Sparks’ Forecast Is Cloudy, but Leslie Shines Above All

Not bad for a weather reporter.

Think about that the next time you see Lisa Leslie soaring high to grab a rebound, driving down the key for a score or making a three-point shot.

Had she never changed her mind about her career goal, Leslie might today be the world’s tallest TV weather reporter.

“One time in grade school, on career day, a weather reporter--I don’t remember who--came and gave us a presentation and for a while that’s all I wanted to be,” the 6-foot-5 Leslie said.

Instead, she became perhaps the best player in women’s basketball.

And the richest. It’s believed she has become the first U.S. woman player to earn more than $1 million in a year.

And she’s playing probably the best basketball of her life. But here’s the bad news: The team is the worst she has played for.

The Los Angeles Sparks, who can’t seem to get the basketball into the hands of their meal ticket, carry a five-game losing streak and 2-7 record into tonight’s game with Charlotte at the Great Western Forum.

She’s averaging a WNBA-leading 10.8 rebounds and 19.4 points--second in the league. In a perfect Sparks world, her scoring average might be in the 26-28 range.

But point guard Penny Toler ranks only 14th in the league in assists with 27. And the other guard, Tamecka Dixon, is 18th at 23. New York’s Teresa Weatherspoon has 74.

And no one but Leslie contributes significant rebound numbers. No Spark but Leslie ranks among the top 20 rebounders.

So one wonders why the Sparks don’t trade for a big, strong rebounder--someone like Linda Burgess of the Sacramento Monarchs, who ranks 14th.

A cheap shot, you say? The Sparks traded Burgess to Sacramento for Pam McGee, who has been an off-and-on starter and is nowhere in league rebound statistics.

Whatever, it looks like a long summer for Leslie, who has improved her game markedly. She led the league in rebounding at 9.5 and finished third in scoring at 15.9 last summer, but calls it an off year.

“I wasn’t prepared last year,” she said.

“I took a year off after the Olympics, traveled all over doing [modeling], magazine layouts, didn’t lift a single weight. . . . I played some good games, but I wasn’t physically prepared.”

She worked part of the off-season with a personal trainer and played six months with the U.S. team that recently won the World Championships.

She partly blames her absence from training camp for the Sparks’ poor start.

“I feel if I’d been here all through training camp, I could have set a tone for my team, get the new players used to me,” she said. “I hope our fans are patient with us, and don’t get discouraged.”

THE NUMBERS

Early WNBA numbers show TV ratings down, attendance up.

TV numbers for NBC and ESPN are down roughly 40%. But both networks say the viewership numbers are skewed by the World Cup and the fact last year’s New York-Los Angeles opener drew a big audience.

The attendance average, bolstered by big crowds in expansion Washington--20,674 at one game--is 10,079, up from last season’s 9,669. There have been eight crowds over 15,000. The Sparks are averaging 7,652, down from 8,931.

NOTABLE

UCLA’s Erica Gomez and UC Santa Barbara’s Erin Buescher have been selected to play on the U.S. team in the Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 23-27. . . . The American Basketball League is talking to United Paramount Networks (UPN) about a TV package for its next season.

Nancy Darsch, on the difference between her New York Liberty’s winning its first seven games last year and this year’s 8-5 team: “Last year, everything was new and we had a very high excitement level. This year, from the start of training camp, I didn’t sense that.”