Sparks’ New Goal Has Familiar Ring
The only things shining brighter than the sun Tuesday at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center were the smiles of the Sparks, basking in the adulation of fans after winning their second consecutive WNBA championship.
This was one of the public celebrations of the Sparks’ dramatic 69-66 victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday to close out the season. There will be another next May, when they receive their championship rings.
In between, the team has to look for ways to bring about the “three-peat” it promised fans during the 55-minute ceremony.
“Of course it will be harder to take it a third time,” club President Johnny Buss said. “As this league grows in competitive spirit and physical play, we expect it to be extremely hard next year. We have to keep up and always think ahead.”
The Sparks’ core group is still in its prime, but the team has some needs.
“We’ll look to do what other teams do,” Coach Michael Cooper said. “We’ll see what [veterans] they discard if they want to go young and see if they can help us. But we’ve got some time, so we probably won’t be making moves until the end of the college season.”
Cooper wants another guard or forward who can reduce the workloads on Mwadi Mabika and Tamecka Dixon.
They may have that player now. Rosalind Ross, their first-round draft choice from Oklahoma last year, had knee surgery and missed the season but will be given a long look at the 2003 training camp.
“If Rosalind’s OK, I think we’ll be fine,” General Manager Penny Toler said. “She would definitely be better than anything we could get [with the 16th pick in the next draft].”
Cooper would also like another big forward or center to back up Lisa Leslie in case any of his reserve players, like the promising but raw Brazilian Erika Desouza, choose not to return.
At first glance, the 2003 draft will offer nowhere near the talent as the draft did last spring. Vanderbilt center Chantelle Anderson, 6-6, is envisioned by many as the next franchise player, but most WNBA general managers have difficulty naming other college seniors who figure to have immediate impacts.
That’s OK with the Sparks, who traded their first-round pick to Miami for Marlies Askamp.
There are players to sign, among them two-time playoff MVP Leslie, but the league deals with player contracts. Buss has to worry about keeping Cooper, who has received attention from some NBA teams recently, most notably Denver. His contract with the Sparks expires after next season.
“I’ll do whatever Michael wants,” Buss said. “If we can sign him forever, we’ll do that. If he has plans to go to the NBA, more power to him. But if he wants to stay with the Sparks, we’ll sign him accordingly.”
The players will be busy in the off-season.
Leslie, Dixon and DeLisha Milton will play with the USA national team at the FIBA World Championships in China, beginning Sept. 14.
After the 16-team FIBA tournament, Milton and Mabika will be playing in a Russian league.
“We’ll be on opposite teams; I hope I don’t have to guard her,” Milton said of Mwadi.
Other Sparks considering foreign leagues include Vedrana Grgin-Fonseca (France), Sophia Witherspoon (Europe or Korea) and Latasha Byears.
Askamp is headed back to her native Germany to spend time with her family--her mother died just before the season started--and is considering retiring from the WNBA.
Nikki Teasley needs to complete a couple classes to graduate from North Carolina in December. She said she would return to Los Angeles in January for workouts.
After the World Championships, Leslie will pursue opportunities to model and is considering new endorsement deals.
The league has to work out a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. The current contract expires Sept .15.
So, there will be a lot going on between now and next May, when the Sparks go for title No. 3.
“I think we can win with what we have,” Milton said. “Even though the league is getting better every year, so are the Sparks. You taste the sweetness of success, and you want it again.”