The 2002 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the

2002 WNBA season The 2002 WNBA Season was the Women's National Basketball Association's sixth season. The season ended with the Los Angeles Sparks winning their second WNBA championship. Regular season standings Eastern Conference Western Conference Season aw ...

, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The

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 fou ...

, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Los Angeles' second title. As of 2020, this is the last time a WNBA franchise has won back to back championships. Coincidentally 2 months before the finals, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA would win their 14th title by sweeping a New York Metro team, the New Jersey Nets 4-0. The Liberty made their fourth appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sparks made their second straight Finals appearance. The Sparks went into the series as defending champions. 2002 marked their second WNBA championship. (The

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

hold the record with four championships won.) The Sparks had a 25–7 record (.781), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Liberty (18–14). To date, this is the last time the New York Liberty have reached the WNBA Finals.

Road to the finals

Regular season series

The teams had split the regular season series:

Game summaries

All times listed below are

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a sma ...

Game 1

Game 2

Nikki Teasley hit a series-winning three pointer with 2.1 seconds left. Teresa Weatherspoon tried to repeat history by trying to make a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but the shot was blocked, and the Sparks won their second consecutive title.

Awards

*2002 WNBA Champion:

* Finals MVP:

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on ...

Rosters

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WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the offici ...

Women's National Basketball Association Finals

Sports competitions in Los Angeles Sports competitions in New York City

2000s in Manhattan Madison Square Garden