2009 Los Angeles Sparks season

2009 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Michael Cooper
Arena	STAPLES Center
Attendance	10,387 per game
Results
Record	18–16 (.529)
Place	3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Lost Conference Finals
Team Leaders
Points	Leslie (15.4)
Rebounds	Parker (9.8)
Assists	Quinn (3.5)
Media
Television	Fox Sports West
← 2008 season 2010 season →

The 2009 Los Angeles Sparks season is the 13th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. Lisa Leslie announced that the 2009 season would be her last.^[1] On June 5, the Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year marketing partnership that includes a branded jersey sponsorship. The Farmers Insurance branded jersey will be worn by the players for the first time on June 6. As part of this alliance, the Farmers Insurance name and logo will appear on the front of the Sparks jerseys and will have considerable visibility in the Staples Center during home games. Los Angeles became only the second WNBA team to finalize such an agreement.^[2] The Sparks attempted to reach the playoffs and were successful.

• On May 13, Sparks star Candace Parker gave birth to a baby girl. It is the first child for the WNBA’s reigning MVP and rookie of the year and husband Shelden Williams of the Boston Celtics. Goodwin Sports Management announced the baby girl was born in Los Angeles. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.^[3]

Based on the Sparks' 2008 record, they would pick 9th in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Sparks waived their pick. ^[4]

The following are the Sparks' selections in the 2009 WNBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	13	Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton	United States	Purdue
2	22	Ashley Paris	United States	Oklahoma
3	35	Britney Jordan	United States	Texas A&M-Commerce

^[5]

• June 5: The Sparks waived Jessica Moore.
• June 4: The Sparks waived Ashley Paris and Marta Fernandez.
• May 18: The Sparks waived Britney Jordan.
• May 7: The Sparks signed Kristi Harrower to a training camp contract.
• May 5: The Sparks then traded the pick from the Liberty and Rafaella Masciadri to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Noelle Quinn.
• May 5: The Sparks traded Sidney Spencer to the New York Liberty in exchange for a first round 2010 WNBA Draft pick.
• April 14: The Sparks signed Betty Lennox.
• April 14: The Sparks waived Murriel Page.
• March 26: The Sparks traded Temeka Johnson to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick.
• March 25: The Sparks signed Marta Fernandez.
• March 12: The Sparks signed Tina Thompson.
• January 30: The Sparks traded Christi Thomas to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Vanessa Hayden-Johnson.
• December 17, 2008: The Sparks traded the rights to Chamique Holdsclaw to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft.
• April 21, 2008: The Sparks traded their first-round draft pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics as part of the Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Delisha Milton-Jones transaction.

^[6]

Date	Trade
December 17, 2008	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Atlanta Dream
	13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft	rights to Chamique Holdsclaw
January 30, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Minnesota Lynx
	Vanessa Hayden-Johnson	Christi Thomas
March 26, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Phoenix Mercury
	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Temeka Johnson
May 5, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To New York Liberty
	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Sidney Spencer
May 5, 2009	To Los Angeles Sparks	To Minnesota Lynx
	Noelle Quinn	Rafaella Masciadri and a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick

Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs PG 6 Bobbitt, Shannon 5' 2" (1.57m) 130 lb (59kg) Tennessee SG 24 Ferdinand-Harris, Marie 5' 9" (1.75m) 153 lb (69kg) LSU PG 10 Harrower, Kristi 5' 4" (1.63m) 139 lb (63kg) Australia C 55 Hayden, Vanessa 6' 4" (1.93m) 240 lb (109kg) Florida SG 22 Lennox, Betty 5' 8" (1.73m) 143 lb (65kg) Louisiana Tech C 9 Leslie, Lisa 6' 5" (1.96m) 170 lb (77kg) USC SF 8 Milton-Jones, DeLisha 6' 1" (1.85m) 185 lb (84kg) Florida F 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) Tennessee F 15 Pringle, LaToya 6' 3" (1.91m) 162 lb (73kg) North Carolina PG 45 Quinn, Noelle 6' 0" (1.83m) 175 lb (79kg) UCLA F 32 Thompson, Tina 6' 2" (1.88m) 178 lb (81kg) USC F 14 Wisdom-Hylton, Lindsay 6' 2" (1.88m) 186 lb (84kg) Purdue	Head coach Michael Cooper (New Mexico) Assistant coaches Laura Beeman (Cal State San Bernardino) Marianne Stanley (Immaculata University) Athletic trainer Rachel Schlachet (Arizona State) Strength and conditioning coach Bruce Deziel Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

