2019 Los Angeles Sparks season

The 2019 WNBA season was the 23rd season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association.

2019 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Derek Fisher
Arena	Staples Center
Attendance	11,306 per game
Results
Record	28–6 (.824)
Place	1st (Western)
Playoff finish	3rd seed, Lost in Semifinals to Connecticut, 0-3
Team Leaders
Points	Candace Parker – 19.9 ppg
Rebounds	Jantel Lavender – 7.9 rpg
Assists	Chelsea Gray – 5.9 apg
Media
Television	Spectrum SportsNet ESPN2, CBSSN, NBATV
← 2018 season 2020 season →

During the off-season, head coach Brian Agler resigned and accepted the head coach position with the Dallas Wings.^[1] On December 5, former NBA player Derek Fisher was announced as the new head coach.^[2]

The Sparks started the season with a 6-6 record in the first two months. Their good form continued into August, with the team going 8–4 and putting together a five game win streak. The turn around game mostly at home, with the Sparks posting a 9–0 home record during July and August. The team finished out the season with three straight wins at home. Their 22–12 overall record, secured them the third seed in the playoffs.

After earning a bye in the first round, the Sparks easily defeated the Seattle Storm at home, 92–69. This set up a semifinal matchup with the Connecticut Sun. The Sparks lost the first two road games in the series, and couldn't win the third game at home. The Sun swept the Sparks to end their season.

After the 2019 season, Penny Toler was dismissed as general manager. Her dismissal came among rumors that she entered the locker room after a playoff game and gave a "obscenity-laced speech that also included several racial epithets".^[3][4]

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2019 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	7	Kalani Brown	United States	Baylor
2	19	Marina Mabrey	United States	Notre Dame
3	31	Ángela Salvadores	Spain	Ensino (Spain)

Trades/Roster Changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2019	Re-signed G Karlie Samuelson[5][6]
	Re-signed G Odyssey Sims[5][7]
February 6, 2019	Signed F Ashley Walker[8][9]
February 11, 2019	Re-signed G/F Alana Beard[10][11]
February 13, 2019	Signed G/F Tierra Ruffin-Pratt[12]
February 20, 2019	Signed G Alina Iagupova[13]
March 5, 2019	Signed C Rachel Hollivay[14]
March 28, 2019	Signed G Loryn Goodwin[15]
April 12, 2019	Signed G Gabby Green[16]
April 22, 2019	Traded G Odyssey Sims to Minnesota in exchange for G Alexis Jones[17]
April 27, 2019	Traded their first-round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft to Connecticut in exchange for F Chiney Ogwumike[18]
April 30, 2019	Re-signed G Chelsea Gray[19]
May 13, 2019	Claimed G Cierra Dillard off Waivers[20]
	Waived G Gabby Green and G Gabby Green[21]
May 15, 2019	Re-signed G Riquna Williams[22]
May 20, 2019	Traded C Jantel Lavender to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's second round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft[23]

Roster

2019 Los Angeles Sparks roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G/F 0 Beard, Alana 5' 11" (1.8m) 160 lb (73kg) 1982-05-14 Duke 13 C 21 Brown, Kalani 6' 7" (2.01m) 245 lb (111kg) 1997-03-21 Baylor R G 12 Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1992-10-08 Duke 4 G 1 Jones, Alexis 5' 9" (1.75m) 173 lb (78kg) 1994-05-08 Baylor 2 G 5 Mabrey, Marina 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1996-09-14 Notre Dame R F 30 Ogwumike, Nneka 6' 2" (1.88m) 174 lb (79kg) 1990-07-02 Stanford 7 F 13 Ogwumike, Chiney 6' 4" (1.93m) 173 lb (78kg) 1992-05-22 Stanford 3 F/C 3 Parker, Candace 6' 4" (1.93m) 175 lb (79kg) 1986-04-19 Tennessee 11 G 10 Ruffin-Pratt, Tierra 5' 11" (1.8m) 180 lb (82kg) 1991-04-11 North Carolina 6 C 7 Vadeeva, Maria 6' 4" (1.93m) 185 lb (84kg) 1998-06-16 Russia 1 G 24 Wiese, Sydney 6' 0" (1.83m) 165 lb (75kg) 1995-06-16 Oregon State 2 G 2 Williams, Riquna 5' 7" (1.7m) 165 lb (75kg) 1990-05-28 Miami (FL) 6	Head coach Derek Fisher (Little Rock) Assistant coaches Latricia Trammell (East Central) Fred Williams (Boise State) Athletic trainer Courtney Watson (California) Strength and conditioning coach Kelly Dormandy (Springfield) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Game log

