ Connecticut W 98–92 Jantel Lavender (25) Lavender, Ogwumike (10) Candace Parker (7) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,430 20–1 22 July 17 @ Atlanta L 74–91 Nneka Ogwumike (26) Nneka Ogwumike (12) Candace Parker (5) Philips Arena 7,551 20–2 23 July 19 @ Indiana L 82–92 Kristi Toliver (18) Nneka Ogwumike (14) Nneka Ogwumike (7) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,269 20–3 24 July 22 @ Washington W 95–75 Nneka Ogwumike (24) Nneka Ogwumike (14) Candace Parker (6) Verizon Center 5,455 21–3
August: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 25 August 26 @ Seattle L 72–79 Nneka Ogwumike (28) Candace Parker (10) Candace Parker (6) KeyArena 9,481 21–4 26 August 28 @ Phoenix L 66–70 Candace Parker (25) Candace Parker (13) Candace Parker (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,905 21–5
September: 5–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 September 1 @ San Antonio W 70–61 Kristi Toliver (21) Beard, Ogwumike (9) Parker, Toliver (6) AT&T Center 3,992 22–5 28 September 2 @ Dallas W 87–79 Nneka Ogwumike (28) Nneka Ogwumike (12) Candace Parker (5) College Park Center 5,176 23–5 29 September 4 Indiana W 88–81 Nneka Ogwumike (21) Nneka Ogwumike (6) Nneka Ogwumike (8) Staples Center 11,332 24–5 30 September 6 Minnesota L 74–77 Nneka Ogwumike (19) Ogwumike, Parker (8) Candace Parker (7) Staples Center 7,224 24–6 31 September 8 Atlanta L 81–86 Carson, Gray, Parker (16) Nneka Ogwumike (8) Ana Dabović (5) Staples Center 6,152 24–7 32 September 11 @ Seattle L 60–78 Candace Parker (20) Candace Parker (10) Alana Beard (4) KeyArena 9,348 24–8 33 September 13 Phoenix W 90–85 Nneka Ogwumike (24) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Kristi Toliver (7) Staples Center 9,371 25–8 34 September 16 San Antonio W 71–65 Nneka Ogwumike (17) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Nneka Ogwumike (4) Staples Center 13,519 26–8
2016 season schedule

Playoffs

2016 playoff game log
Semifinals vs. Chicago Won Series: 3–1 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 28 Chicago W 95–75 Candace Parker (30) Nneka Ogwumike (10) Nneka Ogwumike (6) Walter Pyramid 3,894 1–0 2 September 30 Chicago W 99–84 Lavender, Parker (20) Candace Parker (12) Candace Parker (8) Staples Center 7,855 2–0 3 October 2 @ Chicago L 66–70 Nneka Ogwumike (22) Candace Parker (15) Candace Parker (6) Allstate Arena 5,018 2–1 4 October 4 @ Chicago W 95–75 Candace Parker (29) Nneka Ogwumike (9) Chelsea Gray (7) Allstate Arena 3,841 3–1
Finals vs. Minnesota Won Series: 3–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 October 9 @ Minnesota W 78–76 Ogwumike, Toliver (19) Ogwumike, Parker (9) Chelsea Gray (4) Target Center 12,113 1–0 2 October 11 @ Minnesota L 60–79 Nneka Ogwumike (14) Nneka Ogwumike (12) Beard, Carson, Parker (3) Target Center 12,832 1–1 3 October 14 Minnesota W 92–75 Candace Parker (24) Ogwumike, Parker (9) Alana Beard (7) Galen Center 8,093 2–1 4 October 16 Minnesota L 79–85 Chelsea Gray (20) Nneka Ogwumike (8) Alana Beard (4) Staples Center 12,885 2–2 5 October 20 @ Minnesota W 77–76 Candace Parker (28) Ogwumike, Parker (12) Alana Beard (6) Target Center 19,423 3–2
2016 playoff schedule

Standings

Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1 - Minnesota Lynx	28	6	.824	—	15–2	13–4	15–1
2 - Los Angeles Sparks	26	8	.765	2	14–3	12–5	11–5
7 - Seattle Storm	16	18	.471	12	10–7	6–11	7–9
8 - Phoenix Mercury	16	18	.471	12	11–6	5–12	6–10
e - Dallas Wings	11	23	.324	17	6–11	5–12	8–8
e - San Antonio Stars	7	27	.206	21	4–13	3–14	1–15

Playoffs

See also: 2016 WNBA Playoffs

The Sparks qualified for the 2016 playoffs, and, as the team with the second-best regular season record in the WNBA, received two automatic byes, advancing straight to the best-of-five semifinal.

