# 2016 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2016 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 15 at home, against the Seattle Storm.
The Sparks started the season well, winning all five of their games in May. Three of the five wins came by double-digits, and the closest was a five-point win over Connecticut on May 26. The team continued its hot streak into June and did not lose until June 21. The three-point loss, which came at home against Minnesota, ended an eleven-game winning streak. The Sparks got revenge on Minnesota, winning three days later in Minnesota by a score of 94–76. The Sparks did not lose again in June and finished the month with a 10–1 record. The team went on a nine-game winning streak, which lasted until July 17. They then lost back-to-back games for the first time in the season, with losses coming on the road against Atlanta and Indiana. The team won its final game heading into the Olympic break to finish July 6–2. The return from the break was a rocky one with the Sparks losing both of their games in August. However, a trip to Texas to begin September saw the team return to its winning ways when they defeated San Antonio and Dallas. The Sparks lost three straight games from September 6 to September 11 before finishing the season with two wins. Their September record was 5–3 and they finished the season 26–8 overall.
The Sparks' 26–8 record earned them the second overall seed in the WNBA Playoffs and they finished two games behind top seed Minnesota. The Sparks earned a bye into the semifinals where they matched-up with fourth seed Chicago. The Sparks won the first two games at home, 95–75 and 99–84. When the series moved to Chicago, the Sparks lost Game 3 66–70. A return to Los Angeles wasn't needed as the Sparks won Game 4 95–75 to advance to the WNBA Finals and matched-up with first seed Minnesota. The series began in Minnesota and the Sparks won Game 1 78–76, but lost Game 2 60–79. The two teams again split Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles, with the Sparks winning Game 3 92–75 and losing Game 4 79–85. In the deciding Game 5, the Sparks won in Minnesota 77–76 to secure their third WNBA title.

## Transactions
### WNBA draft

The Sparks made three selections in the 2016 WNBA Entry Draft in Uncasville, Connecticut:
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | WNBA Team | School/Team/Country |
| 2 | 15 | Whitney Knight | United States | Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun | Florida Gulf Coast |
| 2 | 23 | Brianna Butler | United States | Los Angeles Sparks from Connecticut Sun | Syracuse |
| 3 | 29 | Talia Walton | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | Washington |

### Trades and Roster Changes

| Date | Transaction |
| February 11, 2016 | Signed Candace Parker |
| February 17, 2016 | Signed Nneka Ogwumike |
| March 1, 2016 | Acquired Riquna Williams and the 6th pick in the 2016 WNBA draft from the Dallas Wings in exchange for Erin Phillips, the 5th pick in the 2016 draft and, the 11th pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. |
| March 31, 2016 | Signed Essence Carson |
| April 14, 2016 | Acquired Chelsea Gray, the 15th and 23rd picks in the 2016 draft, and the 4th pick in the 2017 draft from the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Jonquel Jones and the 17th pick in the 2016 draft. |
| May 11, 2016 | Waived Talia Walton |
| August 30, 2016 | Waived Whitney Knight |

## Schedule
### Pre-season

2016 pre-season game log Total: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0) :
Pre-season: 3–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
May 7
Atlanta
W 88–80
Candace Parker (22)
Rebecca Tobin (10)
Gray, Dabović (4)
Pasadena College 460
1–0
2
May 9
@ San Antonio
W 77–70
Chelsea Gray (18)
Chelsea Gray (6)
Ana Dabović (7)
AT&T Center 2,307
2–0
3
May 10
@ Atlanta
W 69–63
Essence Carson (11)
Parker, Wauters (6)
Chelsea Gray (3)
McCamish Pavillion 1,385
3–0 :
2016 season schedule :