Preseason

2019 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 11 @ Phoenix Mercury L 75–82 Walker (16) Tied (7) Jones (5) Talking Stick Resort Arena 3,751 0–1 2 May 17 Seattle Storm W 92–85 N. Ogwumike (18) N. Ogwumike (7) Jones (6) Hutto-Patterson Gym N/A 1–1
2019 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2019 game log Total: 22–12 (Home: 15–2; Road: 7–10)
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 May 26 @ Las Vegas Aces L 70–83 Vadeeva (24) N. Ogwumike (11) 3 tied (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center 7,249 0–1 2 May 31 Connecticut Sun W 77–70 C. Ogwumike (20) N. Ogwumike (15) Tied (4) Staples Center 12,334 1–1
June : 5–5 (Home: 2–2; Road: 3–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 June 4 @ New York Liberty W 78–73 Gray (29) C. Ogwumike (10) Gray (4) Westchester County Center 3,579 2–1 4 June 6 @ Connecticut Sun L 77–89 N. Ogwumike (21) N. Ogwumike (10) Gray (6) Mohegan Sun Arena 5,496 2–2 5 June 8 @ Minnesota Lynx W 89–85 Williams (25) Tied (9) Ruffin-Pratt (5) Target Center 8,834 3–2 6 June 14 @ Phoenix Mercury W 85–65 Gray (21) N. Ogwumike (8) Gray (9) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,381 4–2 7 June 15 New York Liberty L 92–98 C. Ogwumike (26) C. Ogwumike (14) Gray (6) Staples Center 11,388 4–3 8 June 18 Washington Mystics L 52–81 Tied (12) Tied (7) Parker (3) Staples Center 9,537 4–4 9 June 21 @ Seattle Storm L 62–84 N. Ogwumike (10) C. Ogwumike (6) 4 tied (2) Angel of the Winds Arena 6,114 4–5 10 June 23 @ Phoenix Mercury L 72–82 Tied (12) N. Ogwumike (13) Gray (7) Talking Stick Resort Arena 10,132 4–6 11 June 27 Las Vegas Aces W 86–74 3 tied (18) C. Ogwumike (10) Gray (6) Staples Center 10,295 5–6 12 June 30 Chicago Sky W 94–69 Williams (19) C. Ogwumike (7) Tied (5) Staples Center 11,067 6–6
July : 5–2 (Home: 2–0; Road: 3–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 13 July 7 Washington Mystics W 98–81 N. Ogwumike (31) Tied (10) Gray (13) Staples Center 10,336 7–6 14 July 9 @ Dallas Wings L 62–74 N. Ogwumike (15) Tied (10) Gray (4) College Park Center 6,885 7–7 15 July 12 @ Indiana Fever W 90–84 N. Ogwumike (22) C. Ogwumike (9) Gray (6) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 7,849 8–7 16 July 14 @ Atlanta Dream W 76–71 (OT) Williams (23) N. Ogwumike (15) Gray (9) State Farm Arena 5,083 9–7 17 July 18 Dallas Wings W 69–64 N. Ogwumike (22) Gray (9) Gray (4) Staples Center 14,050 10–7 18 July 20 @ New York Liberty L 78–83 N. Ogwumike (20) N. Ogwumike (12) Wiese (6) Westchester County Center 2,195 10–8 19 July 23 @ Atlanta Dream W 78–66 N. Ogwumike (24) C. Ogwumike (12) Gray (6) State Farm Arena 7,047 11–8
August : 8–4 (Home: 7–0; Road: 1–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 20 August 1 Las Vegas Aces W 76–68 N. Ogwumike (19) N. Ogwumike (11) Gray (10) Staples Center 11,692 12–8 21 August 4 Seattle Storm W 83–75 Parker (21) N. Ogwumike (10) Gray (8) Staples Center 12,820 13–8 22 August 8 Phoenix Mercury W 84–74 N. Ogwumike (24) Parker (11) Parker (6) Staples Center 10,345 14–8 23 August 11 Chicago Sky W 84–81 Gray (26) N. Ogwumike (12) Gray (6) Staples Center 9,244 15–8 24 August 14 @ Dallas Wings L 78–84 Gray (22) N. Ogwumike (9) Gray (7) College Park Center 5,004 15–9 25 August 16 @ Chicago Sky L 81–91 Gray (25) N. Ogwumike (7) Tied (5) Wintrust Arena 7,907 15–10 26 August 20 Minnesota Lynx W 81–71 Parker (20) Parker (10) N. Ogwumike (4) Staples Center 16–10 27 August 22 Indiana Fever W 98–65 N. Ogwumike (17) Tied (7) Parker (5) Staples Center 8,816 17–10 28 August 25 Connecticut Sun W 84–72 Williams (21) N. Ogwumike (8) Gray (6) Staples Center 17,076 18–10 29 August 27 @ Washington Mystics L 66–95 Tied (12) Vadeeva (7) Gray (7) St. Elizabeth's East Arena 4,200 18–11 30 August 29 @ Indiana Fever W 87–83 Gray (30) N. Ogwumike (8) Gray (9) Bankers Life Fieldhouse 5,641 19–11 31 August 31 @ Las Vegas Aces L 86–92 Williams (37) N. Ogwumike (7) Gray (7) Mandalay Bay Events Center 8,470 19–12
September : 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 32 September 3 Atlanta Dream W 70–60 Parker (21) Parker (11) Parker (6) Staples Center 9,889 20–12 33 September 5 Seattle Storm W 102–68 Parker (20) N. Ogwumike (10) Gray (7) Staples Center 10,591 21–12 34 September 8 Minnesota Lynx W 77–68 Williams (15) Parker (7) Gray (8) Staples Center 13,500 22–12
2019 season schedule

