The 2002 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2002 WNBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Los Angeles Sparks finished the regular season with a record and as the Western Conference's number-one seed. They matched up against the New York Liberty, who finished with an record and as the number-one seed of the Eastern Conference. Holding the better record, the Sparks received home-court advantage over the Liberty. The series was the first championship series to be branded as the "WNBA Finals", as the league's championship was previously called the "WNBA Championship" from 1997 to 2001.
The series marked the fourth WNBA Finals appearance for the Liberty and second for the Sparks. For the Sparks, it also marked their second straight Finals appearance, going into the series as defending champions. The Sparks defeated the Liberty two games to none in the best-of-three series, winning their second consecutive championship. The 2001-02 Sparks would be the last team to win back-to-back championships until the Las Vegas Aces did so in 2022 and 2023. The 2002 NBA Finals coincidentally also saw the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA win their respective championship series by sweeping a New York metro area team, the New Jersey Nets 4–0.
Road to the finals Los Angeles SparksNew York Liberty25–7 (.781)1st West, 1st overall Regular season18–14 (.562)1st East, 4th overallDefeated the (4) Seattle Storm, 2–0 Conference SemifinalsDefeated the (4) Indiana Fever, 2–1Defeated the (3) Utah Starzz, 2–0 Conference FinalsDefeated the (3) Washington Mystics, 2–1
Regular season series The teams had split the regular season series:
Game summaries All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time.
Game 1
Game 2
Nikki Teasley hit a series-winning three pointer with 2.1 seconds left. Teresa Weatherspoon tried to repeat history by trying to make a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but the shot was blocked, and the Sparks won their second consecutive title.
Awards 2002 WNBA champion: Los Angeles Sparks Finals MVP: Lisa Leslie
Rosters
References