The 2009 Los Angeles Sparks season was the franchise's 13th season in the Women's National Basketball Association, and the third and final season under head coach Michael Cooper. Lisa Leslie announced that the 2009 season would be her last. On June 5, the Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced a multi-year marketing partnership that includes a branded jersey sponsorship. The Farmers Insurance branded jersey will be worn by the players for the first time on June 6. As part of this alliance, the Farmers Insurance name and logo will appear on the front of the Sparks jerseys and will have considerable visibility in the Staples Center during home games. Los Angeles became only the second WNBA team to finalize such an agreement.http://www.spmsportspage.com/published/pr/los-angeles-sparks-and-fa.shtml The Sparks attempted to reach the playoffs and were successful.
Offseason On May 13, Sparks star Candace Parker gave birth to a baby girl. It is the first child for the WNBA’s reigning MVP and rookie of the year and husband Shelden Williams of the Boston Celtics. Goodwin Sports Management announced the baby girl was born in Los Angeles. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.
Dispersal Draft Based on the Sparks' 2008 record, they would pick 9th in the Houston Comets dispersal draft. The Sparks waived their pick. WNBA.com: Houston Comets dispersal draft
WNBA draft The following are the Sparks' selections in the 2009 WNBA draft. Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 1 13 Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton Purdue 2 22 Ashley Paris Oklahoma 3 35 Britney Jordan Texas A&M-Commerce
Transactions June 5: The Sparks waived Jessica Moore. June 4: The Sparks waived Ashley Paris and Marta Fernandez. May 18: The Sparks waived Britney Jordan. May 7: The Sparks signed Kristi Harrower to a training camp contract. May 5: The Sparks then traded the pick from the Liberty and Rafaella Masciadri to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Noelle Quinn. May 5: The Sparks traded Sidney Spencer to the New York Liberty in exchange for a first round 2010 WNBA Draft pick. April 14: The Sparks signed Betty Lennox. April 14: The Sparks waived Murriel Page. March 26: The Sparks traded Temeka Johnson to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick. March 25: The Sparks signed Marta Fernandez. March 12: The Sparks signed Tina Thompson. January 30: The Sparks traded Christi Thomas to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Vanessa Hayden-Johnson. December 17, 2008: The Sparks traded the rights to Chamique Holdsclaw to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for the 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. April 21, 2008: The Sparks traded their first-round draft pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Washington Mystics as part of the Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Delisha Milton-Jones transaction. WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Transactions
DateTradeDecember 17, 2008To Los Angeles SparksTo Atlanta Dream 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft rights to Chamique HoldsclawJanuary 30, 2009To Los Angeles SparksTo Minnesota Lynx Vanessa Hayden-Johnson Christi ThomasMarch 26, 2009To Los Angeles SparksTo Phoenix Mercury first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick Temeka JohnsonMay 5, 2009To Los Angeles SparksTo New York Liberty first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick Sidney SpencerMay 5, 2009To Los Angeles SparksTo Minnesota Lynx Noelle Quinn Rafaella Masciadri and a first-round 2010 WNBA Draft pick
Free agents
Additions
PlayerSignedFormer team Tina Thompson March 12, 2009 Houston Comets Betty Lennox April 14, 2009 Atlanta Dream Noelle Quinn May 5, 2009 Minnesota Lynx Kristi Harrower May 7, 2009 Minnesota Lynx
Subtractions PlayerLeftNew team Temeka Johnson March 26, 2009 Phoenix Mercury Murriel Page April 14, 2009 free agent Kiesha Brown May 1, 2009 Washington Mystics Sidney Spencer May 5, 2009 New York Liberty Rafaella Masciadri May 5, 2009 Minnesota Lynx Britney Jordan May 18, 2009 free agent Ashley Paris June 4, 2009 free agent Jessica Moore June 5, 2009 free agent Margo Dydek 2009 free agent
Roster
Season standings
Schedule
Preseason
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || May 31 || 3:00pm || @ Connecticut || 80-77 || Thompson (14) || Leslie, Wisdom-Hylton (6) || Lennox (4) || Mohegan Sun Arena 6,630 || 1-0
Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || June 6 || 2:30pm || Detroit || ABC || 78-58 || Thompson (18) || Lennox (10) || Harrower (7) || STAPLES Center 13,154 || 1-0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || June 8 || 7:30pm || @ Detroit || || 52-81 || Thompson (14) || Thompson (11) || Milton-Jones, Quinn (3) || Palace of Auburn Hills 13,915 || 1-1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 3 || June 10 || 8:00pm || @ Minnesota || || 76-87 || Lennox (25) || Lennox, Leslie (8) || Quinn (4) || Target Center 7,444 || 1-2 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 4 || June 12 || 7:00pm || @ Indiana || || 61-73 || Leslie (21) || Leslie (13) || Harrower (3) || Conseco Fieldhouse 9,320 || 1-3 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 5 || June 19 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || || 80-89 || Lennox (16) || Thompson (14) || Quinn (6) || US Airways Center 8,255 || 1-4 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 6 || June 21 || 9:30pm || Sacramento || NBA TVFSNW || 67-47 || Hayden, Thompson (12) || Hayden, Lennox (8) || Bobbitt (5) || STAPLES Center 9,494 || 2-4 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 7 || June 26 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || || 67-69 || Thompson (20) || Milton-Jones (7) || Lennox (5) || KeyArena 9,686 || 2-5 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 8 || June 28 || 9:30pm || Seattle || NBA TVFSNW || 82-55 || Ferdinand-Harris (15) || Quinn (6) || Harrower (5) || STAPLES Center 10,797 || 3-5
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 9 || July 5 || 9:30pm || Phoenix || NBA TVFSNW || 89-104 || Lennox, Thompson (17) || Milton-Jones (7) || Bobbitt (6) || STAPLES Center 9,872 || 3-6 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 10 || July 9 || 7:30pm || @ New York || MSG || 69-60 || Lennox (20) || Thompson (8) || Harrower, Ferdinand-Harris (3) || Madison Square Garden 12,247 || 4-6 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 11 || July 11 || 7:00pm || @ Washington || || 63-75 || Bobbitt, Lennox (10) || Milton-Jones, Thompson (7) || Harrower (3) || Verizon Center 12,217 || 4-7 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 12 || July 14 || 7:00pm || @ Connecticut || ESPN2 || 71-82 || Milton-Jones (19) || Lennox (11) || Lennox, Milton-Jones, Parker (2) || Mohegan Sun Arena 6,612 || 4-8 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 13 || July 22 || 10:30pm || @ Seattle || || 87-98 (3OT) || Thompson (22) || Lennox (12) || Parker (5) || KeyArena 7,154 || 4-9 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 14 || July 28 || 8:00pm || @ Minnesota || || 76-70 || Thompson (30) || Parker (10) || Lennox, Thompson (4) || Target Center 7,216 || 5-9 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 15 || July 29 || 8:00pm|| @ Chicago || || 63-75 || Milton-Jones (15) || Parker (10) || Thompson (4) || UIC Pavilion 5,633 || 5-10
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 16 || August 1 || 10:00pm || @ Sacramento || || 59-56 || Parker, Milton-Jones (13) || Parker (12) || Harrower (6) || ARCO Arena 7,204 || 6-10 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 17 || August 4 || 3:00pm || San Antonio || || 59-63 || Leslie, Quinn (13) || Thompson (12) || Quinn (4) || STAPLES Center 13,865 || 6-11 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 18 || August 6 || 10:30pm || Seattle || || 79-75 (OT) || Quinn (23) || Parker (13) || Leslie (4) || STAPLES Center 9,735 || 7-11 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 19 || August 10 || 10:30pm || Indiana || || 75-63 || Leslie (21) || Leslie (11) || Milton-Jones (4) || STAPLES Center 8,263 || 8-11 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 20 || August 11 || 9:00pm || New York || ESPN2 || 61-65 || Leslie (12) || Parker (11) || Bobbitt, Harrower, Quinn (2) || STAPLES Center 9,548 || 8-12 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 21 || August 14 || 10:30pm || Sacramento || || 79-85 || Leslie (25) || Parker (10) || Quinn (5) || STAPLES Center 10,122 || 8-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 22 || August 15 || 10:00pm || @ Sacramento || || 78-61 || Parker (18) || Leslie (9) || Milton-Jones, Quinn, Thompson (4) || ARCO Arena 7,646 || 9-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 23 || August 18 || 10:30pm || Washington || || 72-69 || Leslie (20) || Parker (12) || Parker, Quinn (5) || STAPLES Center 9,287 || 10-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 24 || August 19 || 10:30pm || Minnesota || || 78-63 || Leslie (28) || Parker (10) || Quinn (7) || STAPLES Center 9,181 || 11-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 25 || August 21 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || NBA TVKMYS || 67-66 (OT) || Parker (17) || Parker, Thompson (12) || Leslie (4) || AT&T Center 9,540 || 12-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 26 || August 23 || 3:00pm || @ Atlanta || || 91-87 || Parker (23) || Lennox, Parker (8) || Thompson (6) || Philips Arena 11,304 || 13-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 27 || August 25 || 10:00pm || Chicago || ESPN2 || 75-63 || Leslie, Parker (21) || Parker (12) || Bobbitt, Thompson (3) || STAPLES Center 9,615 || 14-13 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 28 || August 27 || 10:30pm || Phoenix || NBA TVFSNW || 90-98 || Leslie (23) || Lennox (6) || Quinn (8) || STAPLES Center 9,586 || 14-14 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 29 || August 30 || 9:30pm || Connecticut || NBA TVFSNW || 91-81 || Thompson (21) || Parker (13) || Milton-Jones, Quinn (5) || STAPLES Center 11,072 || 15-14
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 30 || September 1 || 10:30pm || Atlanta || || 79-84 || Leslie (24) || Parker (14) || Lennox (5) || STAPLES Center 8,756 || 15-15 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 31 || September 5 || 8:00pm || @ San Antonio || || 72-89 || Leslie (21) || Parker (10) || Parker (8) || AT&T Center 8,631 || 15-16 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 32 || September 8 || 10:30pm || San Antonio || NBA TVKMYS || 76-68 || Leslie (18) || Parker (13) || Quinn (6) || STAPLES Center 10,476 || 16-16 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 33 || September 11 || 10:30pm || Minnesota || NBA TVFSNW || 90-64 || Leslie, Thompson (19) || Parker (14) || Quinn (9) || STAPLES Center 13,764 || 17-16 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 34 || September 13 || 3:00pm || @ Phoenix || ESPN2 || 81–78 || Parker (24) || Parker (14) || Lennox (6) || US Airways Center12,968 || 18–16
| All games are viewable on WNBA LiveAccess
Postseason
|- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 1 || September 16 || 10:00pm || Seattle || ESPN2 || 70-63 || Thompson (16) || Leslie, Parker (10) || Harrower (5) || STAPLES Center 7,919 || 1-0 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 2 || September 18 || 10:00pm || @ Seattle || NBA TV || 74-75 || Lennox (17) || Leslie (14) || Quinn (5) || KeyArena 8,854 || 1-1 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 3 || September 20 || 5:00pm || @ Seattle || ESPN2 || 75-64 || Parker (22) || Milton-Jones (9) || Quinn (7) || KeyArena 8,159 || 2-1
|- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 1 || September 23 || 10:00pm || Phoenix || ESPN2 || 94-103 || Parker (28) || Parker (10) || Thompson (5) || Pauley PavilionBruin Alumnae Return To Pauley Pavilion For LA Sparks Playoff Game Wednesday, UCLABruins.com, September 22, 2009. Accessed 2009-09-24. Archived 2009-09-26. 6,389 ||0-1 |- align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" | 2 || September 25 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || NBA TV || 87-76 || Parker (24) || Parker (18) || Quinn (4) || US Airways Center 7,628 || 1-1 |- align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 3 || September 26 || 10:00pm || @ Phoenix || NBA TV || 74-85 || Leslie (22) || Thompson (11) || Lennox, Thompson (3) || US Airways Center 7,226 || 1-2
Regular season statistics
Player statistics