### Regular season

2016 game log Total: 26–8 (Home: 14–3 Road: 12–5) :
May: 5–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 4–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1May 15SeattleW 96–66Candace Parker (34)Nneka Ogwumike (7)Parker, Toliver (4)Staples Center 10,5911–0
2May 20@ WashingtonW 97–67Kristi Toliver (19)Candace Parker (9)Candace Parker (6)Verizon Center 7,8072–0
3May 21@ New YorkW 79–72Nneka Ogwumike (25)Nneka Ogwumike (15)Dabović, Parker, Toliver (3)Madison Square Garden 9,4173–0
4May 24@ ChicagoW 93–80Candace Parker (26)Ogwumike, Parker (9)Kristi Toliver (10)Allstate Arena 5,5544–0
5May 26@ ConnecticutW 77–72Candace Parker (22)Nneka Ogwumike (11)Ogwumike, Parker, Toliver (4)Mohegan Sun Arena 4,7665–0 :
June: 10–1 (Home: 7–1; Road: 3–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6June 2San AntonioW 68–61Nneka Ogwumike (21)Nneka Ogwumike (10)Candace Parker (7)Staples Center 8,3416–0
7June 4@ San AntonioW 74–61Candace Parker (15)Kristi Toliver (7)Gray, Lavender (3)AT&T Center 5,4037–0
8June 7New YorkW 100–77Jantel Lavender (22)Nneka Ogwumike (10)Chelsea Gray (6)Staples Center 7,1038–0
9June 11@ DallasW 97–73Nneka Ogwumike (32)Nneka Ogwumike (10)Candace Parker (6)College Park Center 5,0619–0
10June 14ChicagoW 98–85Nneka Ogwumike (27)Nneka Ogwumike (12)Alana Beard (6)Staples Center 7,34810–0
11June 17PhoenixW 77–71Candace Parker (24)Candace Parker (11)Nneka Ogwumike (5)Staples Center 8,96411–0
12June 21MinnesotaL 69–72Kristi Toliver (20)Candace Parker (8)Candace Parker (6)Staples Center 9,11211–1
13June 24@ MinnesotaW 94–76Kristi Toliver (25)Ogwumike, Parker (9)Alana Beard (7)Target Center 13,00312–1
14June 26ConnecticutW 80–73Nneka Ogwumike (27)Kristi Toliver (8)Kristi Toliver (5)Staples Center 9,44113–1
15June 28DallasW 89–84Candace Parker (31)Candace Parker (13)Candace Parker (7)Staples Center 7,82314–1
16June 30AtlantaW 84–75Nneka Ogwumike (38)Nneka Ogwumike (11)Kristi Toliver (8)Staples Center 10,21515–1 :
July: 6–2 (Home: 3–0; Road: 3–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
17July 3New YorkW 77–67Nneka Ogwumike (22)Nneka Ogwumike (15)Kristi Toliver (6)Staples Center 10,00316–1
18July 6IndianaW 94–88Nneka Ogwumike (23)Jantel Lavender (7)Chelsea Gray (8)Staples Center 8,22417–1
19July 10WashingtonW 93–82Candace Parker (26)Candace Parker (11)Candace Parker (9)Staples Center 19,07618–1
20July 13@ ChicagoW 77–67Nneka Ogwumike (20)Nneka Ogwumike (11)Candace Parker (9)Allstate Arena 16,44419–1
21July 15@ ConnecticutW 98–92Jantel Lavender (25)Lavender, Ogwumike (10)Candace Parker (7)Mohegan Sun Arena 6,43020–1
22July 17@ AtlantaL 74–91Nneka Ogwumike (26)Nneka Ogwumike (12)Candace Parker (5)Philips Arena 7,55120–2
23July 19@ IndianaL 82–92Kristi Toliver (18)Nneka Ogwumike (14)Nneka Ogwumike (7)Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,26920–3
24July 22@ WashingtonW 95–75Nneka Ogwumike (24)Nneka Ogwumike (14)Candace Parker (6)Verizon Center 5,45521–3 :
August: 0–2 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
25August 26@ SeattleL 72–79Nneka Ogwumike (28)Candace Parker (10)Candace Parker (6)KeyArena 9,48121–4
26August 28@ PhoenixL 66–70Candace Parker (25)Candace Parker (13)Candace Parker (7)Talking Stick Resort Arena 11,90521–5 :
September: 5–3 (Home: 3–2; Road: 2–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
27September 1@ San AntonioW 70–61Kristi Toliver (21)Beard, Ogwumike (9)Parker, Toliver (6)AT&T Center 3,99222–5
28September 2@ DallasW 87–79Nneka Ogwumike (28)Nneka Ogwumike (12)Candace Parker (5)College Park Center 5,17623–5
29September 4IndianaW 88–81Nneka Ogwumike (21)Nneka Ogwumike (6)Nneka Ogwumike (8)Staples Center 11,33224–5
30September 6MinnesotaL 74–77Nneka Ogwumike (19)Ogwumike, Parker (8)Candace Parker (7)Staples Center 7,22424–6
31September 8AtlantaL 81–86Carson, Gray, Parker (16)Nneka Ogwumike (8)Ana Dabović (5)Staples Center 6,15224–7
32September 11@ SeattleL 60–78Candace Parker (20)Candace Parker (10)Alana Beard (4)KeyArena 9,34824–8
33September 13PhoenixW 90–85Nneka Ogwumike (24)Nneka Ogwumike (10)Kristi Toliver (7)Staples Center 9,37125–8
34September 16San AntonioW 71–65Nneka Ogwumike (17)Nneka Ogwumike (10)Nneka Ogwumike (4)Staples Center 13,51926–8 :
2016 season schedule :