Western Conference	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
Phoenix Mercury x	23	11	.676	–	12–5	11–6	13–7
Seattle Storm x	20	14	.588	3.0	13–4	7–10	13–7
Los Angeles Sparks x	18	16	.529	5.0	11–6	7–10	11–9
San Antonio Silver Stars x	15	19	.441	8.0	10–7	5–12	10–10
Minnesota Lynx o	14	20	.412	9.0	9–8	5–12	7–13
Sacramento Monarchs o	12	22	.353	11.0	7–10	5–12	6–14

2009 Game Log: Preseason Game Date Time (ET) Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 May 31 3:00pm @ Connecticut 80-77 Thompson (14) Leslie, Wisdom-Hylton (6) Lennox (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,630 1-0

2009 Game Log: Regular Season
June Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 1 June 6 2:30pm Detroit ABC 78-58 Thompson (18) Lennox (10) Harrower (7) STAPLES Center 13,154 1-0 2 June 8 7:30pm @ Detroit 52-81 Thompson (14) Thompson (11) Milton-Jones, Quinn (3) Palace of Auburn Hills 13,915 1-1 3 June 10 8:00pm @ Minnesota 76-87 Lennox (25) Lennox, Leslie (8) Quinn (4) Target Center 7,444 1-2 4 June 12 7:00pm @ Indiana 61-73 Leslie (21) Leslie (13) Harrower (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 9,320 1-3 5 June 19 10:00pm @ Phoenix 80-89 Lennox (16) Thompson (14) Quinn (6) US Airways Center 8,255 1-4 6 June 21 9:30pm Sacramento NBA TV FSNW 67-47 Hayden, Thompson (12) Hayden, Lennox (8) Bobbitt (5) STAPLES Center 9,494 2-4 7 June 26 10:00pm @ Seattle 67-69 Thompson (20) Milton-Jones (7) Lennox (5) KeyArena 9,686 2-5 8 June 28 9:30pm Seattle NBA TV FSNW 82-55 Ferdinand-Harris (15) Quinn (6) Harrower (5) STAPLES Center 10,797 3-5
July Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 9 July 5 9:30pm Phoenix NBA TV FSNW 89-104 Lennox, Thompson (17) Milton-Jones (7) Bobbitt (6) STAPLES Center 9,872 3-6 10 July 9 7:30pm @ New York MSG 69-60 Lennox (20) Thompson (8) Harrower, Ferdinand-Harris (3) Madison Square Garden 12,247 4-6 11 July 11 7:00pm @ Washington 63-75 Bobbitt, Lennox (10) Milton-Jones, Thompson (7) Harrower (3) Verizon Center 12,217 4-7 12 July 14 7:00pm @ Connecticut ESPN2 71-82 Milton-Jones (19) Lennox (11) Lennox, Milton-Jones, Parker (2) Mohegan Sun Arena 6,612 4-8 13 July 22 10:30pm @ Seattle 87-98 (3OT) Thompson (22) Lennox (12) Parker (5) KeyArena 7,154 4-9 14 July 28 8:00pm @ Minnesota 76-70 Thompson (30) Parker (10) Lennox, Thompson (4) Target Center 7,216 5-9 15 July 29 8:00pm @ Chicago 63-75 Milton-Jones (15) Parker (10) Thompson (4) UIC Pavilion 5,633 5-10
August Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 16 August 1 10:00pm @ Sacramento 59-56 Parker, Milton-Jones (13) Parker (12) Harrower (6) ARCO Arena 7,204 6-10 17 August 4 3:00pm San Antonio 59-63 Leslie, Quinn (13) Thompson (12) Quinn (4) STAPLES Center 13,865 6-11 18 August 6 10:30pm Seattle 79-75 (OT) Quinn (23) Parker (13) Leslie (4) STAPLES Center 9,735 7-11 19 August 10 10:30pm Indiana 75-63 Leslie (21) Leslie (11) Milton-Jones (4) STAPLES Center 8,263 8-11 20 August 11 9:00pm New York ESPN2 61-65 Leslie (12) Parker (11) Bobbitt, Harrower, Quinn (2) STAPLES Center 9,548 8-12 21 August 14 10:30pm Sacramento 79-85 Leslie (25) Parker (10) Quinn (5) STAPLES Center 10,122 8-13 22 August 15 10:00pm @ Sacramento 78-61 Parker (18) Leslie (9) Milton-Jones, Quinn, Thompson (4) ARCO Arena 7,646 9-13 23 August 18 10:30pm Washington 72-69 Leslie (20) Parker (12) Parker, Quinn (5) STAPLES Center 9,287 10-13 24 August 19 10:30pm Minnesota 78-63 Leslie (28) Parker (10) Quinn (7) STAPLES Center 9,181 11-13 25 August 21 8:00pm @ San Antonio NBA TV KMYS 67-66 (OT) Parker (17) Parker, Thompson (12) Leslie (4) AT&T Center 9,540 12-13 26 August 23 3:00pm @ Atlanta 91-87 Parker (23) Lennox, Parker (8) Thompson (6) Philips Arena 11,304 13-13 27 August 25 10:00pm Chicago ESPN2 75-63 Leslie, Parker (21) Parker (12) Bobbitt, Thompson (3) STAPLES Center 9,615 14-13 28 August 27 10:30pm Phoenix NBA TV FSNW 90-98 Leslie (23) Lennox (6) Quinn (8) STAPLES Center 9,586 14-14 29 August 30 9:30pm Connecticut NBA TV FSNW 91-81 Thompson (21) Parker (13) Milton-Jones, Quinn (5) STAPLES Center 11,072 15-14
September Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record 30 September 1 10:30pm Atlanta 79-84 Leslie (24) Parker (14) Lennox (5) STAPLES Center 8,756 15-15 31 September 5 8:00pm @ San Antonio 72-89 Leslie (21) Parker (10) Parker (8) AT&T Center 8,631 15-16 32 September 8 10:30pm San Antonio NBA TV KMYS 76-68 Leslie (18) Parker (13) Quinn (6) STAPLES Center 10,476 16-16 33 September 11 10:30pm Minnesota NBA TV FSNW 90-64 Leslie, Thompson (19) Parker (14) Quinn (9) STAPLES Center 13,764 17-16 34 September 13 3:00pm @ Phoenix ESPN2 81–78 Parker (24) Parker (14) Lennox (6) US Airways Center 12,968 18–16
All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess

2009 Game Log: Postseason
Western Conference Semifinals Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 September 16 10:00pm Seattle ESPN2 70-63 Thompson (16) Leslie, Parker (10) Harrower (5) STAPLES Center 7,919 1-0 2 September 18 10:00pm @ Seattle NBA TV 74-75 Lennox (17) Leslie (14) Quinn (5) KeyArena 8,854 1-1 3 September 20 5:00pm @ Seattle ESPN2 75-64 Parker (22) Milton-Jones (9) Quinn (7) KeyArena 8,159 2-1
Western Conference Finals Game Date Time (ET) Opponent TV Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Series 1 September 23 10:00pm Phoenix ESPN2 94-103 Parker (28) Parker (10) Thompson (5) Pauley Pavilion[7] 6,389 0-1 2 September 25 10:00pm @ Phoenix NBA TV 87-76 Parker (24) Parker (18) Quinn (4) US Airways Center 7,628 1-1 3 September 26 10:00pm @ Phoenix NBA TV 74-85 Leslie (22) Thompson (11) Lennox, Thompson (3) US Airways Center 7,226 1-2

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Player	GP	GS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Shannon Bobbitt	33	3	10.7	1.0	1.4	0.45	0.03	2.2
Marie Ferdinand-Harris	28	6	12.1	1.5	0.9	0.54	0.07	5.4
Kristi Harrower	31	26	16.8	1.8	2.2	0.52	0.00	3.1
Vanessa Hayden	25	1	10.8	2.7	0.2	0.16	0.88	3.8
Betty Lennox	30	13	21.3	4.5	1.8	0.87	0.13	10.2
Lisa Leslie	23	21	27.7	6.6	2.1	0.70	1.43	15.4
Delisha Milton-Jones	33	33	31.6	4.8	2.2	1.24	0.24	10.2
Candace Parker	25	24	32.6	9.8	2.6	0.60	2.12	13.1
Noelle Quinn	34	9	27.3	3.6	3.5	1.18	0.32	8.4
Tina Thompson	34	34	34.8	5.9	2.3	0.76	0.71	13.0
Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton	29	0	6.8	1.4	0.3	0.10	0.28	2.4

Team	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
Los Angeles Sparks	.430	.297	.791	36.7	17.3	6.4	4.9	16.7	17.1	74.5
Opponents	.399	.335	.769	30.9	15.2	8.8	3.4	13.6	18.3	73.5

• Candace Parker was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of August 17, 2009.
• Candace Parker was named WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for the week of September 7, 2009.
• Lisa Leslie was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as a Western Conference starter.
• Tina Thompson was named to the 2009 WNBA All-Star Team as a Western Conference reserve.
• Candace Parker was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
• Lisa Leslie was named to the All-WNBA Second Team.
• Candace Parker was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.