1999 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 1999 WNBA season was the third for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but they fell in the Conference Finals to eventual champion Houston Comets.

1999 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Orlando Woolridge
Arena	Great Western Forum
Attendance	7,625 per game
Results
Record	20–12 (.625)
Place	2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Finals (2-1) to Houston Comets
← 1998 season 2000 season →

Transactions

Minnesota Lynx expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Minnesota Lynx expansion draft from the Los Angeles Sparks:

Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
Octavia Blue	United States	Miami (FL)

WNBA draft

See also: 1999 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	4	DeLisha Milton-Jones	United States	Portland Power
2	16	Clarisse Machanguana	Mozambique	San Jose Lasers
3	28	Ukari Figgs	United States	Purdue
4	40	La'Keshia Frett	United States	Philadelphia Rage

Transactions

Date	Transaction
April 6, 1999	Lost Octavia Blue to the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA expansion draft
May 4, 1999	Drafted DeLisha Milton-Jones, Clarisse Machanguana, Ukari Figgs and La'Keshia Frett in the 1999 WNBA Draft
May 6, 1999	Waived Michelle Reed
May 15, 1999	Signed Gordana Grubin and Nina Bjedov
June 21, 1999	Traded Jamila Wideman to the Cleveland Rockers in exchange for Jennifer Howard
June 22, 1999	Waived Sandra Van Embricqs

Roster

1999 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs C 45 Bjedov, Nina 6' 4" (1.93m) 190 lb (86kg) 1972-05-18 R G 21 Dixon, Tamecka 5' 9" (1.75m) 148 lb (67kg) 1975-12-14 Kansas 2 F 5 Feaster, Allison 5' 11" (1.8m) 168 lb (76kg) 1976-02-11 Harvard 1 G 15 Figgs, Ukari 5' 9" (1.75m) 142 lb (64kg) 1977-03-31 Purdue R F 0 Frett, La'Keshia 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1975-06-12 Georgia R G 6 Grubin, Gordana 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1972-08-20 R C 9 Leslie, Lisa 6' 5" (1.96m) 170 lb (77kg) 1972-07-07 USC 2 G 4 Mabika, Mwadi 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1976-07-27 2 F/C 33 Machanguana, Clarisse 6' 5" (1.96m) 180 lb (82kg) 1976-10-04 Old Dominion R F 8 Milton-Jones, DeLisha 6' 1" (1.85m) 175 lb (79kg) 1974-09-11 Florida R G 11 Toler, Penny 5' 8" (1.73m) 132 lb (60kg) 1966-03-24 Long Beach State 2	Head coach Orlando Woolridge (Notre Dame) Assistant coaches - Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

1999 game log Total: 12–18 (Home: 8–8; Road: 4–10)
June: 5–4 (Home: 2–1; Road: 3–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 10 Sacramento W 100–78 Lisa Leslie (19) Mwadi Mabika (6) Tamecka Dixon (5) Great Western Forum 1–0 2 June 12 @ Cleveland W 75–59 Lisa Leslie (30) Lisa Leslie (18) Figgs Grubin (4) Gund Arena 2–0 3 June 15 @ Orlando L 86–88 Lisa Leslie (23) Lisa Leslie (9) Mwadi Mabika (5) TD Waterhouse Centre 2–1 4 June 18 @ New York L 72–84 Ukari Figgs (13) Lisa Leslie (10) Mwadi Mabika (4) Madison Square Garden 2–2 5 June 19 @ Charlotte W 73–69 Lisa Leslie (15) Leslie Mabika (7) Mwadi Mabika (6) Charlotte Coliseum 3–2 6 June 22 @ Houston L 76–84 Lisa Leslie (19) DeLisha Milton-Jones (12) Dixon Frett Figgs Grubin Mabika (2) Compaq Center 3–3 7 June 24 Minnesota L 73–86 Lisa Leslie (21) Lisa Leslie (7) Ukari Figgs (4) Great Western Forum 3–4 8 June 26 @ Sacramento W 76–73 DeLisha Milton-Jones (20) DeLisha Milton-Jones (9) Dixon Milton-Jones (4) ARCO Arena 4–4 9 June 28 Utah W 102–70 Penny Toler (21) Lisa Leslie (7) Mwadi Mabika (7) Great Western Forum 5–4
July: 6–7 (Home: 5–5; Road: 1–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 July 1 @ Minnesota W 81–77 (2OT) Gordana Grubin (20) DeLisha Milton-Jones (9) Grubin Mabika (5) Target Center 6–4 11 July 2 @ Detroit W 91–81 Lisa Leslie (18) Lisa Leslie (10) Penny Toler (7) The Palace of Auburn Hills 7–4 12 July 5 Cleveland W 74–72 Nina Bjedov (14) Lisa Leslie (11) Frett Leslie Toler (5) Great Western Forum 8–4 13 July 7 @ Phoenix W 67–61 Mwadi Mabika (16) Lisa Leslie (8) Penny Toler (4) America West Arena 9–4 14 July 9 Sacramento L 72–77 Leslie Mabika (16) Lisa Leslie (9) Feaster Toler (3) Great Western Forum 9–5 15 July 11 Phoenix W 68–57 DeLisha Milton-Jones (14) DeLisha Milton-Jones (8) La'Keshia Frett (5) Great Western Forum 10–5 16 July 17 @ Phoenix L 76–84 Lisa Leslie (21) Lisa Leslie (8) Mwadi Mabika (7) America West Arena 10–6 17 July 18 Houston W 78–65 Lisa Leslie (20) Lisa Leslie (12) Gordana Grubin (6) Great Western Forum 11–6 18 July 21 Phoenix W 84–63 Lisa Leslie (18) Nina Bjedov (8) Tamecka Dixon (6) Great Western Forum 12–6 19 July 24 New York W 75–72 (OT) Lisa Leslie (22) Mwadi Mabika (11) Grubin Leslie (4) Great Western Forum 13–6 20 July 27 Orlando W 81–60 Lisa Leslie (19) Leslie Milton-Jones (10) Lisa Leslie (5) Great Western Forum 14–6 21 July 30 Utah W 87–77 Lisa Leslie (24) Leslie Mabika (10) Mwadi Mabika (7) Great Western Forum 15–6 22 July 31 Washington W 81–64 Lisa Leslie (15) Mwadi Mabika (11) Mwadi Mabika (5) Great Western Forum 16–6
August: 4–5 (Home: 2–1; Road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 23 August 3 @ Utah L 75–81 Gordana Grubin (20) Lisa Leslie (8) Gordana Grubin (5) Delta Center 16–7 24 August 6 @ Minnesota W 77–59 Lisa Leslie (29) Lisa Leslie (15) La'Keshia Frett (8) Target Center 17–7 25 August 9 Detroit L 59–84 DeLisha Milton-Jones (16) DeLisha Milton-Jones (8) Figgs Mabika (3) Great Western Forum 17–8 26 August 10 @ Sacramento L 80–82 Mwadi Mabika (20) Leslie Milton-Jones (8) Gordana Grubin (6) ARCO Arena 17–9 27 August 12 @ Houston L 61–83 Gordana Grubin (10) Lisa Leslie (8) Figgs La'Keshia Frett (6) Compaq Center 17–10 28 August 14 @ Washington L 53–55 DeLisha Milton-Jones (13) Leslie Mabika (6) Frett Grubin Mabika Toler (3) MCI Center 17–11 29 August 16 Charlotte W 76–65 Lisa Leslie (25) La'Keshia Frett (10) La'Keshia Frett (6) Great Western Forum 18–11 30 August 18 Minnesota W 72–54 Allison Feaster (16) DeLisha Milton-Jones (9) Mabika Toler (3) Great Western Forum 19–11 31 August 20 Houston W 68–64 DeLisha Milton-Jones (18) DeLisha Milton-Jones (7) Gordana Grubin (6) Great Western Forum 20–11 32 August 21 @ Utah L 81–89 Allison Feaster (14) Mwadi Mabika (4) Mwadi Mabika (7) Delta Center 20–12
1999 season schedule

Playoffs

1999 playoff game log
First round vs. Sacramento Monarchs Won Series: 1–0 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 24 Sacramento W 71–58 Lisa Leslie (22) Lisa Leslie (12) Gordana Grubin (9) Great Western Forum 1–0
Conference Finals vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 1–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 26 Houston W 75–60 Lisa Leslie (23) Frett Leslie (7) Gordana Grubin (7) Great Western Forum 1–0 2 August 29 @ Houston L 55–83 Lisa Leslie (11) Lisa Leslie (8) Lisa Leslie (4) Compaq Center 1–1 3 August 30 @ Houston L 62–72 Lisa Leslie (20) Leslie Mabika (7) Mwadi Mabika (5) Compaq Center 1–2
1999 playoff schedule

Season standings

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
Houston Comets x	26	6	.813	16–4	–
Los Angeles Sparks x	20	12	.625	12–8	6.0
Sacramento Monarchs x	19	13	.594	9–11	7.0
Phoenix Mercury o	15	17	.469	7–13	11.0
Minnesota Lynx o	15	17	.469	8–12	11.0
Utah Starzz o	15	17	.469	8–12	11.0

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
Mwadi Mabika	32	28	29.3	.372	.281	.718	4.8	3.5	1.4	0.5	10.8
Lisa Leslie	32	32	29.1	.467	.423	.731	7.8	1.8	1.1	1.5	15.6
DeLisha Milton-Jones	32	32	26.1	.530	.000	.791	5.5	1.6	1.5	0.5	9.9
Gordana Grubin	32	18	22.1	.405	.430	.765	2.2	2.8	0.8	0.1	8.9
La'Keshia Frett	31	18	21.2	.478	N/A	.791	3.0	2.1	0.3	0.2	6.1
Tamecka Dixon	32	14	17.6	.378	.313	.738	2.1	1.7	0.5	0.1	6.8
Nina Bjedov	27	0	16.0	.520	.421	.500	2.6	0.6	0.3	0.8	4.5
Ukari Figgs	22	10	15.0	.366	.298	.875	1.6	1.5	0.7	0.0	4.3
Penny Toler	30	4	14.2	.340	.154	.867	1.4	2.2	0.4	0.0	4.8
Allison Feaster	32	4	12.8	.495	.368	.684	1.8	1.0	0.5	0.2	5.1
Clarisse Machanguana	28	0	8.8	.490	N/A	.722	1.8	0.4	0.3	0.1	2.6

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

External links

• Sparks on Basketball Reference