Sparks start new showtime

Somewhere between the mashed carrots and mixed vegetables, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker began to sense it.

Leslie, the Sparks’ three-time league most valuable player, and Parker, the team’s highly acclaimed rookie, were in a South Bay grocery store shopping for Mother’s Day cards and baby food. And then it happened.

Next thing they knew, they were holding an impromptu autograph session in Aisle 2.

“A lot of the people were, like, ‘We’re really excited about this season, we’re going to be at your home opener,’ and things like that,” Parker said. “We had fun with it.’ ”

It was the first time Leslie and Parker ventured into the public eye together on their own. They’ll make a different kind of debut this afternoon when the Sparks open the regular season in Phoenix against the defending WNBA champion Mercury.

Many predict the Sparks – who have won the league title twice in 11 seasons, both times under Coach Michael Cooper – are the team to beat this year.

“They’re a strong team,” agreed Ann Meyers Drysdale, general manager of the Mercury. “They’ve got a good mixture of veterans and young players.”

Indeed. It could be argued that Leslie and Parker are be the most anticipated court duo in league history.

While Leslie is the force of the Sparks, Cooper acknowledged he has been impressed with Parker.

“It kind of blows you away, that someone that young can come in with so much experience, not just skill-wise but knowledge-wise,” he said. “It usually takes a rookie a year or two or three to really grasp what this league is about, but she has already gotten it and it’s a joy to watch.”

Leslie, a 6-foot-5 center who sat out last season after giving birth to her first child, has been a star in this city since scoring 101 points before halftime in a game when she was a senior at Inglewood’s Morningside High. She starred at USC, won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games and still holds the WNBA career scoring record.

Parker, a 6-foot-4 forward, may be new but is already a star after playing for the Tennessee program, leading the Lady Vols to back-to-back NCAA championships.

The thought of Parker and Leslie playing together began in earnest when the Sparks, coming off a 10-24 season, won the No. 1 pick in the lottery.

Two days after being drafted, Parker was formally introduced to Leslie.

“We’re just very similar people,” Leslie said. “She’s always open to learn and just ask me questions, whether it’s on the court or off the court, financial stuff, business stuff… . I’ve kind of been where she is.”

The bond was immediate. So were ticket sales.

In the two weeks after the draft, the Sparks sold seven times the number of season seats as were sold in the same period last year, according to Allison McGowen, the Sparks’ chief operating officer.

“Other teams in the league have seen a threefold increase in single-game ticket sales for the games they are playing against the Sparks,” she said. “And total new season seats sold so far for the 2008 season is up 10% over total new season seats sold last year.”

Leslie’s return and Parker’s arrival has clearly caught the eye of more than just the league’s modest legion of fans – motorists, for one. The players’ faces cover the sides of L.A. city buses with the slogan, “She’s here. She’s back.” And on Wednesday night, Leslie and Parker were introduced at halftime of the Lakers playoff game at Staples Center.

In a poll of the league’s general managers, five of the 12 who responded predicted Los Angeles would win the championship. A majority predicted Leslie would capture her fourth MVP and Parker would win rookie-of-the-year honors.

But the Sparks didn’t stand pat, trading for DeLisha Milton-Jones, the defensive stopper who helped bring the team its titles, and signing free-agent shooting guard Marie Ferdinand-Harris, a three-time all-star.

Meanwhile, former rookie of the year Temeka Johnson, the Sparks’ floor leader, is expected to rebound from a knee injury that limited her to 11 games. And two former Lady Vols, rookie guard Shannon Bobbitt, and second-year shooting guard Sidney Spencer will be pressing for playing time. The Sparks’ Tye’sha Fluker, a 6-5 backup center who played at Pasadena Muir High as well as Tennessee, was waived this week, along with third-year guard Sherill Baker and rookie guard Sharnee’ Zoll, who was the Sparks’ third-round draft pick last month.

To win the title, the Sparks will have to get past some strong teams.

One is the Seattle Storm, which added veterans Yolanda Griffith and Sheryl Swoopes to go along with Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson.

Another is the Mercury, which re-signed three-time all-star Diana Taurasi. However, the team will be without second-leading scorer Penny Taylor, who decided last month to leave the Mercury and focus on preparing for the 2008 Olympics with her Australian national team.

The Sparks’ Marta Fernandez has made the same choice, preparing for the Games with Spain’s national team.

Still, the Sparks’ season will flow through Leslie and Parker.

“Lisa Leslie has always, always been the ultimate professional and she’s constantly looking for ways to get better, not only physically, but mentally,” Meyers Drysdale said. “With her fresh, and also with Candace Parker excited to come in as a rookie, no question that a lot of people have picked them as the favorite.”

Parker, who flew back to Knoxville last weekend to take part in graduation ceremonies, has been to L.A. before and knows, for example, to allow extra time for navigating the freeways. Yet her schedule has kept her from at least one pleasant aspect of Southern California living: her first walk on the beach.

“I’m more busy than I thought I would be,” she said. “My last year in college I was only taking one class and I had an internship, so this is more difficult than I imagined, but I enjoy it, I really do.”

Leslie, on the other hand, has already been through a crash course in time management since the birth last June of her daughter, Lauren, even finding time this week to fly to Dallas to promote her autobiography, “Don’t Let the Lipstick Fool You.”

Her new role as mom has Leslie feeling less career-centric and more nurturing, which has helped her grow close to Parker in a short time.

“I feel really comfortable sharing all that I know about this game and life with her,” Leslie said.

While she is often asked whether the relationship with Parker might deteriorate as it did for Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, Leslie scoffs at that.

“I’m 100% in support of her getting it all,” she said. “The commercials and shoe deals and a bigger contract.

“Because, hopefully, my daughter can reap the benefits of what Candace gets now.”

 dan.arritt@latimes.com