# 2000 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2000 WNBA season was the fourth season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The team set a 28-4 record, the best in league history, but they were unable to go for the WNBA Finals, losing in the conference finals in a sweep to the Houston Comets.

## Transactions
### Indiana Fever expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Indiana Fever expansion draft from the Los Angeles Sparks:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Gordana Grubin | Yugoslavia | MiZo Pécs (Hungary) |

### Seattle Storm expansion draft

The following player was selected in the Seattle Storm expansion draft from the Los Angeles Sparks:
| Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| Nina Bjedov | Yugoslavia | Basket Bees Treviglio (Italy) |

### WNBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country |
| 1 | 15 | Nicole Kubik | United States | Nebraska |
| 2 | 31 | Paige Sauer | United States | UConn |
| 3 | 47 | Marte Alexander | United States | Arizona |
| 4 | 63 | Nicky McCrimmon | United States | USC |

### Transactions

| Date | Transaction |
| September 30, 1999 | Head Coach Orlando Woolridge retires from coaching |
| October 14, 1999 | Hired Michael Cooper as Head Coach |
| December 15, 1999 | Lost Nina Bjedov to the Seattle Storm in the WNBA expansion draft |
| December 15, 1999 | Lost Gordana Grubin to the Indiana Fever in the WNBA expansion draft |
| April 25, 2000 | Drafted Nicole Kubik, Paige Sauer, Marte Alexander and Nicky McCrimmon in the 2000 WNBA Draft |
| May 30, 2000 | Waived Nicole Kubik |
| October 11, 2000 | Traded La'Keshia Frett to the Sacramento Monarchs in exchange for Latasha Byears |
| October 11, 2000 | Traded Allison Feaster and Clarisse Machanguana to the Charlotte Sting in exchange for Rhonda Mapp and E.C. Hill |

## Schedule
### Regular season

2000 game log Total: 28–4 (Home: 15–1; Road: 13–3) :
May: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 31
Utah
W 69-62
Mwadi Mabika (21)
Lisa Leslie (11)
Leslie Mabika (4)
Great Western Forum
1–0 :
June: 10–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 6–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
2
June 3
@ Minnesota
W 82-75
Lisa Leslie (21)
Lisa Leslie (11)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (5)
Target Center
2–0
3
June 6
Portland
W 70-57
Lisa Leslie (19)
Allison Feaster (7)
Dixon Figgs Mabika (3)
Great Western Forum
3–0
4
June 10
Phoenix
W 76-57
DeLisha Milton-Jones (17)
Lisa Leslie (10)
Dixon Mabika (5)
Great Western Forum
4–0
5
June 11
@ Sacramento
L 68-75
Lisa Leslie (19)
Lisa Leslie (11)
Mwadi Mabika (6)
ARCO Arena
4–1
6
June 13
@ Seattle
L 59-69 (OT)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (13)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (9)
Ukari Figgs (4)
KeyArena
4–2
7
June 17
@ Portland
W 94-81
Mwadi Mabika (26)
Mwadi Mabika (10)
Dixon Figgs (4)
Rose Garden
5–2
8
June 18
Charlotte
W 70-62
Mwadi Mabika (21)
Allison Feaster (6)
Ukari Figgs (5)
Great Western Forum
6–2
9
June 20
Houston
W 90-84
Leslie Mabika (21)
Lisa Leslie (14)
Ukari Figgs (8)
Great Western Forum
7–2
10
June 23
@ Miami
W 68-54
Lisa Leslie (17)
Lisa Leslie (13)
Tamecka Dixon (4)
American Airlines Arena
8–2
11
June 25
@ New York
W 72-67
Lisa Leslie (22)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (11)
Mwadi Mabika (6)
Madison Square Garden
9–2
12
June 26
@ Washington
W 74-72
Tamecka Dixon (13)
Lisa Leslie (14)
Figgs Mabika McCrimmon (4)
MCI Center
10–2
13
June 28
@ Indiana
W 82-73
Mwadi Mabika (19)
Lisa Leslie (13)
Ukari Figgs (9)
Conseco Fieldhouse
11–2 :
July: 14–1 (Home: 10–1; Road: 4–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
14
July 1
Cleveland
W 75-67
Lisa Leslie (22)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (12)
Mwadi Mabika (6)
Great Western Forum
12–2
15
July 2
Detroit
W 85-63
Mwadi Mabika (21)
Lisa Leslie (12)
Tamecka Dixon (8)
Great Western Forum
13–2
16
July 5
@ Sacramento
W 76-61
Mwadi Mabika (23)
Lisa Leslie (9)
Figgs Mabika (5)
ARCO Arena
14–2
17
July 6
Washington
W 79-70
Lisa Leslie (21)
Lisa Leslie (13)
Nicky McCrimmon (6)
Great Western Forum
15–2
18
July 9
Utah
W 92-72
Lisa Leslie (22)
Leslie Machanguana (5)
Ukari Figgs (7)
Great Western Forum
16–2
19
July 11
Portland
L 77-80
Mwadi Mabika (22)
Lisa Leslie (7)
Figgs Milton-Jones (4)
Great Western Forum
16–3
20
July 14
Houston
W 63-58
Mwadi Mabika (15)
Leslie Mabika (8)
Ukari Figgs (5)
Great Western Forum
17–3
21
July 15
Minnesota
W 58-57
Lisa Leslie (24)
Lisa Leslie (13)
Dixon Figgs (3)
Great Western Forum
18–3
22
July 20
New York
W 82-66
Lisa Leslie (21)
Lisa Leslie (14)
Ukari Figgs (9)
Great Western Forum
19–3
23
July 21
@ Phoenix
W 74-68
Lisa Leslie (30)
Lisa Leslie (16)
Figgs McCrimmon (5)
America West Arena
20–3
24
July 23
Sacramento
W 73-68
Lisa Leslie (20)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (11)
Tamecka Dixon (7)
Great Western Forum
21–3
25
July 25
Orlando
W 78-63
Lisa Leslie (17)
Lisa Leslie (11)
Ukari Figgs (6)
Charlotte Coliseum
22–3
26
July 27
Seattle
W 76-63
Lisa Leslie (18)
Lisa Leslie (7)
Ukari Figgs (5)
Great Western Forum
23–3
27
July 29
@ Houston
W 84-74
Tamecka Dixon (19)
Lisa Leslie (10)
Mwadi Mabika (6)
Compaq Center
24–3
28
July 31
@ Minnesota
W 73-66
DeLisha Milton-Jones (18)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (14)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (6)
Target Center
25–3 :
August: 3–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
29
August 2
@ Detroit
W 84-81
Lisa Leslie (27)
DeLisha Milton-Jones (6)
Dixon Leslie Milton-Jones (3)
The Palace of Auburn Hills
26–3
30
August 5
@ Phoenix
W 77-63
Lisa Leslie (22)
Lisa Leslie (14)
Tamecka Dixon (7)
America West Arena
27–3
31
August 8
@ Seattle
W 60-52 (OT)
Tamecka Dixon (17)
Mwadi Mabika (12)
Mwadi Mabika (3)
KeyArena
28–3
32
August 9
@ Utah
L 77-89
Lisa Leslie (18)
Lisa Leslie (10)
Dixon Leslie McCrimmon (3)
Delta Center
28–4 :

