2000 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2000 WNBA season was the fourth season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The team set a 28-4 record, the best in league history, but they were unable to go for the WNBA Finals, losing in the conference finals in a sweep to the Houston Comets.

2000 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachMichael Cooper
ArenaGreat Western Forum
Attendance6,563 per game
Results
Record28–4 (.875)
Place1st (Western)
Playoff finishLost Conference Finals (2-0) to Houston Comets

Transactions

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Indiana Fever expansion draft

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The following player was selected in the Indiana Fever expansion draft from the Los Angeles Sparks:

Player Nationality School/Team/Country
Gordana Grubin   Yugoslavia MiZo Pécs (Hungary)

Seattle Storm expansion draft

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The following player was selected in the Seattle Storm expansion draft from the Los Angeles Sparks:

Player Nationality School/Team/Country
Nina Bjedov   Yugoslavia Basket Bees Treviglio (Italy)

WNBA draft

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Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country
1 15 Nicole Kubik   United States Nebraska
2 31 Paige Sauer   United States UConn
3 47 Marte Alexander   United States Arizona
4 63 Nicky McCrimmon   United States USC

Transactions

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Date Transaction
September 30, 1999 Head Coach Orlando Woolridge retires from coaching[1]
October 14, 1999 Hired Michael Cooper as Head Coach[1]
December 15, 1999 Lost Nina Bjedov to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA expansion draft[1]
Lost Gordana Grubin to the Indiana Fever in the WNBA expansion draft[1]
April 25, 2000 Drafted Nicole Kubik, Paige Sauer, Marte Alexander and Nicky McCrimmon in the 2000 WNBA Draft[1]
May 30, 2000 Waived Nicole Kubik[1]
October 11, 2000 Traded La'Keshia Frett to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Latasha Byears[1]
Traded Allison Feaster and Clarisse Machanguana to the Charlotte Sting in exchange for Rhonda Mapp and E.C. Hill[1]

Roster

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2000 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs
G 21   Dixon, Tamecka 5' 9" (1.75m) 148 lb (67kg) 1975-12-14 Kansas 3
F 5   Feaster, Allison 5' 11" (1.8m) 168 lb (76kg) 1976-02-11 Harvard 2
G 15   Figgs, Ukari 5' 9" (1.75m) 142 lb (64kg) 1977-03-31 Purdue 1
F 0   Frett, La'Keshia 6' 3" (1.91m) 170 lb (77kg) 1975-06-12 Georgia 1
G 17   Grgin-Fonseca, Vedrana 6' 1" (1.85m) 160 lb (73kg) 1975-01-13 R
C 9   Leslie, Lisa 6' 5" (1.96m) 170 lb (77kg) 1972-07-07 USC 3
G 4   Mabika, Mwadi 5' 11" (1.8m) 165 lb (75kg) 1976-07-27 3
F/C 33   Machanguana, Clarisse 6' 5" (1.96m) 180 lb (82kg) 1976-10-04 Old Dominion 1
G 10   McCrimmon, Nicky 5' 8" (1.73m) 125 lb (57kg) 1972-03-22 USC R
F 8   Milton-Jones, DeLisha 6' 1" (1.85m) 175 lb (79kg) 1974-09-11 Florida 1
C 31   Sauer, Paige 6' 5" (1.96m) 200 lb (91kg) 1977-12-08 Connecticut R
Head coach
  Michael Cooper (New Mexico)
Assistant coaches
  Marianne Stanley




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

Schedule

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Regular season

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2000 game log
Total: 28–4 (Home: 15–1; Road: 13–3)
May: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
1 May 31 Utah W 69-62 Mwadi Mabika (21) Lisa Leslie (11) Leslie
Mabika (4)
Great Western Forum 1–0
June: 10–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 6–2)
July: 14–1 (Home: 10–1; Road: 4–0)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
14 July 1 Cleveland W 75-67 Lisa Leslie (22) DeLisha Milton-Jones (12) Mwadi Mabika (6) Great Western Forum 12–2
15 July 2 Detroit W 85-63 Mwadi Mabika (21) Lisa Leslie (12) Tamecka Dixon (8) Great Western Forum 13–2
16 July 5 @ Sacramento W 76-61 Mwadi Mabika (23) Lisa Leslie (9) Figgs
Mabika (5)
ARCO Arena 14–2
17 July 6 Washington W 79-70 Lisa Leslie (21) Lisa Leslie (13) Nicky McCrimmon (6) Great Western Forum 15–2
18 July 9 Utah W 92-72 Lisa Leslie (22) Leslie
Machanguana (5)
Ukari Figgs (7) Great Western Forum 16–2
19 July 11 Portland L 77-80 Mwadi Mabika (22) Lisa Leslie (7) Figgs
Milton-Jones (4)
Great Western Forum 16–3
20 July 14 Houston W 63-58 Mwadi Mabika (15) Leslie
Mabika (8)
Ukari Figgs (5) Great Western Forum 17–3
21 July 15 Minnesota W 58-57 Lisa Leslie (24) Lisa Leslie (13) Dixon
Figgs (3)
Great Western Forum 18–3
22 July 20 New York W 82-66 Lisa Leslie (21) Lisa Leslie (14) Ukari Figgs (9) Great Western Forum 19–3
23 July 21 @ Phoenix W 74-68 Lisa Leslie (30) Lisa Leslie (16) Figgs
McCrimmon (5)
America West Arena 20–3
24 July 23 Sacramento W 73-68 Lisa Leslie (20) DeLisha Milton-Jones (11) Tamecka Dixon (7) Great Western Forum 21–3
25 July 25 Orlando W 78-63 Lisa Leslie (17) Lisa Leslie (11) Ukari Figgs (6) Charlotte Coliseum 22–3
26 July 27 Seattle W 76-63 Lisa Leslie (18) Lisa Leslie (7) Ukari Figgs (5) Great Western Forum 23–3
27 July 29 @ Houston W 84-74 Tamecka Dixon (19) Lisa Leslie (10) Mwadi Mabika (6) Compaq Center 24–3
28 July 31 @ Minnesota W 73-66 DeLisha Milton-Jones (18) DeLisha Milton-Jones (14) DeLisha Milton-Jones (6) Target Center 25–3
August: 3–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 3–1)
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Record
29 August 2 @ Detroit W 84-81 Lisa Leslie (27) DeLisha Milton-Jones (6) Dixon
Leslie
Milton-Jones (3)
The Palace of Auburn Hills 26–3
30 August 5 @ Phoenix W 77-63 Lisa Leslie (22) Lisa Leslie (14) Tamecka Dixon (7) America West Arena 27–3
31 August 8 @ Seattle W 60-52 (OT) Tamecka Dixon (17) Mwadi Mabika (12) Mwadi Mabika (3) KeyArena 28–3
32 August 9 @ Utah L 77-89 Lisa Leslie (18) Lisa Leslie (10) Dixon
Leslie
McCrimmon (3)
Delta Center 28–4

Playoffs

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2000 playoff game log
First round vs. Phoenix Mercury
Won Series: 2–0
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 August 11 @ Phoenix W 86–71 Lisa Leslie (20) Lisa Leslie (11) Tamecka Dixon (5) America West Arena 1–0
2 August 13 Phoenix W 101–76 Lisa Leslie (29) Leslie
Mabika (8)
Tamecka Dixon (7) Great Western Forum 2–0
Conference Finals vs. Houston Comets
Lost Series: 0–2
Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location
Attendance
Series
1 August 17 @ Houston L 56–77 Mwadi Mabika (21) Lisa Leslie (8) Figgs
Milton-Jones (4)
Compaq Center 0–1
2 August 20 Houston L 69–74 Mwadi Mabika (19) Lisa Leslie (14) Leslie
Figgs (5)
Great Western Forum 0–2
2000 playoff schedule

Season standings

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Western Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Los Angeles Sparks x 28 4 .875 17–4
Houston Comets x 27 5 .844 17–4 1.0
Sacramento Monarchs x 21 11 .656 13–8 7.0
Phoenix Mercury x 20 12 .625 11–10 8.0
Utah Starzz o 18 14 .563 13–8 10.0
Minnesota Lynx o 15 17 .469 5–16 13.0
Portland Fire o 10 22 .313 4–17 18.0
Seattle Storm o 6 26 .188 4–17 22.0

Statistics

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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

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Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Lisa Leslie 32 32 32.1 .458 .219 .824 9.6 1.9 1.0 2.3 17.8
DeLisha Milton-Jones 32 32 30.7 .512 .250 .745 6.1 2.1 1.4 0.9 11.8
Mwadi Mabika 32 32 29.4 .388 .384 .820 5.6 3.1 1.8 0.6 12.3
Tamecka Dixon 31 31 28.5 .454 .353 .805 3.4 3.1 1.3 0.3 10.9
Ukari Figgs 32 32 25.1 .431 .354 .831 1.7 4.0 0.7 0.1 6.7
Nicky McCrimmon 32 0 15.3 .506 .485 .500 1.0 2.0 0.9 0.3 3.2
Allison Feaster 32 0 14.7 .359 .259 .833 2.7 1.0 0.7 0.1 6.3
Clarisse Machanguana 31 1 13.6 .578 .000 .560 2.3 0.6 0.4 0.1 3.5
Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca 18 0 10.2 .274 .059 .609 1.3 0.7 0.2 0.1 2.7
La'Keshia Frett 25 0 7.5 .275 .000 .750 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.2 1.6
Paige Sauer 12 0 5.5 .571 N/A .800 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.7


Waived/Released during the season
Traded during the season
Acquired during the season

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "2000 Los Angeles Sparks Transactions". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.