See also: 2016 WNBA Finals

	First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21)					Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25)					Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6)								WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20)
											1	Minnesota Lynx		113	96	82
						3	New York Liberty	94			8	Phoenix Mercury		95	86	67
	5	Indiana Fever	78			8	Phoenix Mercury	101											1	Minnesota Lynx	76	79	75	85	76
	8	Phoenix Mercury	89																2	Los Angeles Sparks	78	60	92	79	77
											2	Los Angeles Sparks	95	99	66	95
						4	Chicago Sky	108			4	Chicago Sky	75	84	70	75
	6	Atlanta Dream	94			6	Atlanta Dream	98
	7	Seattle Storm	85

Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

Statistics

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

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Nneka Ogwumike	33	33	31.6	66.5%	61.5%	86.9%	9.1	3.1	1.3	1.2	19.7
Candace Parker	34	34	30.8	44.2%	38.2%	70.7%	7.4	4.9	1.4	1.0	15.3
Kristi Toliver	33	33	32.1	42.6%	42.4%	88.9%	2.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	13.2
Jantel Lavender	34	0	19.4	53.8%	0.0%	68.3%	3.6	1.3	0.3	0.5	9.6
Essence Carson	34	34	23.3	44.9%	35.9%	89.1%	2.0	1.5	1.1	0.2	8.1
Alana Beard	34	34	29.3	46.7%	34.2%	69.2%	3.3	2.1	1.7	0.6	7.1
Chelsea Gray	33	1	16.4	45.2%	30.4%	78.0%	1.8	2.2	0.5	0.1	5.9
Ana Dabović	22	0	10.7	37.0%	15.8%	75.9%	0.8	1.3	0.6	0.0	3.0
Evgeniya Belyakova	21	0	11.3	29.6%	17.9%	43.8%	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.0	2.1
Jelena Dubljević	15	0	5.3	40.9%	33.3%	100%	0.9	0.5	0.1	0.1	1.5
Ann Wauters	21	1	4.6	54.5%	—	75.0%	1.1	0.4	0.2	0.1	1.4
Sandrine Gruda	7	0	5.3	33.3%	—	100%	0.6	0.3	0.1	0.1	1.0
Whitney Knight	7	0	3.9	20.0%	28.6%	—	0.4	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.9

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Candace Parker	9	9	33.0	46.9%	31.3%	77.8%	8.7	3.2	1.7	1.9	19.3
Nneka Ogwumike	9	9	31.3	62.5%	22.2%	76.3%	9.3	2.6	2.0	1.1	17.9
Kristi Toliver	9	9	32.2	40.5%	41.4%	85.2%	2.0	3.0	1.4	0.1	12.8
Chelsea Gray	9	0	22.1	40.6%	39.1%	83.3%	1.7	2.8	1.1	0.0	9.0
Alana Beard	9	9	31.1	45.6%	50.0%	77.8%	3.8	3.7	1.1	0.4	8.0
Jantel Lavender	9	0	15.6	60.7%	0.0%	—	2.3	1.0	0.0	0.1	7.6
Essence Carson	9	9	25.2	33.3%	25.8%	50.0%	2.3	1.2	0.4	0.1	6.7
Jelena Dubljević	2	0	3.0	50.0%	—	—	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Ann Wauters	2	0	2.5	50.0%	—	—	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	1.0
Ana Dabović	6	0	8.0	7.1%	14.3%	100%	0.3	2.0	0.2	0.0	0.8
Sandrine Gruda	6	0	2.8	—	—	—	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.2
Evgeniya Belyakova	3	0	2.7	0.0%	0.0%	—	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.0

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Candace Parker	Finals MVP	October 20, 2016	[9]
	Western Conference Player of the Week	May 29, 2016	[10]
		June 20, 2016
Nneka Ogwumike	WNBA MVP	October 18, 2016	[11]
	All-WNBA First Team	October 14, 2016	[12]
	All-Defensive First Team	September 30, 2016	[13]
	Western Conference Player of the Week	June 13, 2016	[10]
		July 6, 2016
		July 18, 2016
		July 22, 2016
		September 6, 2016
		September 19, 2016
	Western Conference Player of the Month - June	July 1, 2016
	Western Conference Player of the Month - July	August 1, 2016
Jantel Lavender	WNBA Sixth Player of the Year	September 28, 2016	[14]
Alana Beard	All-Defensive First Team	September 30, 2016	[13]

References

1. "Los Angeles Sparks WNBA Basketball - Sparks News, Scores, Videos - College Basketball - ESPN". ESPN . Retrieved August 31, 2016.
2. "With 3.1 Seconds Left, Los Angeles Sparks Seize W.N.B.A. Title" . The New York Times. October 21, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
3. "Candace Parker Re-Signs with Los Angeles Sparks - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA".
4. "L.A. Sparks re-sign All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike". Espn.com. February 18, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
5. "Sparks, Wings Exchange Erin Phillips, Riquna Williams, Draft Picks in Trade". WNBA. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
6. "Liberty Loses It's [sic] Essence, Carson Signs With LA Sparks". doublegsports.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017.
7. Los Angeles and Connecticut also trade second round positions in the 2016 WNBA Draft Archived 2016-10-21 at the Wayback Machine /
8. "Sources: Sparks waive rookie Whitney Knight". swishappeal.com. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
9. "10/20/16: Los Angeles Sparks @ Minnesota Lynx - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". wnba.com. Associated Press. October 20, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
10. "WNBA Awards - Across the Timeline". acrossthetimeline.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
11. Maloney, Jack (October 18, 2016). "Nneka Ogwumike Makes History As MVP and Champ in Same Season". wnba.com. WNBA . Retrieved November 2, 2016.
12. "2016 All-WNBA First and Second Teams Announced". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
13. "Sylvia Fowles, Nneka Ogwumike Headline 2016 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
14. "Women's basketball | Ex-Ohio State star Jantel Lavender is WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year". The Repository. Retrieved September 11, 2017.

External links

• Official website