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.

Transactions

WNBA allocation draft

WNBA elite draft

WNBA draft

Transactions

Roster

Schedule

Regular season

|- | 1 | June 21 | New York | L 57–67 | Lisa Leslie (16) | Lisa Leslie (14) | Jamila Wideman (6) | Great Western Forum | 0–1 |- | 2 | June 23 | @ Utah | L 89–102 | Lisa Leslie (22) | Lisa Leslie (10) | Jamila Wideman (7) | Delta Center | 0–2 |- | 3 | June 25 | Charlotte | W 74–54 | Lisa Leslie (19) | Leslie <br> Toler (5) | Penny Toler (7) | Great Western Forum | 1–2 |- | 4 | June 27 | Sacramento | W 102–92 | Zheng Haixia (28) | Zheng Haixia (10) | Toler <br> Wideman (7) | Great Western Forum | 2–2 |- | 5 | June 30 | @ Houston | L 66–71 (OT) | Lisa Leslie (21) | Lisa Leslie (16) | Penny Toler (5) | The Summit | 2–3

|- | 6 | July 2 | @ Cleveland | W 74–62 | Lisa Leslie (19) | Lisa Leslie (7) | Jamila Wideman (6) | Gund Arena | 3–3 |- | 7 | July 5 | @ Charlotte | L 66–78 | Lisa Leslie (16) | Leslie <br> Toler (7) | Jamila Wideman (6) | Charlotte Coliseum | 3–4 |- | 8 | July 7 | Cleveland | L 70–81 | Lisa Leslie (22) | Lisa Leslie (9) | Jamila Wideman (8) | Great Western Forum | 3–5 |- | 9 | July 11 | Utah | W 75–68 | Linda Burgess (20) | Burge <br> Burgess (9) | Leslie <br> Toler (6) | Great Western Forum | 4–5 |- | 10 | July 13 | Phoenix | L 56–57 | Linda Burgess (12) | Heidi Burge (11) | Burge <br> Charles <br> Colleton <br> Dixon <br> Toler (2) | Great Western Forum | 4–6 |- | 11 | July 15 | @ Sacramento | L 73–78 | Lisa Leslie (17) | Burgess <br> Leslie (5) | Penny Toler (10) | ARCO Arena | 4–7 |- | 12 | July 16 | Houston | W 77–52 | Zheng Haixia (15) | Lisa Leslie (10) | Lisa Leslie (5) | Great Western Forum | 5–7 |- | 13 | July 19 | @ New York | L 57–69 | Penny Toler (14) | Lisa Leslie (7) | Jamila Wideman (4) | Madison Square Garden | 5–8 |- | 14 | July 21 | @ Charlotte | L 64–75 | Lisa Leslie (18) | Penny Toler (8) | Leslie <br> Toler (4) | Charlotte Coliseum | 5–9 |- | 15 | July 23 | Cleveland | L 85–89 | Lisa Leslie (28) | Lisa Leslie (13) | Jamila Wideman (7) | Great Western Forum | 5–10 |- | 16 | July 25 | @ Phoenix | W 86–83 | Lisa Leslie (17) | Lisa Leslie (8) | Toler <br> Wideman (4) | America West Arena | 6–10 |- | 17 | July 27 | @ Sacramento | W 84–62 | Tamecka Dixon (20) | Lisa Leslie (9) | Penny Toler (9) | ARCO Arena | 7–10 |- | 18 | July 30 | Utah | W 91–69 | Lisa Leslie (23) | Lisa Leslie (11) | Lisa Leslie (7) | Great Western Forum | 8–10 |

|- | 19 | August 1 | Houston | L 57–81 | Penny Toler (17) | Lisa Leslie (6) | Penny Toler (3) | Great Western Forum | 8–11 |- | 20 | August 3 | Charlotte | L 70–77 | Penny Toler (19) | Lisa Leslie (10) | Penny Toler (7) | Great Western Forum | 8–12 |- | 21 | August 5 | @ New York | W 67–50 | Dixon <br> Toler (16) | Lisa Leslie (14) | Penny Toler (3) | Madison Square Garden | 9–12 |- | 22 | August 7 | @ Cleveland | W 87–84 | Tamecka Dixon (23) | Lisa Leslie (14) | Lisa Leslie (5) | Gund Arena | 10–12 |- | 23 | August 9 | @ Houston | L 71–72 | Tamecka Dixon (21) | Zheng Haixia (7) | Penny Toler (4) | The Summit | 10–13 |- | 24 | August 16 | @ Utah | W 74–64 | Lisa Leslie (23) | Lisa Leslie (12) | Penny Toler (8) | Delta Center | 11–13 |- | 25 | August 18 | Phoenix | W 75–66 | Lisa Leslie (26) | Lisa Leslie (15) | Penny Toler (8) | Great Western Forum | 12–13 |- | 26 | August 20 | New York | W 78–76 | Penny Toler (17) | Zheng Haixia (9) | Penny Toler (6) | Great Western Forum | 13–13 |- | 27 | August 22 | Sacramento | W 88–77 | Zheng Haixia (21) | Lisa Leslie (12) | Penny Toler (8) | Great Western Forum | 14–13 |- | 28 | August 24 | @ Phoenix | L 68–73 | Tamecka Dixon (25) | Lisa Leslie (14) | Penny Toler (4) | America West Arena | 14–14

Season standings

Statistics

Regular season

<br />^‡Waived/Released during the season <br />^â€ÂTraded during the season <br />^â‰ÂAcquired during the season

• 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
• 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
• 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

References

Sparks on Basketball Reference