The 2004 WNBA season was the eighth for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks' head coach, Michael Cooper, left the team during the season. Despite with that, the team finished in first place in the West, but they were unable to make another playoff run, losing in the opening round to the Sacramento Monarchs.
| 2004 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Michael Cooper Karleen Thompson and Ryan Weisenberg (co-interim coaches) |
| Arena | Staples Center |
| Attendance | 10,428 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 25–9 (.735) |
| Place | 1st (Western) |
| Playoff finish | Lost First Round (2-1) to Sacramento Monarchs |
Offseason
editDispersal Draft
editBased on the Sparks' 2003 record, they would pick 2nd in the Cleveland Rockers dispersal draft. The Sparks picked Isabelle Fijalkowski.
WNBA draft
edit| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | College/School/Team |
| 1 | 12 | Christi Thomas (F) |  United States |
Georgia |
| 2 | 25 | Doneeka Lewis (G) | United States |
LSU |
Regular season
editSeason standings
edit| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Sparks x | 25 | 9 | .735 | – | 15–2 | 10–7 | 16–6 |
| Seattle Storm x | 20 | 14 | .588 | 5.0 | 13–4 | 7–10 | 13–9 |
| Minnesota Lynx x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 11–6 | 7–10 | 12–10 |
| Sacramento Monarchs x | 18 | 16 | .529 | 7.0 | 10–7 | 8–9 | 12–10 |
| Phoenix Mercury o | 17 | 17 | .500 | 8.0 | 10–7 | 7–10 | 11–11 |
| Houston Comets o | 13 | 21 | .382 | 12.0 | 9–8 | 4–13 | 7–15 |
| San Antonio Silver Stars o | 9 | 25 | .265 | 16.0 | 6–11 | 3–14 | 6–16 |
Season schedule
edit| Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| May 22 | @ Seattle | 67-93 | Loss | 0-1 |
| May 25 | @ Washington | 95-79 | Win | 1-1 |
| May 27 | @ Connecticut | 73-82 | Loss | 1-2 |
| May 29 | @ Detroit | 63-60 | Win | 2-2 |
| June 1 | Seattle | 73-70 | Win | 3-2 |
| June 3 | @ Sacramento | 51-68 | Loss | 3-3 |
| June 5 | @ Houston | 71-75 | Loss | 3-4 |
| June 9 | Charlotte | 82-68 | Win | 4-4 |
| June 11 | Minnesota | 69-55 | Win | 5-4 |
| June 14 | Connecticut | 76-74 (OT) | Win | 6-4 |
| June 18 | @ Phoenix | 76-74 | Win | 7-4 |
| June 20 | @ Charlotte | 63-68 (OT) | Loss | 7-5 |
| June 22 | @ New York | 65-49 | Win | 8-5 |
| June 25 | @ Indiana | 67-71 | Loss | 8-6 |
| June 27 | @ Minnesota | 83-67 | Win | 9-6 |
| June 29 | New York | 69-65 (OT) | Win | 10-6 |
| July 2 | San Antonio | 87-80 (OT) | Win | 11-6 |
| July 7 | Phoenix | 73-71 | Win | 12-6 |
| July 9 | @ San Antonio | 66-61 | Win | 13-6 |
| July 10 | @ Houston | 59-56 | Win | 14-6 |
| July 17 | Sacramento | 70-79 | Loss | 14-7 |
| July 19 | Indiana | 82-51 | Win | 15-7 |
| July 21 | Washington | 96-76 | Win | 16-7 |
| July 23 | Houston | 70-67 | Win | 17-7 |
| July 29 | @ Sacramento | 85-80 (OT) | Win | 18-7 |
| July 31 | @ San Antonio | 79-67 | Win | 19-7 |
| September 1 | San Antonio | 77-69 | Win | 20-7 |
| September 3 | Seattle | 82-81 | Win | 21-7 |
| September 8 | @ Phoenix | 58-72 | Loss | 21-8 |
| September 9 | Detroit | 81-63 | Win | 22-8 |
| September 12 | Sacramento | 65-52 | Win | 23-8 |
| September 14 | Phoenix | 73-60 | Win | 24-8 |
| September 17 | Minnesota | 66-78 | Loss | 24-9 |
| September 18 | @ Seattle | 83-80 | Win | 25-9 |
Playoffs
edit| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Result | Record |
| Western Conference Semifinals | |||||
| 1 | September 24 | @ Sacramento | 52-72 | Loss | 0-1 |
| 2 | September 26 | Sacramento | 71-57 | Win | 1-1 |
| 3 | September 28 | Sacramento | 58-73 | Loss | 1-2 |
Awards and honors
editPlayer stats
edit| Player | GP | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
| Lisa Leslie | 34 | 336 | 88 | 50 | 98 | 598 |
| Mwadi Mabika | 31 | 122 | 75 | 36 | 3 | 445 |
| Nikki Teasley | 34 | 116 | 207 | 43 | 7 | 336 |
| Tamecka Dixon | 32 | 110 | 112 | 36 | 1 | 311 |
| Tamika Whitmore | 34 | 106 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 210 |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones | 19 | 90 | 31 | 23 | 10 | 186 |
| Christi Thomas | 31 | 120 | 23 | 18 | 14 | 165 |
| Laura Macchi | 25 | 61 | 14 | 21 | 6 | 152 |
| Doneeka Lewis | 24 | 22 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 43 |
| Raffaella Masciadri | 17 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 28 |
| Teresa Weatherspoon | 34 | 29 | 32 | 12 | 1 | 17 |
| Monique Coker | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Mfon Udoka | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |