2020 Los Angeles Sparks season

2020 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachDerek Fisher
ArenaOriginally: Staples Center
Rescheduled to play at the: IMG Academy, in Bradenton, Florida
Attendance0 per game
Results
Record15–7 (.682)
Place3rd (Western)
Playoff finish3rd Seed, lost in the 2nd Round #7 Connecticut Sun, L 73-59
Team Leaders
PointsCandace Parker (14.7 PPG)
ReboundsCandace Parker (9.7 RPG)
AssistsChelsea Gray (5.3 APG)
Media
TelevisionSpectrum SportsNet
ESPN2, CBSSN, NBATV

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.[1]

This WNBA season was set to feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[2] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[4][5]

The Sparks' season started slowly, with the team going 3–3 in their first six games. Every win was followed by a loss during that streak. Then the team warmed up and won nine games in a row, before losing the last game in August to go into the final month of the season 12–4, and already having secured a playoff berth. September was not kind to the Sparks, as they went 3–3 to finish out the season. Their final record of 15–7 was good enough for the third seed in the playoffs.

As the third seed, the Sparks were awarded a First Round bye and awaited the lowest remaining seed in the second round. They played the seventh seeded Connecticut Sun and suffered a disappointing 59–73 loss to end their season.

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2020 WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Nationality School/team/country
2 20 Beatrice Mompremier  United States Miami (FL)
2 22 Leonie Fiebich  Germany Wasserburg (Germany)
3 34 Tynice Martin  United States West Virginia

Trades/roster changes

Date Details
February 10, 2020 Signed G Kristi Toliver[6]
Traded C Kalani Brown to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for G Brittney Sykes and C Marie Gülich[7]
February 11, 2020 Re-signed G/F Tierra Ruffin-Pratt[8]
February 20, 2020 Signed G/F Seimone Augustus[9]
February 21, 2020 Traded G Marina Mabrey to Dallas in exchange for Dallas' Second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[10]
February 28, 2020 Re-signed G Chelsea Gray[11]
May 15, 2020 Signed G Sydney Wiese to a contract extension.[12]
May 26, 2020 Traded the second round pick acquired in the February 21st trade to Dallas in exchange for C Kristine Anigwe and a third round pick in the 2021 Draft.[13]
June 26, 2020 G Kristi Toliver opts out of the 2020 season.[14]
F/C Chiney Ogwumike opts out of the 2020 season.[15]
June 27, 2020 Signed F Reshanda Gray.[16]
June 28, 2020 Signed G Te'a Cooper.[17]

