WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Sydney Wiese |  United States | Oregon State |
| 3 | 35 | Saicha Grant-Allen |  Canada | Dayton |
| 2017 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Brian Agler |
| Arena | Staples Center |
| Attendance | 10,687 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 26–8 (.765) |
| Place | 2nd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Lost WNBA Finals 3–2 (Minnesota) |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Nneka Ogwumike 18.8 ppg |
| Rebounds | Candace Parker 8.4 rpg |
| Assists | Chelsea Gray 4.4 apg |
| Media | |
| Television | Spectrum SportsNet ESPN2, NBATV |
The 2017 WNBA season was the 21st season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Sparks were the defending WNBA champions. The season tipped off on May 13.
The Sparks started the season winning two games, losing two games and then winning two more games. This stretch was followed by a loss to Dallas before the Sparks won eight straight games. Their winning streak was ended as they lost a Finals re-match with Minnesota. They lost the following game to Seattle before winning five of their next six games. They started August slowly, going 2–2 in their first four games of the month, but finished the month on a five game winning streak. The Sparks only had two regular season games in September, and they won them both. They finished the regular season with a 26–8 record, and secured the second seed in the 2017 WNBA Playoffs, finishing one game out of the first seed.
As the second seed in the playoffs, the Sparks earned a bye into the Semifinals. There, they faced-off against the Phoenix Mercury. Los Angeles had won the regular season series between the two teams 3–0 and won the playoff series by the same result. The closest game was Game 3, which Los Angeles won 89–87 to complete the sweep. The victory setup a finals re-match with Minnesota. The Sparks won the first and third games of the finals, but could not finish off the Lynx and lost the Finals 2 games to 3. The closest game was Game 1, which Los Angeles won by a single point. Minnesota won the final two games of the series by eleven points and nine points.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Sydney Wiese | United States | Oregon State |
| 3 | 35 | Saicha Grant-Allen | Canada | Dayton |
| Date | Transaction | |
|---|---|---|
| February 8, 2017 | Alana Beard resigned with Los Angeles Sparks [1] | |
| July 28, 2017 | Signed Sandrine Gruda [1] | |
| 2017 Los Angeles Sparks roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2017 pre-season game log | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2)
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| 2017 pre-season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 16–1; Road: 10–7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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May: 3–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–2)
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June : 8–1 (Home: 4–0; Road: 4–1)
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July : 6–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 1–2)
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August : 4–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–2)
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September : 2–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 0–0)
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| 2017 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 playoff game log Total: 5–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 2–2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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WNBA Semifinals: 3–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 1–0)
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WNBA Finals: 2–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–2)
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| 2017 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| # | Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx - (1) | 27 | 7 | .794 | – | 15–2 | 12–5 | 13–3 |
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks - (2) | 26 | 8 | .765 | 1 | 16–1 | 10–7 | 12–4 |
| 3 | Phoenix Mercury - (5) | 18 | 16 | .529 | 9 | 9–8 | 9–8 | 7–9 |
| 4 | Dallas Wings - (7) | 16 | 18 | .471 | 11 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 7–9 |
| 5 | Seattle Storm - (8) | 15 | 19 | .441 | 12 | 10–7 | 5–12 | 8–8 |
| 6 | San Antonio Stars - e | 8 | 26 | .235 | 19 | 6–11 | 2–15 | 1–15 |
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 6) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 10) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 12 – Sept. 17) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Sept. 24 – Oct. 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 79 | 86 | 89 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Connecticut Sun | 83 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 66 | 72 | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 88 | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 84 | 70 | 64 | 80 | 85 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Seattle Storm | 69 | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 85 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 76 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 101 | 93 | 81 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New York Liberty | 68 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 81 | 83 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington Mystics | 86 | 6 | Washington Mystics | 82 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Dallas Wings | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nneka Ogwumike | 34 | 34 | 30.9 | 56.1% | 34.0% | 87.0% | 7.7 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 18.8 |
| Candace Parker | 33 | 33 | 30.5 | 47.8% | 35.4% | 75.6% | 8.4 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 16.9 |
| Chelsea Gray | 34 | 34 | 33.1 | 50.7% | 48.2% | 82.7% | 3.3 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 14.8 |
| Odyssey Sims | 31 | 14 | 24.3 | 44.7% | 19.0% | 88.6% | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 9.6 |