### Playoffs

2016 playoff game log :
Semifinals vs. Chicago Won Series: 3–1
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
September 28
Chicago
W 95–75
Candace Parker (30)
Nneka Ogwumike (10)
Nneka Ogwumike (6)
Walter Pyramid 3,894
1–0
2
September 30
Chicago
W 99–84
Lavender, Parker (20)
Candace Parker (12)
Candace Parker (8)
Staples Center 7,855
2–0
3
October 2
@ Chicago
L 66–70
Nneka Ogwumike (22)
Candace Parker (15)
Candace Parker (6)
Allstate Arena 5,018
2–1
4
October 4
@ Chicago
W 95–75
Candace Parker (29)
Nneka Ogwumike (9)
Chelsea Gray (7)
Allstate Arena 3,841
3–1 :
Finals vs. Minnesota Won Series: 3–2
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1October 9@ MinnesotaW 78–76Ogwumike, Toliver (19)Ogwumike, Parker (9)Chelsea Gray (4)Target Center 12,1131–0
2October 11@ MinnesotaL 60–79Nneka Ogwumike (14)Nneka Ogwumike (12)Beard, Carson, Parker (3)Target Center 12,8321–1
3October 14MinnesotaW 92–75Candace Parker (24)Ogwumike, Parker (9)Alana Beard (7)Galen Center 8,0932–1
4October 16MinnesotaL 79–85Chelsea Gray (20)Nneka Ogwumike (8)Alana Beard (4)Staples Center 12,8852–2
5October 20@ MinnesotaW 77–76Candace Parker (28)Ogwumike, Parker (12)Alana Beard (6)Target Center 19,4233–2 :
2016 playoff schedule :

## Standings

| Western Conference vte | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Conf. |
| 1 - Minnesota Lynx | 28 | 6 | .824 | — | 15–2 | 13–4 | 15–1 |
| 2 - Los Angeles Sparks | 26 | 8 | .765 | 2 | 14–3 | 12–5 | 11–5 |
| 7 - Seattle Storm | 16 | 18 | .471 | 12 | 10–7 | 6–11 | 7–9 |
| 8 - Phoenix Mercury | 16 | 18 | .471 | 12 | 11–6 | 5–12 | 6–10 |
| e - Dallas Wings | 11 | 23 | .324 | 17 | 6–11 | 5–12 | 8–8 |
| e - San Antonio Stars | 7 | 27 | .206 | 21 | 4–13 | 3–14 | 1–15 |