Playoffs

2019 playoff game log Total: 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–2)
Second Round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 15 Seattle Storm W 92–68 Gray (21) Parker (10) Gray (8) Staples Center 9,081 1–0
Semifinals: 0–3 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 September 17 @ Connecticut Sun L 75–84 Parker (24) Tied (10) Gray (4) Mohegan Sun Arena 7,102 0–1 2 September 19 @ Connecticut Sun L 68–94 N. Ogwumike (18) N. Ogwumike (7) Gray (5) Mohegan Sun Arena 8,051 0–2 3 September 22 Connecticut Sun L 56–78 N. Ogwumike (17) N. Ogwumike (6) Gray (4) Walter Pyramid 4,000 0–3
2019 playoff schedule

Standings

#	Western Conference v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Conf.
1	Los Angeles Sparks (3)	22	12	.647	–	15–2	7–10	10–6
2	Las Vegas Aces (4)	21	13	.618	1	13–4	8–9	11–5
3	Seattle Storm (6)	18	16	.529	4	11–6	7–10	10–6
4	Minnesota Lynx (7)	18	16	.529	4	11–6	7–10	7–9
5	Phoenix Mercury (8)	15	19	.441	7	9–8	6–11	5–11
6	e – Dallas Wings	10	24	.294	12	8–9	2–15	5–11

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 WNBA Playoffs

	First round Single elimination (Sept. 11)					Second round Single elimination (Sept. 15)					Semifinals Best-of-5 (Sept. 17 – 24)					WNBA Finals Best-of-5 (Sept. 29 – Oct. 10)
											1	Washington Mystics	3
						4	Las Vegas Aces	93			4	Las Vegas Aces	1
	5	Chicago Sky	105			5	Chicago Sky	92								1	Washington Mystics	3
	8	Phoenix Mercury	76													2	Connecticut Sun	2
											2	Connecticut Sun	3
						3	Los Angeles Sparks	92			3	Los Angeles Sparks	0
	6	Seattle Storm	84			6	Seattle Storm	69
	7	Minnesota Lynx	74

Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.

• Bold – Game or series winner
• Italic – Team with home-court advantage

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Nneka Ogwumike	32	32	27.9	51.0	33.8	82.8	8.8	1.8	1.9	0.5	16.1
Chelsea Gray	34	34	32.6	41.6	38.2	91.7	3.8	5.9	1.0	0.1	14.5
Riquna Williams	23	14	25.8	38.4	39.1	88.0	2.6	1.6	1.1	0.2	12.3
Candace Parker	22	22	26.0	42.2	46.7	79.1	6.4	3.5	1.0	0.8	11.2
Chiney Ogwumike	32	14	21.8	49.4	25.0	80.9	5.8	0.8	1.0	0.7	9.6
Maria Vadeeva	15	1	12.0	49.0	31.3	76.9	3.9	0.7	1.0	0.2	7.8
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt	34	33	25.2	36.7	34.2	85.4	2.4	1.7	0.8	0.6	6.0
Kalani Brown	28	0	13.5	47.8	0	78.3	3.5	0.6	0.3	0.8	5.4
Sydney Wiese	32	16	20.6	38.5	36.6	100	1.3	1.8	0.5	0.3	4.8
Alexis Jones	20	1	12.2	40.0	33.3	80.0	1.1	1.8	0.3	0.2	4.0
Marina Mabrey	31	0	11.5	34.4	27.3	87.5	1.2	1.0	0.6	0.2	4.0
Alana Beard	16	3	14.7	44.9	20.0	77.8	1.5	1.4	0.8	0.2	3.3

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Nneka Ogwumike	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	July 15, 2019	[24]
Chelsea Gray	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 15, 2019	[25]
Nneka Ogwumike
Nneka Ogwumike	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month - July	August 1, 2019	[26]
Candace Parker	WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week	August 5, 2019	[27]
Nneka Ogwumike		August 12, 2019	[28]
Candace Parker		September 9, 2019	[29]
Nneka Ogwumike	Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	September 16, 2019	[30]