1997 Los Angeles Sparks season

1997 Los Angeles Sparks season

Head Coach

Arena

Attendance

8,931 per game

Results
Record	14–14 (.500)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff Finish	Did not qualify



Los Angeles Sparks seasons
< 1996	1998 >

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.

Initial Player Allocation

Pick	Player	Nationality	WNBA Team	College/HS/Club Team
7	Lisa Leslie (C)	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Southern California
8	Penny Toler (G)	United States	Los Angeles Sparks	Long Beach State

^[1]

WNBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/HS/Club Team
1	3	Jamila Wideman	Guard	United States	Stanford
2	14	Tamecka Dixon		United States	Kansas
3	19	Katrina Colleton
4	30	Travesa Gant

^[2]

Regular season

The Sparks and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997 in Los Angeles. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67-57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284.^[3]

Season standings

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

Season Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
June 21	New York	57-67	Loss	0-1
June 23	@ Utah	89-102	Loss	0-2
June 25	Charlotte	74-54	Win	1-2
June 27	Sacramento	93-73	Win	2-2
June 30	@ Houston	66-71 (OT)	Loss	2-3
July 3	@ Cleveland	74-62	Win	3-3
July 5	@ Charlotte	66-78	Loss	3-4
July 7	Cleveland	70-81	Loss	3-5
July 11	Utah	75-68	Win	4-5
July 13	Phoenix	56-57	Loss	4-6
July 15	@ Sacramento	73-78	Loss	4-7
July 16	Houston	77-52	Win	5-7
July 19	@ New York	57-69	Loss	5-8
July 21	@ Charlotte	64-75	Loss	5-9
July 23	Cleveland	85-89	Loss	5-10
July 25	@ Phoenix	86-83 (OT)	Win	6-10
July 27	@ Sacramento	84-62	Win	7-10
July 30	Utah	91-69	Win	8-10
August 1	Houston	57-81	Loss	8-11
August 3	Charlotte	70-77	Loss	8-12
August 5	@ New York	67-50	Win	9-12
August 7	@ Cleveland	87-84 (2OT)	Win	10-12
August 9	@ Houston	71-72	Loss	10-13
August 16	@ Utah	74-64	Win	11-13
August 18	Phoenix	75-66	Win	12-13
August 20	New York	78-76	Win	13-13
August 22	Sacramento	88-77	Win	14-13
August 24	@ Phoenix	68-73 (OT)	Loss	14-14

Player stats

Player	Games Played	Minutes	Field Goals	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Points
Lisa Leslie	28	902	160	266	74	39	59	445
Penny Toler	28	907	144	94	143	36	3	368
Tamecka Dixon	27	715	115	81	55	49	5	320
Haixia Zheng	28	557	110	123	17	11	20	259
Linda Burgess	28	492	73	117	9	20	13	183
Katrina Colleton	28	613	55	60	45	35	9	136
Mwadi Mabika	21	325	53	54	22	23	6	126
Heidi Burge	22	282	32	69	15	12	12	87
Jamila Wideman	28	633	25	57	103	24	1	84
Daedra Charles	28	282	27	48	12	10	10	64
Travesa Gant	2	13	0	3	0	0	0	0
Kim Gessig	1	4	0	1	0	0	0

^[4]

Tamecka Dixon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
Tamecka Dixon ranked tenth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.456)
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points with 445 points.
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points per game with 15.9
Lisa Leslie ranked fifth in the WNBA in field goals with 160.
Lisa Leslie ranked first in the WNBA in total rebounds with 266.
Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA in blocks with 59.
Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points with 368 points.
Penny Toler ranked eighth in the WNBA in field goals with 144.
Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.1^[5]
Penny Toler ranked sixth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .839
Penny Toler ranked second in the WNBA in assists with 143.
Jamila Wideman ranked seventh in the WNBA in assists with 103.
Haixia Zheng ranked ninth in the WNBA in blocks with 20.

Awards and honors

Lisa Leslie, Center, All WNBA First Team ^[6]
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Defensive Rebounds, 203
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Total Rebounds, 266
Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Rebounds per game, 9.5
Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA with 2.1 blocks per game.
Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA with 113 Free Throws.
Haixia Zheng, WNBA Peak Performer
Haixia Zheng, Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618

^[5]

References

Sparks on Basketball Reference

1997 WNBA season by team

Draft Championship Playoffs

Eastern	Charlotte Sting Cleveland Rockers Houston Comets New York Liberty

Western	Los Angeles Sparks Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs Utah Starzz

← 1996 . WNBA season 1998 →

Los Angeles Sparks

Founded in 1997 Based in Los Angeles, California

The Franchise	Franchise Current season

Arenas	Great Western Forum Staples Center

Head Coaches	Linda Sharp Julie Rousseau Orlando Woolridge Michael Cooper Karleen Thompson Ryan Weisenberg Henry Bibby Joe Bryant Michael Cooper Jennifer Gillom Joe Bryant Carol Ross Penny Toler Brian Agler

Administration	Owner: Guggenheim Partners General Manager: Rhonda Windham Penny Toler

All-Stars	Tamecka Dixon Chamique Holdsclaw Jantel Lavender Lisa Leslie Mwadi Mabika Taj McWilliams-Franklin DeLisha Milton-Jones Nneka Ogwumike Candace Parker Nikki Teasley Tina Thompson

Seasons	1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Playoff Appearances	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014

Conference Titles	2001 2002 2003

WNBA Titles	2001 2002

Rivals	Detroit Shock Houston Comets New York Liberty Phoenix Mercury Sacramento Monarchs San Antonio Stars Seattle Storm

Media	TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes Announcers: Jim Watson, Mary Murphy

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