### Playoffs

2000 playoff game log :
First round vs. Phoenix Mercury Won Series: 2–0
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 11
@ Phoenix
W 86–71
Lisa Leslie (20)
Lisa Leslie (11)
Tamecka Dixon (5)
America West Arena
1–0
2
August 13
Phoenix
W 101–76
Lisa Leslie (29)
Leslie Mabika (8)
Tamecka Dixon (7)
Great Western Forum
2–0 :
Conference Finals vs. Houston Comets Lost Series: 0–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
August 17
@ Houston
L 56–77
Mwadi Mabika (21)
Lisa Leslie (8)
Figgs Milton-Jones (4)
Compaq Center
0–1
2
August 20
Houston
L 69–74
Mwadi Mabika (19)
Lisa Leslie (14)
Leslie Figgs (5)
Great Western Forum
0–2 :
2000 playoff schedule :

### Season standings

| Western Conference | W | L | PCT | Conf. | GB |
| Los Angeles Sparks $^x$ | 28 | 4 | .875 | 17–4 | – |
| Houston Comets $^x$ | 27 | 5 | .844 | 17–4 | 1.0 |
| Sacramento Monarchs $^x$ | 21 | 11 | .656 | 13–8 | 7.0 |
| Phoenix Mercury $^x$ | 20 | 12 | .625 | 11–10 | 8.0 |
| Utah Starzz $^o$ | 18 | 14 | .563 | 13–8 | 10.0 |
| Minnesota Lynx $^o$ | 15 | 17 | .469 | 5–16 | 13.0 |
| Portland Fire $^o$ | 10 | 22 | .313 | 4–17 | 18.0 |
| Seattle Storm $^o$ | 6 | 26 | .188 | 4–17 | 22.0 |

## Statistics
### Regular Season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Lisa Leslie | 32 | 32 | 32.1 | .458 | .219 | .824 | 9.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 17.8 |
| DeLisha Milton-Jones | 32 | 32 | 30.7 | .512 | .250 | .745 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 11.8 |
| Mwadi Mabika | 32 | 32 | 29.4 | .388 | .384 | .820 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 12.3 |
| Tamecka Dixon | 31 | 31 | 28.5 | .454 | .353 | .805 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 10.9 |
| Ukari Figgs | 32 | 32 | 25.1 | .431 | .354 | .831 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 6.7 |
| Nicky McCrimmon | 32 | 0 | 15.3 | .506 | .485 | .500 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 3.2 |
| Allison Feaster | 32 | 0 | 14.7 | .359 | .259 | .833 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 6.3 |
| Clarisse Machanguana | 31 | 1 | 13.6 | .578 | .000 | .560 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3.5 |
| Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca | 18 | 0 | 10.2 | .274 | .059 | .609 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| La'Keshia Frett | 25 | 0 | 7.5 | .275 | .000 | .750 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| Paige Sauer | 12 | 0 | 5.5 | .571 | N/A | .800 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
$^‡$Waived/Released during the season $^†$Traded during the season $^≠$Acquired during the season