Sparks Already Coming to Their Own Defense

Be it NBA or WNBA, the champs play here.

On Saturday the Sparks, by overwhelming the Charlotte Sting, 82-54, and sweeping the league finals, two games to none, joined the Lakers as owners of exquisite, exclusive jewelry.

For the past two seasons the Sparks have been the league’s winningest team. And everything that happened in 2001--from their 9-0 start to the season, to the 18-game winning streak, from going undefeated at home in the regular season to being the first team to eliminate Houston from the playoffs--has been precedent-setting.

You can add Lisa Leslie being named the regular season, all-star game and playoffs MVP.

Yet the Sparks had all of five minutes to hug, scream, spray champagne and erase all previous playoff frustration before hearing the d-word, as in dynasty.

Can they do it again? Can they come close to the gold standard Houston set by winning the first four WNBA titles?

What’s to stop them?

The starting lineup of Leslie, Tamecka Dixon, Ukari Figgs, Mwadi Mabika and DeLisa Milton, is all under 30. (Leslie is the closest at 29.) Leslie is in her prime as a player, the others are approaching theirs.

None of the reserves has publicly complained (so far) about roles and playing time.

What stands in the Sparks’ way is a resentful Houston team that contends the title is tainted because the Comets lost two of their best players to retirement (Cynthia Cooper) and injury (Sheryl Swoopes); an envious Eastern Conference (particularly New York) tired of watching Western teams having all the celebrations; and the inevitable off-season decisions of trades, cuts, draft choices and money disputes.

There has always been a bull’s-eye on the Sparks because they play in Los Angeles. It will triple in size now that they have one ring--and want more.

“We’re already looking forward to the season next year,” said Figgs, hugging the championship trophy like a newborn child. “We’ll come out with the same energy and work ethic as this year. Last year we knew what it took to get to the second round. This year we found out what it takes to win a championship.

“Houston had a bull’s-eye on its back after the first season, then another and another. So we have to come out and prove this is no one-time thing.”

Dixon, who gutted out 37 minutes on a painful right heel Saturday, also said the Sparks will defend the title.

“Lisa’s at the peak of her career, and everybody else is doing what they have to for the team,” Dixon said. “Next year we’ll bring it even stronger.”

Team President Johnny Buss, having viewed father Jerry’s extensive ring collection as the Laker owner, wants the Sparks to think of being a dynasty.

“We should think in that term here in Los Angeles,” Buss said. “One thing my father taught me was to think ahead; we’re already working on the needs and wants of next season’s team.”

General Manager Penny Toler said she wanted to enjoy the present before regarding the future. “I’m not making any predictions. This has been five years in coming. But I will try to keep the core group together. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

But top reserve Latasha Byears--who thanked Sacramento for sending her here, saying “Tell [Monarch General Manager] Jerry Reynolds this was the best trade he ever made”--said a powerhouse team has been assembled.

“I thought ‘championship’ as soon as I heard about the trade because I knew they were right there last year,” Byears said. “I don’t know what will happen this off-season, but we can repeat.”

Former Laker player and general manager Jerry West (who has trouble watching Laker playoff games but looked quite calm watching the Sparks) knows something about dynasties.

“You need a dominant player,” West said, “and hopefully some very good players who surround that person. You need a coach who can motivate players and get them going in the right direction. And you need a commitment from an owner like Jerry Buss who wants to have the best teams in the world.

“But the thing that’s different between men and women’s basketball today is you have so few [great] teams in women’s basketball. So other teams can get better a lot quicker than you as a champion can. But in Leslie they have the best player; that’s an incredible cornerstone to build around.”

Even vanquished foe Dawn Staley, who felt “this was the most competitive year we’ve had in the WNBA,” admitted the pieces are in place for the Sparks to continue a run of titles.

“They have the personnel and they have the coaching,” Staley said. “But I’m sure a lot of people will beg to differ out in the West.”