Veteran to Join Sparks

The Sparks are expected to announce the signing of veteran guard Teresa Weatherspoon today.

Weatherspoon, 38, an unrestricted free agent, played her previous seven WNBA seasons with the New York Liberty.

She is a five-time All-WNBA selection and was the league’s defensive player of the year in 1997 and 1998. She was also the first WNBA player to record 1,000 assists and is one of only two players to have started every regular-season game for her team since the league began in 1997.

Weatherspoon reached four WNBA finals with New York and played on the U.S. Olympic gold-medal winning team of 1988 and the bronze-medal team of 1992. In college, she was part of Louisiana Tech’s 1988 NCAA championship team.

Weatherspoon was one of the Liberty’s most popular players but was never a great scorer.

She has averaged more assists, 5.9, than points, 5.7, and last season her role and playing time with the Liberty diminished significantly. She finished the 2003 season with career lows in minutes played, 24.2, points, 2.9, and assists, 4.4.

Weatherspoon is the first free agent signed by the Sparks, who kept only their core starting group after losing to Detroit in the 2003 league finals.