## Playoffs

The Sparks qualified for the 2016 playoffs, and, as the team with the second-best regular season record in the WNBA, received two automatic byes, advancing straight to the best-of-five semifinal.
| First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | First round: Single elimination (Sept. 21) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Second round: Single elimination (Sept. 24 and 25) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (Sept. 28 – Oct. 6) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (Oct. 9 – 20) |
| | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 113 | 96 | 82 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 3 | New York Liberty | 94 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | Phoenix Mercury | 95 | 86 | 67 | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Indiana Fever | 78 | 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 101 | | | | | | | 1 | Minnesota Lynx | 76 | 79 | 75 | 85 | 76 |
| 8 | Phoenix Mercury | 89 | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 78 | 60 | 92 | 79 | 77 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Los Angeles Sparks | 95 | 99 | 66 | 95 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Chicago Sky | 108 | 4 | Chicago Sky | 75 | 84 | 70 | 75 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Atlanta Dream | 94 | 6 | Atlanta Dream | 98 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Seattle Storm | 85 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Note: Teams re-seeded after second round and semi-finals.

## Statistics
### Regular season

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 33 | 33 | 31.6 | 66.5% | 61.5% | 86.9% | 9.1 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 19.7 |
| Candace Parker | 34 | 34 | 30.8 | 44.2% | 38.2% | 70.7% | 7.4 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 15.3 |
| Kristi Toliver | 33 | 33 | 32.1 | 42.6% | 42.4% | 88.9% | 2.6 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 13.2 |
| Jantel Lavender | 34 | 0 | 19.4 | 53.8% | 0.0% | 68.3% | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 9.6 |
| Essence Carson | 34 | 34 | 23.3 | 44.9% | 35.9% | 89.1% | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 8.1 |
| Alana Beard | 34 | 34 | 29.3 | 46.7% | 34.2% | 69.2% | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 7.1 |
| Chelsea Gray | 33 | 1 | 16.4 | 45.2% | 30.4% | 78.0% | 1.8 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.9 |
| Ana Dabović | 22 | 0 | 10.7 | 37.0% | 15.8% | 75.9% | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Evgeniya Belyakova | 21 | 0 | 11.3 | 29.6% | 17.9% | 43.8% | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| Jelena Dubljević | 15 | 0 | 5.3 | 40.9% | 33.3% | 100% | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.5 |
| Ann Wauters | 21 | 1 | 4.6 | 54.5% | — | 75.0% | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 7 | 0 | 5.3 | 33.3% | — | 100% | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.0 |
| Whitney Knight | 7 | 0 | 3.9 | 20.0% | 28.6% | — | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.9 |

### Playoffs

| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| Candace Parker | 9 | 9 | 33.0 | 46.9% | 31.3% | 77.8% | 8.7 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 19.3 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 9 | 9 | 31.3 | 62.5% | 22.2% | 76.3% | 9.3 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 17.9 |
| Kristi Toliver | 9 | 9 | 32.2 | 40.5% | 41.4% | 85.2% | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 12.8 |
| Chelsea Gray | 9 | 0 | 22.1 | 40.6% | 39.1% | 83.3% | 1.7 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 9.0 |
| Alana Beard | 9 | 9 | 31.1 | 45.6% | 50.0% | 77.8% | 3.8 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 8.0 |
| Jantel Lavender | 9 | 0 | 15.6 | 60.7% | 0.0% | — | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 7.6 |
| Essence Carson | 9 | 9 | 25.2 | 33.3% | 25.8% | 50.0% | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 6.7 |
| Jelena Dubljević | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | 50.0% | — | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Ann Wauters | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | 50.0% | — | — | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Ana Dabović | 6 | 0 | 8.0 | 7.1% | 14.3% | 100% | 0.3 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Sandrine Gruda | 6 | 0 | 2.8 | — | — | — | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Evgeniya Belyakova | 3 | 0 | 2.7 | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date awarded |
| Candace Parker | Finals MVP | October 20, 2016 |
| Candace Parker | Western Conference Player of the Week | May 29, 2016 |
| Candace Parker | Western Conference Player of the Week | June 20, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | WNBA MVP | October 18, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | All-WNBA First Team | October 14, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | All-Defensive First Team | September 30, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | June 13, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 6, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 18, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | July 22, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | September 6, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Week | September 19, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Month - June | July 1, 2016 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Western Conference Player of the Month - July | August 1, 2016 |
| Jantel Lavender | WNBA Sixth Player of the Year | September 28, 2016 |
| Alana Beard | All-Defensive First Team | September 30, 2016 |