2009 Los Angeles Sparks season explained

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.

Offseason

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]

Dispersal Draft

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

WNBA draft

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

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

^[5]

Transactions

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	width=400	To Los Angeles Sparks	width=400	To Atlanta Dream
December 17, 2008	13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft	rights to Chamique Holdsclaw
January 30, 2009	width=400	To Los Angeles Sparks	width=400	To Minnesota Lynx
January 30, 2009	Vanessa Hayden-Johnson	Christi Thomas
March 26, 2009	width=400	To Los Angeles Sparks	width=400	To Phoenix Mercury
March 26, 2009	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Temeka Johnson
May 5, 2009	width=400	To Los Angeles Sparks	width=400	To New York Liberty
May 5, 2009	first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick	Sidney Spencer
May 5, 2009	width=400	To Los Angeles Sparks	width=400	To Minnesota Lynx
May 5, 2009	Noelle Quinn	Rafaella Masciadri and a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Tina Thompson	March 12, 2009	Houston Comets
Betty Lennox	April 14, 2009	Atlanta Dream
Noelle Quinn	May 5, 2009	Minnesota Lynx
Kristi Harrower	May 7, 2009	Minnesota Lynx

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team
Temeka Johnson	March 26, 2009	Phoenix Mercury
Murriel Page	April 14, 2009	free agent
Kiesha Brown	May 1, 2009	Washington Mystics
Sidney Spencer	May 5, 2009	New York Liberty
Rafaella Masciadri	May 5, 2009	Minnesota Lynx
Britney Jordan	May 18, 2009	free agent
Ashley Paris	June 4, 2009	free agent
Jessica Moore	June 5, 2009	free agent
Margo Dydek	2009	free agent

Schedule

Preseason

|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 1 || May 31 || 3:00pm || @ Connecticut || 80-77 || Thompson (14) || Leslie, Wisdom-Hylton (6) || Lennox (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena
6,630 || 1-0|-

Regular season

|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 1 || June 6 || 2:30pm || Detroit || ABC || 78-58 || Thompson (18) || Lennox (10) || Harrower (7) || STAPLES Center
13,154 || 1-0|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 2 || June 8 || 7:30pm || @ Detroit || || 52-81 || Thompson (14) || Thompson (11) || Milton-Jones, Quinn (3) || Palace of Auburn Hills
13,915 || 1-1|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 3 || June 10 || 8:00pm || @ Minnesota || || 76-87 || Lennox (25) || Lennox, Leslie (8) || Quinn (4) || Target Center
7,444 || 1-2|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 4 || June 12 || 7:00pm || @ Indiana || || 61-73 || Leslie (21) || Leslie (13) || Harrower (3) || Conseco Fieldhouse
9,320 || 1-3|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 5 || June 19 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || || 80-89 || Lennox (16) || Thompson (14) || Quinn (6) || US Airways Center
8,255 || 1-4|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 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|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 7 || June 26 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || || 67-69 || Thompson (20) || Milton-Jones (7) || Lennox (5) || KeyArena
9,686 || 2-5|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 8 || June 28 || 9:30pm || Seattle || NBA TV
FSNW || 82-55 || Ferdinand-Harris (15) || Quinn (6) || Harrower (5) || STAPLES Center
10,797 || 3-5|-|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 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|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 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|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 11 || July 11 || 7:00pm || @ Washington || || 63-75 || Bobbitt, Lennox (10) || Milton-Jones, Thompson (7) || Harrower (3) || Verizon Center
12,217 || 4-7|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 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|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 13 || July 22 || 10:30pm || @ Seattle || || 87-98 (3OT) || Thompson (22) || Lennox (12) || Parker (5) || KeyArena
7,154 || 4-9|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 14 || July 28 || 8:00pm || @ Minnesota || || 76-70 || Thompson (30) || Parker (10) || Lennox, Thompson (4) || Target Center
7,216 || 5-9|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 15 || July 29 || 8:00pm|| @ Chicago || || 63-75 || Milton-Jones (15) || Parker (10) || Thompson (4) || UIC Pavilion
5,633 || 5-10|-|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 16 || August 1 || 10:00pm || @ Sacramento || || 59-56 || Parker, Milton-Jones (13) || Parker (12) || Harrower (6) || ARCO Arena
7,204 || 6-10|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 17 || August 4 || 3:00pm || San Antonio || || 59-63 || Leslie, Quinn (13) || Thompson (12) || Quinn (4) || STAPLES Center
13,865 || 6-11|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 18 || August 6 || 10:30pm || Seattle || || 79-75 (OT) || Quinn (23) || Parker (13) || Leslie (4) || STAPLES Center
9,735 || 7-11|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 19 || August 10 || 10:30pm || Indiana || || 75-63 || Leslie (21) || Leslie (11) || Milton-Jones (4) || STAPLES Center
8,263 || 8-11|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 20 || August 11 || 9:00pm || New York || ESPN2 || 61-65 || Leslie (12) || Parker (11) || Bobbitt, Harrower, Quinn (2) || STAPLES Center
9,548 || 8-12|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 21 || August 14 || 10:30pm || Sacramento || || 79-85 || Leslie (25) || Parker (10) || Quinn (5) || STAPLES Center
10,122 || 8-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 22 || August 15 || 10:00pm || @ Sacramento || || 78-61 || Parker (18) || Leslie (9) || Milton-Jones, Quinn, Thompson (4) || ARCO Arena
7,646 || 9-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 23 || August 18 || 10:30pm || Washington || || 72-69 || Leslie (20) || Parker (12) || Parker, Quinn (5) || STAPLES Center
9,287 || 10-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 24 || August 19 || 10:30pm || Minnesota || || 78-63 || Leslie (28) || Parker (10) || Quinn (7) || STAPLES Center
9,181 || 11-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 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|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 26 || August 23 || 3:00pm || @ Atlanta || || 91-87 || Parker (23) || Lennox, Parker (8) || Thompson (6) || Philips Arena
11,304 || 13-13|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 27 || August 25 || 10:00pm || Chicago || ESPN2 || 75-63 || Leslie, Parker (21) || Parker (12) || Bobbitt, Thompson (3) || STAPLES Center
9,615 || 14-13|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 28 || August 27 || 10:30pm || Phoenix || NBA TV
FSNW || 90-98 || Leslie (23) || Lennox (6) || Quinn (8) || STAPLES Center
9,586 || 14-14|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 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|-|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 30 || September 1 || 10:30pm || Atlanta || || 79-84 || Leslie (24) || Parker (14) || Lennox (5) || STAPLES Center
8,756 || 15-15|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 31 || September 5 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || || 72-89 || Leslie (21) || Parker (10) || Parker (8) || AT&T Center
8,631 || 15-16|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 32 || September 8 || 10:30pm || San Antonio || NBA TV
KMYS || 76-68 || Leslie (18) || Parker (13) || Quinn (6) || STAPLES Center
10,476 || 16-16|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 33 || September 11 || 10:30pm || Minnesota || NBA TV
FSNW || 90-64 || Leslie, Thompson (19) || Parker (14) || Quinn (9) || STAPLES Center
13,764 || 17-16|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 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