| Jantel Lavender | 32 | 0 | 17.3 | 48.8% | 31.3% | 84.6% | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 7.3 |
| Alana Beard | 34 | 34 | 30.8 | 49.7% | 31.6% | 80.4% | 3.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 6.9 |
| Riquna Williams | 23 | 6 | 17.7 | 32.1% | 27.0% | 86.4% | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 6.4 |
| Essence Carson | 24 | 14 | 19.3 | 40.4% | 25.0% | 48.5% | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Sydney Wiese | 28 | 0 | 7.9 | 38.3% | 40.0% | 50.0% | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Tiffany Jackson | 26 | 1 | 5.7 | 46.2% | 0.0% | 62.5% | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.1 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 7 | 0 | 4.0 | 36.4% | — | — | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| Ify Ibekwe | 6 | 0 | 3.8 | 11.1% | 0.0% | 66.7% | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Maimouna Diarra | 10 | 0 | 2.0 | 20.0% | — | 50.0% | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candice Parker | Player of the Week | June 19, 2017 | [2] |
| Brian Agler | Coach of the Month - June | July 5, 2017 | [3] |
| Candice Parker | Player of the Week | July 31, 2017 | [4] |
| Candice Parker | Player of the Week | August 28, 2017 | [5] |
| Candice Parker | Player of the Month | August 2017 | [6] |
| Alana Beard | WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award | September 12, 2017 | [7] |
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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.com Arena. The Sparks were 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.
Alana Monique Beard is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, she was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2004 WNBA draft. She signed on with the Los Angeles Sparks as a free agent in 2012. Beard was the 2017 and 2018 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. Beard announced her retirement from the WNBA on January 23, 2020.
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.
The 2008 WNBA season was the 12th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the first WNBA season with a franchise in Atlanta as the Dream were announced in late 2007.
Jantel Lavender is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks.
Odyssey Celeste Sims is an American professional basketball player for Henan Phoenix of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). An AP and WBCA All-American, Sims was born in Irving, Texas and graduated from MacArthur High School.
The 2013 WNBA season was the 17th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began on May 24 and conclued on September 15, and playoffs started on September 19 and concluded on October 10. The Minnesota Lynx won their second league championship, defeating the Atlanta Dream three games to none in the 2013 WNBA Finals. The year represented a positive turning point for the long-struggling league. Both attendance and television viewership were up, driven by an influx of talented rookies, multiple teams reported that they were near a break-even point, and at least one franchise announced that it was profitable.
The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Its regular season began on May 14 when the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings and concluded on September 18, with a Seattle Storm defeat of the Chicago Sky.
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.
The 2016 WNBA season of the Minnesota Lynx was the 18th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lynx were the defending WNBA champions. Their 2016 roster included five competitors in the 2016 Rio Olympics as well as seven current or previous all-stars with 22 total past selections to the all-star game between them.
The 2016 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2016 presented by Verizon for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2016 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The top-seeded Minnesota Lynx held home court advantage in the Finals, but lost three games to two to the second-seeded Los Angeles Sparks. The series followed a 2–2–1 format, and eschewed from the previous tradition of having the Western Conference champion face the Eastern Conference champion. Instead, in the 2016 season, the top eight teams qualified for the playoffs, regardless of conference. Both WNBA Finals teams were from the Western Conference.
The 2018 WNBA season of the Minnesota Lynx was their 20th season in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Lynx finished the 2017 season with a record of 27–7, finishing first in the Western Conference and qualifying for the playoffs, before ultimately beating Los Angeles in the WNBA Finals to win their league-tying best fourth championship.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 11th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began its season on May 20, 2018, against the Dallas Wings.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 22nd season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 20.
The 2018 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began May 20 and ended on August 19.
The 2018 WNBA Playoffs were the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2018 season. The Seattle Storm won the team's third WNBA title, sweeping the Washington Mystics 3–0 in the best-of-five WNBA Finals.
The 2019 WNBA Playoffs were the postseason tournament of the WNBA's 2019 season. The Washington Mystics won the team's first WNBA title in their 22-year franchise history.
The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on July 25, 2020, versus the Phoenix Mercury.
The 2023 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 27th season in the Women's National Basketball Association and the sixth year the franchise is based in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. This was also the second season under head coach Becky Hammon. They were the defending WNBA champions, after defeating the Connecticut Sun in the 2022 WNBA Finals.
The 2023 WNBA season was the 27th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the first season under head coach Curt Miller. The season tipped off on May 19, 2023, versus the Phoenix Mercury.