Roster

2020 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
F 31 United Kingdom Anigwe, Kristine 6' 4" (1.93m) 200 lb (91kg) 1997-03-31 California 1
G/F 33 United States Augustus, Seimone 6' 0" (1.83m) 174 lb (79kg) 1984-04-30 LSU 14
G 4 United States Cooper, Te'a 5' 8" (1.73m) 160 lb (73kg) 1997-04-16 Baylor R
G 12 United States Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1992-10-08 Duke 5
F 1 United States Gray, Reshanda 6' 2" (1.88m) 192 lb (87kg) 1993-06-01 California 3
C 24 Germany Gülich, Marie 6' 5" (1.96m) 205 lb (93kg) 1994-05-28 Oregon State 2
F 30 United States Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 1990-07-02 Stanford 8
F/C 3 United States Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 1986-04-19 Tennessee 12
G 10 United States Ruffin-Pratt, Tierra 5' 11" (1.8m) 180 lb (82kg) 1991-04-11 North Carolina 7
G 15 United States Sykes, Brittney 5' 9" (1.75m) 154 lb (70kg) 1994-02-07 Syracuse 3
G 24 United States Wiese, Sydney 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 1995-06-16 Oregon State 3
G 2 United States Williams, Riquna 5' 7" (1.7m) 165 lb (75kg) 1990-05-28 Miami (FL) 7
Head coach
United States Derek Fisher (Little Rock)
Assistant coaches
United States Latricia Trammell (East Central)
United States Fred Williams (Boise State)
Athletic trainer
United States Courtney Watson (California)
Strength and conditioning coach
United States Kelly Dormandy (Quinnipiac)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (IN) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log
Total: 15–7
July
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
1 July 25 Phoenix Mercury W 99–76 N. Ogwumike (21) Tied (7) Gray (7) IMG Academy
0 		1–0
2 July 28 Chicago Sky 78–96 Sykes (16) Parker (9) Gray (7) IMG Academy
0 		1–1
3 July 30 Connecticut Sun W 81–76 Gray (15) Parker (11) Gray (6) IMG Academy
0 		2–1
August
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
4 August 1 Seattle Storm L 75–81 Parker (19) Parker (12) Gray (5) IMG Academy
0 		2–2
5 August 5 Indiana Fever W 86–75 Parker (18) Parker (11) Gray (5) IMG Academy
0 		3–2
6 August 7 Las Vegas Aces L 82–86 Parker (20) Parker (12) Tied (4) IMG Academy
0 		3–3
7 August 9 Minnesota Lynx W 97–81 Williams (21) Parker (10) Parker (9) IMG Academy
0 		4–3
8 August 11 New York Liberty W 93–78 Tied (17) Parker (6) Tied (4) IMG Academy
0 		5-3
9 August 13 Washington Mystics W 81-64 Williams (13) Parker (9) Tied (3) IMG Academy
0 		6-3
10 August 15 Indiana Fever W 90-76 Williams (21) Tied (5) Tied (5) IMG Academy
0 		7-3
11 August 19 Phoenix Mercury W 83–74 3 tied (16) Parker (12) Gray (6) IMG Academy
0 		8–3
12 August 21 Atlanta Dream 92-85 (OT) Gray (20) Parker (9) Parker (5) IMG Academy
0 		9-3
13 August 23 Dallas Wings W 84-81 Sykes (23) Parker (14) Parker (6) IMG Academy
0 		10-3
14 August 28 Connecticut Sun W 80-76 Gray (27) Cooper (6) Parker (7) IMG Academy
0 		11-3
15 August 30 Atlanta Dream W 84–79 Sykes (15) Parker (10) Parker (7) IMG Academy
0 		12–3
16 August 31 Minnesota Lynx L 78–96 Gray (18) Parker (9) Gray (5) IMG Academy
0 		12–4
September
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Record
17 September 2 Dallas Wings W 91–83 Parker (22) Parker (10) Parker (6) IMG Academy
0 		13-4
18 September 4 Seattle Storm L 90–89 Parker (25) Parker (7) Parker
Gray (6) 		IMG Academy
0 		13-5
19 September 6 Chicago Sky W 86–80 Parker (24) Parker (15) Gray (7) IMG Academy
0 		14-5
20 September 8 New York Liberty W 96–70 Tied (20) N.Ogwumike (8) Parker (7) IMG Academy
0 		15-5
21 September 10 Washington Mystics L 72–80 Gray (21) Parker (17) Parker (6) IMG Academy
0 		15–6
22 September 12 Las Vegas Aces L 70–84 N.Ogwumike (24) Parker (10) Gray (11) IMG Academy
0 		15–7
2020 season schedule

Playoffs

2020 playoff game log
Total: 0–1
Second Round
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance		 Series
1 September 17 Connecticut Sun L 73–59 Parker (22) Parker (14) Parker (5) IMG Academy
0 		0–1
2020 playoff schedule

Standings

# Team W L PCT GB Conf.
1 x – Las Vegas Aces 18 4 .818 – 8–2
2 x – Seattle Storm 18 4 .818 – 8–2
3 x – Los Angeles Sparks 15 7 .682 3 5–5
4 x – Minnesota Lynx 14 8 .636 4 4–6
5 x – Phoenix Mercury 13 9 .591 5 4–6
6 x – Chicago Sky 12 10 .545 6 6–4
7 x – Connecticut Sun 10 12 .455 8 7–3
8 x – Washington Mystics 9 13 .409 9 6–4
9 e – Dallas Wings 8 14 .364 10 1–9
10 e – Atlanta Dream 7 15 .318 11 5–5
11 e – Indiana Fever 6 16 .273 12 4–6
12 e – New York Liberty 2 20 .091 16 2–8