Postseason

|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 1 || September 16 || 10:00pm || Seattle || ESPN2 || 70-63 || Thompson (16) || Leslie, Parker (10) || Harrower (5) || STAPLES Center
7,919 || 1-0|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 2 || September 18 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || NBA TV || 74-75 || Lennox (17) || Leslie (14) || Quinn (5) || KeyArena
8,854 || 1-1|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 3 || September 20 || 5:00pm || @ Seattle || ESPN2 || 75-64 || Parker (22) || Milton-Jones (9) || Quinn (7) || KeyArena
8,159 || 2-1|-|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 1 || September 23 || 10:00pm || Phoenix || ESPN2 || 94-103 || Parker (28) || Parker (10) || Thompson (5) || Pauley Pavilion^[7]
6,389 ||0-1|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb"| 2 || September 25 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || NBA TV || 87-76 || Parker (24) || Parker (18) || Quinn (4) || US Airways Center
7,628 || 1-1|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb"| 3 || September 26 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || NBA TV || 74-85 || Leslie (22) || Thompson (11) || Lennox, Thompson (3) || US Airways Center
7,226 || 1-2|-

Regular Season Statistics

Player statistics

GP	GS	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
33	3	10.7	1.0	1.4	0.45	0.03	2.2
28	6	12.1	1.5	0.9	0.54	0.07	5.4
31	26	16.8	1.8	2.2	0.52	0.00	3.1
25	1	10.8	2.7	0.2	0.16	0.88	3.8
30	13	21.3	4.5	1.8	0.87	0.13	10.2
23	21	27.7	6.6	2.1	0.70	1.43	15.4
33	33	31.6	4.8	2.2	1.24	0.24	10.2
25	24	32.6	9.8	2.6	0.60	2.12	13.1
34	9	27.3	3.6	3.5	1.18	0.32	8.4
34	34	34.8	5.9	2.3	0.76	0.71	13.0
29	0	6.8	1.4	0.3	0.10	0.28	2.4

Team statistics

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

Awards and honors

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.

Notes and References

News: Biggest Retirements of 2009 . https://archive.today/20120715121103/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1151810/6/7/index.htm . dead . July 15, 2012 . CNN . April 23, 2010.
http://www.spmsportspage.com/published/pr/los-angeles-sparks-and-fa.shtml{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
https://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news;_ylt=AlGyq05IMxe9AD_a3129nNRbvrYF?slug=ap-parker-baby&prov=ap&type=lgns
http://www.wnba.com/news/comets_dispersal_081208.html WNBA.com: Houston Comets dispersal draft
Web site: WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board . https://web.archive.org/web/20090725061746/http://www.wnba.com/draft2009/draft_board.html . 2009-07-25 . dead . 2009-07-23 .
http://www.wnba.com/transactions/WNBA_2009.html WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions
http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/092209aac.html Bruin Alumnae Return To Pauley Pavilion For LA Sparks Playoff Game Wednesday