Sparks Ponder Life After Cooper

So where do they go from here?

That is the question facing the Sparks as they prepare for the post-Michael Cooper era.

Cooper’s success -- two WNBA championships, three league finals, four playoff appearances during his four years as coach -- will cast a long shadow on his successor.

In addition, the veteran core of Lisa Leslie, DeLisha Milton-Jones, Nikki Teasley, Tamecka Dixon, Mwadi Mabika, Tamika Whitmore and Teresa Weatherspoon appears able to compete at a high level for a couple of more years while younger teammates Laura Macchi and Christi Thomas develop into frontline WNBA players.

“The foundation is in place,” said Cooper, who moves on to join the Denver Nugget staff Sunday.

Meaning team President Johnny Buss and General Manager Penny Toler face a delicate balancing act.

Because the Sparks are in the hunt for the league championship, they don’t want to bring in someone whose style would clash with the way the team plays. And the veterans, driven and cajoled by Cooper, may not be inclined to respond to a new voice.

That would probably eliminate, for now, no-nonsense types such as former WNBA coaches Richie Adubato and Candi Harvey, and defense-oriented types such as Dan Hughes.

But Buss and Toler also want someone who can teach and grow with the next group of Sparks.

That suggests that Cooper’s permanent successor will come after this season. Anyone coming in now, even someone from the Laker family such as former Phil Jackson assistants Kurt Rambis or Jim Cleamons, would be strictly an interim coach and would have to convince Spark management that he or she should have the job full time.

“There are a lot of different directions we can go in with this scenario,” Buss said. “Quickly we could reach in our closest pool of resources. My first call went to [Laker General Manager] Mitch Kupchak. I also talked with Magic Johnson. We’ve even talked about [former Spark assistant] Glen McDonald.”

Buss and Toler say that, if need be, they would be comfortable leaving the team in the hands of Cooper assistants Karleen Thompson and Ryan Weisenberg, even though neither has been a head coach and both have been Spark assistants less than four years.

“This is where it pays to have a veteran team,” Toler said. “They’ve told us they are comfortable with Karleen and Ryan, and they want to get the job done they’ve set out to do, which is win the championship.”

There is a prevailing wisdom, however, that assistants -- often a buffer between the head coach and the team-- can get too close to the players and have a hard time finding the distance a head coach needs to make decisions.

Two former assistants, Trudi Lacey at Charlotte and Carrie Graf at Phoenix, have made a successful transition to head coach. But Lacey and Graf had been head coaches elsewhere before taking on their current assignments.

Thompson and Weisenberg, naturally, want their chance to lead the Sparks. “Ryan and I ... help with that continued camaraderie and togetherness of this team,” Thompson said. “And to get my first opportunity [to coach] with Michael Cooper and learn from him -- I feel he has prepared both of us for anything.”

Cooper’s successor is expected to be named next week, after the Sparks return from Houston and have six days off before facing Sacramento at home.

Toler said neither she nor Buss wants a quick decision.

“We have a list in mind, though we’re not going to say any names,” Toler said. “This is not going to be a rushed process. We’re not going to put just anybody on that bench. When we find someone we’re comfortable with, then we’ll go with that.”