The 1997 WNBA season was the first season for the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks finished in second place in the Western Division with a record of 14 wins and 14 losses.
Transactions
WNBA allocation draft
WNBA elite draft
WNBA draft
Transactions
Roster 1997 Los Angeles Sparks roster Players Coaches Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F/C 34 Burge, Heidi 6' 5" (1.96m)185 lb (84kg) 1971-11-12 Virginia R F 42 Burgess, Linda 6' 1" (1.85m)173 lb (78kg) 1967-07-27 Alabama R F/C 32 Charles, Daedra 6' 3" (1.91m)225 lb (102kg) 1968-11-22 Tennessee R F 12 Colleton, Katrina 5' 0" (1.52m)145 lb (66kg) 1968-10-14 Maryland R G 21 Dixon, Tamecka 5' 9" (1.75m)148 lb (67kg) 1975-12-14 Kansas R C 34 Gant, Travesa – – 1971-10-10 Lamar R F 43 Gessig, Kim 6' 3" (1.91m)– 1970-12-29 USC R C 9 Leslie, Lisa 6' 5" (1.96m)170 lb (77kg) 1972-07-07 USC R G 4 Mabika, Mwadi 5' 11" (1.8m)165 lb (75kg) 1976-07-27 R G 11 Toler, Penny 5' 8" (1.73m)132 lb (60kg) 1966-03-24 Long Beach State R F 10 Wideman, Jamila 5' 6" (1.68m)135 lb (61kg) 1975-11-16 Stanford R C 28 Zheng, Haixia 6' 8" (2.03m)254 lb (115kg) 1967-03-07 R
Head coach Julie Rousseau (UC Irvine )Assistant coaches -
Legend (C) Team captain(FA) Free agent(IN) Inactive(S) Suspended
Schedule
Regular season 1997 game log June: 2–3 (Home: 2–1; Road: 0–2)
July: 6–7 (Home: 3–3; Road: 3–4)
August: 6–4 (Home: 3–2; Road: 3–2)
1997 season schedule
Season standings
Statistics
Regular Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Penny Toler 28 28 32.4 .426 .184 .839 3.4 5.1 1.3 0.1 13.1 Lisa Leslie 28 28 32.2 .431 .261 .598 9.5 2.6 1.4 2.1 15.9 Tamecka Dixon 27 21 26.5 .456 .423 .773 3.0 2.0 1.8 0.2 11.9 Jamila Wideman 28 14 22.6 .236 .194 .794 2.0 3.7 0.9 0.0 3.0 Katrina Colleton 28 14 21.9 .437 .360 .567 2.1 1.6 1.3 0.3 4.9 Zheng Haixia 28 21 19.9 .618 N/A .661 4.4 0.6 0.4 0.7 9.3 Linda Burgess 28 6 17.6 .541 .500 .735 4.2 0.3 0.7 0.5 6.5 Mwadi Mabika 21 1 15.5 .390 .184 .542 2.6 1.0 1.1 0.3 6.0 Heidi Burge 22 6 12.8 .444 .000 .511 3.1 0.7 0.5 0.5 4.0 Daedra Charles 28 1 10.1 .403 .000 .667 1.7 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.3 Travesa Gant 2 0 6.5 .000 N/A N/A 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Kim Gessig 1 0 4.0 N/A N/A N/A 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
‡ Waived/Released during the season† Traded during the season≠ Acquired during the season
Tamecka Dixon was tied for tenth in the WNBA in steals with 49. Tamecka Dixon ranked tenth in the WNBA in Field Goal Percentage (.456) Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points with 445 points. Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA in points per game with 15.9 Lisa Leslie ranked fifth in the WNBA in field goals with 160. Lisa Leslie ranked first in the WNBA in total rebounds with 266. Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA in blocks with 59. Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points with 368 points. Penny Toler ranked eighth in the WNBA in field goals with 144. Penny Toler ranked tenth in the WNBA in points per game with 13.1[2] Penny Toler ranked sixth in the WNBA in Free Throw Pct with .839 Penny Toler ranked second in the WNBA in assists with 143. Jamila Wideman ranked seventh in the WNBA in assists with 103. Haixia Zheng ranked ninth in the WNBA in blocks with 20.
Awards and honors Lisa Leslie, Center, All WNBA First Team [3] Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Defensive Rebounds, 203 Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Total Rebounds, 266 Lisa Leslie: Led WNBA, Rebounds per game, 9.5 Lisa Leslie ranked second in the WNBA with 2.1 blocks per game. Lisa Leslie ranked third in the WNBA with 113 Free Throws. Haixia Zheng , WNBA Peak Performer Haixia Zheng , Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award Haixia Zheng: Led WNBA, Field Goal Percentage, .618 [2]
References 