Playoffs

Main article: 2020 WNBA Playoffs
First round:
Single elimination
(September 15)		Second round:
Single elimination
(September 17)		Semifinals:
Best-of-five
(September 20–29)		WNBA Finals:
Best-of-five
(October 2–11)
1Las Vegas Aces6283688466
4Minnesota Lynx807Connecticut Sun8775777563
5Phoenix Mercury855Phoenix Mercury791Las Vegas Aces809159
8Washington Mystics842Seattle Storm9310492
2Seattle Storm888992
3Los Angeles Sparks594Minnesota Lynx867971
6Chicago Sky817Connecticut Sun73
7Connecticut Sun94

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

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
Candace Parker 22 22 30.0 51.0 39.6 73.1 9.7 4.6 1.2 1.2 14.7
Chelsea Gray 22 22 30.6 44.2 30.5 93.9 3.7 5.3 1.5 0.1 14.0
Nneka Ogwumike 18 18 26.2 56.9 50.0 83.7 4.8 1.7 1.1 0.2 13.3
Riquna Williams 21 4 21.1 43.5 42.2 88.9 1.8 1.5 1.1 0.3 10.5
Brittney Sykes 21 14 24.4 48.7 32.7 80.6 2.6 2.1 1.5 0.3 10.1
Te'a Cooper 20 3 17.3 45.1 34.4 76.5 1.0 2.0 0.7 0 7.0
Sydney Wiese 19 15 19.1 50.5 47.2 91.7 1.7 1.2 0.6 0.1 6.8
Seimone Augustus 21 0 15.8 49.1 54.5 66.7 1.8 1.2 0.6 0.1 5.9
Kristine Anigwe 17 1 11.6 60.4 0 53.8 2.6 0.2 0.6 0.4 4.6
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt 17 10 14.5 26.7 46.2 73.1 2.1 0.9 0.6 0.2 2.9
Marie Gülich 12 1 9.9 50.0 0 100.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 0.3 2.4
Reshanda Gray 10 0 6.3 36.4 0 85.7 2.8 0.3 0.1 0.4 1.4

Awards and honors

Recipient Award Date awarded Ref.
Candace Parker WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week August 24, 2020 [18]
Peak Performer: Rebounds September 14, 2020 [19]
Defensive Player of the Year September 24, 2020 [20]
Nneka Ogwumike Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award September 29, 2020 [21]
Brittney Sykes 2nd Team All-Defense September 29, 2020 [22]
Candace Parker All-WNBA First Team October 4, 2020 [23]

References

  1. ^ "2020 Los Angeles Sparks Schedule". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  2. ^ "Atlanta Dream Announce 2020 Schedule - Atlanta Dream". dream.wnba.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  3. ^ "WNBA Statement Regarding the Start of the 2020 Regular Season". April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  4. ^ "WNBA Announces Plan To Tip Off 2020 Season". WNBA. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  5. ^ "WNBA announces plans for 2020 season to start late July in Florida". NBC Sports Washington. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  6. ^ "Sparks Sign Kristi Toliver". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Sparks Acquire Brittney Sykes and Marie Gülich from Atlanta Dream". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 10, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "Sparks Re-Sign Tierra Ruffin-Pratt". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Sparks Sign Four-Time WNBA Champion Seimone Augustus". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Sparks Acquire 2021 Second Round Pick from Dallas Wings". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  11. ^ "Sparks Re-Sign All-WNBA Guard Chelsea Gray". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  12. ^ "Sparks Sign Sydney Wiese To Contract Extension". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  13. ^ "Sparks Acquire Kristine Anigwe from Dallas Wings". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  14. ^ "Kristi Toliver To Opt Out of 2020 WNBA Season". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chiney Ogwumike To Opt Out of 2020 WNBA Season". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  16. ^ "Sparks Sign Reshanda Gray". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  17. ^ "Sparks Sign Rookie Te'a Cooper". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  18. ^ "Vandersloot, Parker Garner Players Of The Week Honors For Week 4". wnba.com. WNBA. August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  19. ^ "Dallas' Ogunbowale, Los Angeles' Parker And Chicago's Vandersloot Earn 2020 WNBA Peak Performer Awards". wnba.com. WNBA. September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  20. ^ "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Los Angeles' Nneka Ogwumike Wins 2020 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "Two Atlanta Dream Players And Seattle Storm's Alysha Clark Headline 2020 WNBA All-Defensive Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  23. ^ "A'ja Wilson And Candace Parker Unanimously Selected To 2020 All-WNBA First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.