The

1997 WNBA season The 1997 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's first in existence. It started off with 8 franchises: Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento ...

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.

Offseason

Initial Player Allocation

WNBA draft

Regular season

The Sparks and WNBA's first game was played on June 21, 1997, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The Sparks lost to the New York Liberty, 67–57. The attendance at the Forum was 14,284.

Season standings

Season Schedule

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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Leslie Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble family ...

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Great Western Forum Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and t ...

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, L 89-102 , Leslie (22) , Leslie (10) , Wideman (7) ,

Delta Center Vivint Arena (stylized as vivint arena), formerly known as Delta Center, EnergySolutions Arena and Vivint Smart Home Arena, is an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Assoc ...

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Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, W 74-54 , Leslie (19) , Leslie, Toler (5) , Toler (7) , Great Western Forum , 1-2 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 4 , June 27 ,

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, W 93-73 , Haixia (28) , Haixia (10) , Toler, Wideman (7) , Great Western Forum , 2-2 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 5 , June 30 , @

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, L 66-71 (OT) , Leslie (21) , Leslie (16) , Toler (5) , The Summit , 2-3 , - , - style="background:#bfb;" , 6 , July 3 , @

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, W 74-62 ,

(19) , Leslie (7) , Wideman (6) , Gund Arena , 3-3 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 7 , July 5 , @

, L 66-78 , Leslie (16) , Leslie, Toler (7) , Wideman (6) ,

Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte Coliseum was a multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was operated by the Charlotte Coliseum Authority, which also oversees the operation of Bojangles' Coliseum (which was called Charlott ...

, 3-4 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 8 , July 7 , Cleveland , L 70-81 , Leslie (22) , Leslie (9) , Wideman (8) ,

, 3-5 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 9 , July 11 ,

, W 75-68 ,

Burgess __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

(20) , Burge, Burgess (9) , Leslie, Toler (6) , Great Western Forum , 4-5 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 10 , July 13 ,

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, L 56-57 , Burgess (12) , Burge (11) , Burge, Toler, Dixon,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, Colleton (2) , Great Western Forum , 4-6 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 11 , July 15 , @

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, L 73-78 , Leslie (17) , Burgess, Leslie (5) , Toler (10) , Arco Arena , 4-7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 12 , July 16 ,

, W 77-52 , Haixia (15) , Leslie (10) , Leslie (5) , Great Western Forum , 5-7 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 13 , July 19 , @

, L 57-69 , Toler (14) , Leslie (7) , Wideman (4) ,

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, 5-8 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 14 , July 21 , @ Charlotte , L 64-75 , Leslie (18) , Toler (8) , Leslie, Toler (4) , Charlotte Coliseum , 5-9 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 15 , July 23 , Cleveland , L 85-89 , Leslie (28) , Leslie (13) , Colleton (5) , Great Western Forum , 5-10 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 16 , July 25 , @ Phoenix , W 86-83 (OT) , Leslie (17) , Leslie (8) , Toler, Wideman (4) ,

America West Arena Footprint Center (formerly known as America West Arena, US Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena and Phoenix Suns Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Built in the regional population center of the southwestern United Sta ...

, 6-10 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 17 , July 27 , @ Sacramento , W 84-62 , Dixon (20) , Leslie (9) , Toler (9) , Arco Arena , 7-10 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 18 , July 30 , Utah , W 91-69 , Leslie (23) , Leslie (11) , Leslie (7) , Great Western Forum , 8-10 , - , - style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" , 19 , August 1 ,

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, 8-11 , - style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" , 20 , August 3 ,

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, 14-14 , -

Player stats

*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 Zheng Haixia (; born March 7, 1967) is a Chinese retired professional women's basketball player for the China women's national basketball team and the Women's National Basketball Association. International career In 1983, Haixia made her debut ...

, WNBA Peak Performer *

Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair p ...

*Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618

References

Sparks on Basketball Reference
{{Los Angeles Sparks navbox Los Angeles Sparks seasons

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...