1997 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.

1997 Los Angeles Sparks season
CoachLinda Sharp
ArenaGreat Western Forum
Attendance8,931 per game
Results
Record14–14 (.500)
Place2nd (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

Initial Player Allocation
Pick Player Nationality WNBA Team College/HS/Club Team
7 Lisa Leslie (C)  United States Los Angeles Sparks Southern California
8 Penny Toler (G)  United States Los Angeles Sparks Long Beach State

[1]

WNBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/HS/Club Team
1 3 Jamila Wideman Guard  United States Stanford
2 14 Tamecka Dixon  United States Kansas
3 19 Katrina Colleton
4 30 Travesa Gant

[2]

Regular season

The Sparks and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997, in Los Angeles. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284.[3]

Season standings
Western Conference W L PCT Conf. GB
Phoenix Mercury x1612.5719–3–
Los Angeles Sparks o1414.5008–42.0
Sacramento Monarchs o1018.3574–86.0
Utah Starzz o721.2503–99.0

Season Schedule
1997 Game Log
June
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
1 June 21 New York L 57-67 Leslie (16) Leslie (14) Wideman (6) Great Western Forum 0-1
2 June 23 @ Utah L 89-102 Leslie (22) Leslie (10) Wideman (7) Delta Center 0-2
3 June 25 Charlotte W 74-54 Leslie (19) Leslie, Toler (5) Toler (7) Great Western Forum 1-2
4 June 27 Sacramento W 93-73 Haixia (28) Haixia (10) Toler, Wideman (7) Great Western Forum 2-2
5 June 30 @ Houston L 66-71 (OT) Leslie (21) Leslie (16) Toler (5) The Summit 2-3
July
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
6 July 3 @ Cleveland W 74-62 Leslie (19) Leslie (7) Wideman (6) Gund Arena 3-3
7 July 5 @ Charlotte L 66-78 Leslie (16) Leslie, Toler (7) Wideman (6) Charlotte Coliseum 3-4
8 July 7 Cleveland L 70-81 Leslie (22) Leslie (9) Wideman (8) Great Western Forum 3-5
9 July 11 Utah W 75-68 Burgess (20) Burge, Burgess (9) Leslie, Toler (6) Great Western Forum 4-5
10 July 13 Phoenix L 56-57 Burgess (12) Burge (11) Burge, Toler, Dixon, Charles, Colleton (2) Great Western Forum 4-6
11 July 15 @ Sacramento L 73-78 Leslie (17) Burgess, Leslie (5) Toler (10) Arco Arena 4-7
12 July 16 Houston W 77-52 Haixia (15) Leslie (10) Leslie (5) Great Western Forum 5-7
13 July 19 @ New York L 57-69 Toler (14) Leslie (7) Wideman (4) Madison Square Garden 5-8
14 July 21 @ Charlotte L 64-75 Leslie (18) Toler (8) Leslie, Toler (4) Charlotte Coliseum 5-9
15 July 23 Cleveland L 85-89 Leslie (28) Leslie (13) Colleton (5) Great Western Forum 5-10
16 July 25 @ Phoenix W 86-83 (OT) Leslie (17) Leslie (8) Toler, Wideman (4) America West Arena 6-10
17 July 27 @ Sacramento W 84-62 Dixon (20) Leslie (9) Toler (9) Arco Arena 7-10
18 July 30 Utah W 91-69 Leslie (23) Leslie (11) Leslie (7) Great Western Forum 8-10
August
GameDateOpponentScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocationRecord
19 August 1 Houston L 57-81 Toler (17) Leslie (6) Toler (3) Great Western Forum 8-11
20 August 3 Charlotte L 70-77 Toler (19) Leslie (10) Toler (7) Great Western Forum 8-12
21 August 5 @ New York W 67-50 Toler, Dixon (16) Leslie (14) Toler (3) Madison Square Garden 9-12
22 August 7 @ Cleveland W 87-84 (2OT) Dixon (23) Leslie (14) Leslie (5) Gund Arena 10-12
23 August 9 @ Houston L 71-72 Dixon (21) Haixia (7) Toler (4) The Summit 10-13
24 August 16 @ Utah W 74-64 Leslie (23) Leslie (12) Toler (8) Delta Center 11-13
25 August 18 Phoenix W 75-66 Leslie (26) Leslie (15) Toler (8) Great Western Forum 12-13
26 August 20 New York W 78-76 Toler (17) Haixia (9) Toler (6) Great Western Forum 13-13
27 August 22 Sacramento W 88-77 Haixia (21) Leslie (12) Toler (8) Great Western Forum 14-13
28 August 24 @ Phoenix L 68-73 (OT) Dixon (25) Leslie (14) Toler (4) America West Arena 14-14

Player stats
Player Games Played Minutes Field Goals Rebounds Assists Steals Blocks Points
Lisa Leslie28902160266743959445
Penny Toler2890714494143363368
Tamecka Dixon277151158155495320
Haixia Zheng28557110123171120259
Linda Burgess284927311792013183
Katrina Colleton28613556045359136
Mwadi Mabika21325535422236126
Heidi Burge22282326915121287
Jamila Wideman28633255710324184
Daedra Charles28282274812101064
Travesa Gant213030000
Kim Gessig1401000

[4]

  • Tamecka Dixon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49.
  • Tamecka Dixon ranked tenth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.456)
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points with 445 points.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points per game with 15.9
  • Lisa Leslie ranked fifth in the WNBA in field goals with 160.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked first in the WNBA in total rebounds with 266.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA in blocks with 59.
  • Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points with 368 points.
  • Penny Toler ranked eighth in the WNBA in field goals with 144.
  • Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.1[5]
  • Penny Toler ranked sixth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .839
  • Penny Toler ranked second in the WNBA in assists with 143.
  • Jamila Wideman ranked seventh in the WNBA in assists with 103.
  • Haixia Zheng ranked ninth in the WNBA in blocks with 20.

Awards and honors
  • Lisa Leslie, Center, All WNBA First Team [6]
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Defensive Rebounds, 203
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Total Rebounds, 266
  • Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Rebounds per game, 9.5
  • Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA with 2.1 blocks per game.
  • Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA with 113 Free Throws.
  • Haixia Zheng, WNBA Peak Performer
  • Haixia Zheng, Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
  • Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618

[5]

References
  1. "WNBA.com: All-Time WNBA Draft List". Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  2. "Los Angeles Sparks Draft History". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  3. "News Archive".
  4. "1997 Los Angeles Sparks Stats".
  5. "1997 WNBA Season Summary".
  6. "Postseason Awards: 1997". WNBA.com. Retrieved September 4, 2022.

Sparks on Basketball Reference

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