2002 Los Angeles Sparks season

2002 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachMichael Cooper
ArenaStaples Center
Attendance11,651 per game
Results
Record25–7 (.781)
Place1st (Western)
Playoff finishWon WNBA Finals

The 2002 WNBA season was the sixth season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks ended the season winning the WNBA Finals for the second straight year. As of 2012, this is the last WNBA team to win back to back championships.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2002 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 16 Rosalind Ross  United States Oklahoma
2 30 Gergana Slavcheva  Bulgaria FIU
2 32 Jackie Higgins  United States North Carolina
3 48 Rashana Barnes  United States Penn State
4 64 Tiffany Thompson  United States Old Dominion

Transactions

Date Transaction
April 19, 2002 Traded Ukari Figgs and Gergana Slavcheva to the Portland Fire in exchange for Nikki Teasley and Sophia Witherspoon[1]
Drafted Rosalind Ross, Gergana Slavcheva, Jackie Higgins, Rashana Barnes and Tiffany Thompson in the 2002 WNBA Draft[1]
April 30, 2002 Signed Erika de Souza, Rhonda Smith and Kim Williams[1]
May 3, 2002 Waived Rashana Barnes[1]
May 8, 2002 Waived Tiffany Thompson[1]
May 13, 2002 Waived Jackie Higgins, Kelley Simon, Kim Williams and Nicole Levandusky[1]
Signed Vicki Hall, Shala Crawford and Naomi Mulitauaopele[1]
May 16, 2002 Waived Rhonda Smith and Wendi Willits[1]
May 23, 2002 Waived Naomi Mulitauaopele[1]
June 7, 2002 Signed Katryna Gaither[1]
June 11, 2002 Signed Sophia Witherspoon[1]
June 18, 2002 Traded a 2003 1st Round Pick to the Miami Sol in exchange for Marlies Askamp[1]
June 21, 2002 Waived Katryna Gaither[1]

Roster

2002 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
C 41 West Germany Askamp, Marlies 6' 5" (1.96m) 198 lb (90kg) 1970-07-08 5
G/F 0 United States Byears, Latasha 5' 11" (1.8m) 206 lb (93kg) 1973-08-12 DePaul 5
F/C 14 Brazil de Souza, Erika 6' 5" (1.96m) 190 lb (86kg) 1982-03-09 R
G 21 United States Dixon, Tamecka 5' 9" (1.75m) 148 lb (67kg) 1975-12-14 Kansas 5
C 12 United States Gaither, Katryna 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1975-08-13 Notre Dame 1
G 17 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Grgin-Fonseca, Vedrana 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 1975-01-13 2
F 7 United States Hall, Vicki 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 1969-10-03 Texas 2
C 9 United States Leslie, Lisa 6' 5" (1.96m) 170 lb (77kg) 1972-07-07 USC 5
G 4 Zaire Mabika, Mwadi 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1976-07-27 5
G 10 United States McCrimmon, Nicky 5' 8" (1.73m) 125 lb (57kg) 1972-03-22 USC 2
F 8 United States Milton-Jones, DeLisha 6' 1" (1.85m) 175 lb (79kg) 1974-09-11 Florida 3
G 42 United States Teasley, Nikki 6' 0" (1.83m) 169 lb (77kg) 1979-03-22 North Carolina R
G 13 United States Witherspoon, Sophia 5' 10" (1.78m) 145 lb (66kg) 1968-07-06 Florida 5
Head coach
United States Michael Cooper (New Mexico)
Assistant coaches
United States Glenn McDonald
United States Karleen Thompson



Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Schedule

Regular season

2002 game log
Total: 25–7 (Home: 12–4; Road: 13–3)
May: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 May 25 New York W 72–64 Leslie
Mabika
Witherspoon (14) 		Lisa Leslie (14) Tamecka Dixon (7) Staples Center 1–0
2 May 27 @ Houston W 68–55 Lisa Leslie (22) Lisa Leslie (17) Sophia Witherspoon (4) Compaq Center 2–0
3 May 30 @ Miami W 69–65 Mwadi Mabika (17) DeLisha Milton-Jones (8) Nikki Teasley (5) American Airlines Arena 3–0
June : 9–2 (Home: 5–1; Road: 4–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
4 June 1 @ Charlotte L 87–94 (OT) Lisa Leslie (26) Lisa Leslie (12) Nikki Teasley (6) Charlotte Coliseum 3–1
5 June 3 Portland W 89–72 Lisa Leslie (25) Lisa Leslie (18) Nikki Teasley (7) Staples Center 4–1
6 June 8 @ Minnesota W 76–72 Mwadi Mabika (21) Byears
Leslie
Mabika (7) 		Lisa Leslie (5) Target Center 5–1
7 June 11 Detroit W 90–80 Leslie
Milton-Jones (18) 		Lisa Leslie (9) Nikki Teasley (8) Staples Center 6–1
8 June 15 @ Sacramento W 72–66 (OT) Mwadi Mabika (19) Lisa Leslie (11) Tamecka Dixon (5) ARCO Arena 7–1
9 June 18 @ Seattle W 80–68 Mwadi Mabika (23) Mabika
Milton-Jones (9) 		Dixon
Mabika (4) 		KeyArena 8–1
10 June 21 Minnesota W 73–64 Lisa Leslie (23) Lisa Leslie (9) Nikki Teasley (5) Staples Center 9–1
11 June 25 Phoenix W 89–66 Mwadi Mabika (20) Lisa Leslie (12) Nikki Teasley (9) Staples Center 10–1
12 June 27 Washington W 73–66 Mwadi Mabika (20) Lisa Leslie (14) Nikki Teasley (7) Staples Center 11–1
13 June 28 @ Phoenix W 84–72 Lisa Leslie (18) Leslie
Milton-Jones (14) 		Nikki Teasley (6) America West Arena 12–1
14 June 30 Houston L 58–60 Mwadi Mabika (18) Latasha Byears (11) Tamecka Dixon (7) Staples Center 12–2
July : 8–3 (Home: 5–1; Road: 3–2)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
15 July 5 Sacramento W 87–65 Lisa Leslie (16) Leslie
Milton-Jones (9) 		Nikki Teasley (5) Staples Center 13–2
16 July 7 Utah W 102–75 Tamecka Dixon (20) Lisa Leslie (8) Tamecka Dixon (8) Staples Center 14–2
17 July 11 @ Seattle L 60–79 Lisa Leslie (21) DeLisha Milton-Jones (10) Mabika
Teasley (3) 		KeyArena 14–3
18 July 12 @ Portland W 82–76 (OT) Mwadi Mabika (32) DeLisha Milton-Jones (13) Mwadi Mabika (6) Rose Garden 15–3
19 July 17 @ Indiana W 73–58 Mwadi Mabika (27) Lisa Leslie (14) Nikki Teasley (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 16–3
20 July 18 @ New York L 59–72 Lisa Leslie (16) Lisa Leslie (11) Tamecka Dixon (4) Madison Square Garden 16–4
21 July 20 @ Cleveland W 63–50 Mwadi Mabika (15) DeLisha Milton-Jones (10) Nikki Teasley (8) Gund Arena 17–4
22 July 22 Orlando W 92–84 Lisa Leslie (24) Lisa Leslie (21) Lisa Leslie (8) Staples Center 18–4
23 July 24 Portland W 73–69 Lisa Leslie (21) DeLisha Milton-Jones (13) Dixon
Mabika
McCrimmon
Milton-Jones (3) 		Staples Center 19–4
24 July 28 Indiana W 80–62 Mwadi Mabika (22) Lisa Leslie (9) Nikki Teasley (7) Staples Center 20–4
25 July 30 Miami L 73–82 Mwadi Mabika (17) Lisa Leslie (8) Nicky McCrimmon (6) Staples Center 20–5
August : 5–2 (Home: 1–2; Road: 4–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
26 August 1 Seattle L 76–81 Lisa Leslie (30) Lisa Leslie (16) Nikki Teasley (7) Staples Center 20–6
27 August 3 @ Sacramento W 81–71 Mwadi Mabika (20) Lisa Leslie (9) Mwadi Mabika (9) ARCO Arena 21–6
28 August 4 Utah W 90–86 Lisa Leslie (26) Mwadi Mabika (7) Mwadi Mabika (6) Staples Center 22–6
29 August 8 Houston L 64–67 Mwadi Mabika (27) Leslie
Milton-Jones (12) 		Tamecka Dixon (5) Staples Center 22–7
30 August 9 @ Utah W 85–77 Lisa Leslie (19) Mwadi Mabika (9) Nikki Teasley (6) Delta Center 23–7
31 August 11 @ Minnesota W 69–58 Mwadi Mabika (16) Nikki Teasley (6) Tamecka Dixon (7) Target Center 24–7
32 August 13 @ Phoenix W 63–56 Lisa Leslie (23) Lisa Leslie (11) Mabika
Milton-Jones (3) 		America West Arena 25–7
2002 season schedule

Playoffs

2002 playoff game log
First round vs. Seattle Storm
Won Series: 2–0
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 August 15 @ Seattle W 78–61 Lisa Leslie (24) Lisa Leslie (9) Nikki Teasley (8) KeyArena 1–0
2 August 17 Seattle W 69–59 Lisa Leslie (23) DeLisha Milton-Jones (10) Mabika
Teasley (4) 		Staples Center 2–0
Conference Finals vs. Utah Starzz
Won Series: 2–0
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 August 22 @ Utah W 75–67 DeLisha Milton-Jones (17) Lisa Leslie (8) DeLisha Milton-Jones (5) Delta Center 1–0
2 August 24 Utah W 103–77 Lisa Leslie (25) Mwadi Mabika (9) Nikki Teasley (9) Staples Center 2–0
WNBA Finals vs. New York Liberty
Won Series: 2–0
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 August 29 @ New York W 71–63 Mwadi Mabika (20) Latasha Byears (11) Nikki Teasley (11) Madison Square Garden 1–0
2 August 31 New York W 69–66 Lisa Leslie (17) Latasha Byears (11) Nikki Teasley (11) Staples Center 2–0
2002 playoff schedule

Season standings

Western Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Los Angeles Sparks x 25 7 .781 17–4 –
Houston Comets x 24 8 .750 16–5 1.0
Utah Starzz x 20 12 .625 12–9 5.0
Seattle Storm x 17 15 .531 10–11 8.0
Portland Fire o 16 16 .500 8–13 9.0
Sacramento Monarchs o 14 18 .438 8–13 11.0
Phoenix Mercury o 11 21 .344 7–14 14.0
Minnesota Lynx o 10 22 .313 6–15 15.0

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
Lisa Leslie 31 31 34.2 .466 .324 .727 10.4 2.7 1.5 2.9 16.9
Mwadi Mabika 32 32 32.8 .423 .366 .839 5.2 2.9 1.2 0.3 16.8
Tamecka Dixon 30 30 31.9 .391 .351 .831 3.1 4.0 0.9 0.2 10.6
DeLisha Milton-Jones 32 25 30.2 .487 .420 .740 6.6 1.4 1.6 1.1 11.3
Nikki Teasley 32 32 27.6 .404 .400 .750 2.6 4.4 0.8 0.3 6.4
Latasha Byears 26 5 18.7 .618 N/A .566 5.4 0.5 0.7 0.2 7.0
Sophia Witherspoon 31 1 11.5 .415 .418 .761 0.9 0.9 0.4 0.1 5.2
Nicky McCrimmon 32 0 11.1 .408 .267 .636 0.7 1.7 0.7 0.1 1.6
Marlies Askamp 20 4 10.8 .473 .000 .643 2.5 0.2 0.6 0.2 3.1
Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca 12 0 6.6 .387 .417 .667 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.0 2.6
Vicki Hall 3 0 6.3 .500 .000 .750 0.7 0.3 0.3 0.0 2.3
Katryna Gaither 1 0 5.0 .000 N/A N/A 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Erika de Souza 11 0 3.7 .357 N/A .200 1.3 0.2 0.3 0.0 1.1


‡Waived/Released during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "2002 Los Angeles Sparks Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 1, 2024.

Sparks on Basketball Reference