Leslie, Parker make L.A. favorite in WNBA
Veteran's return, prized rookie's arrival make Sparks team to beat
 Gregory Smith / AP Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie, left, shares a laugh with teammate Candace Parker as their team plays the Atlanta Dream in an exhibition game May 3. |
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Look out, WNBA. Lisa Leslie is back, and now she has Candace Parker with her.
The two have helped Los Angeles garner most of the preseason buzz, and the Sparks are the overwhelming favorites to win their third WNBA championship as the league opens its 12th season this weekend.
Leslie, a perennial All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist, has returned after a one-year absence following the birth of her daughter last June. The Sparks were a league-worst 10-24 without her, won the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery and selected Parker — a two-time All-American who led Tennessee to consecutive NCAA championships.
“I wasn’t a part of the team last year,” Leslie said. “I’m all about winning. I’m excited for us to pick up where I left off.”
The Sparks won consecutive championships in 2001 and ’02, and although they don’t have any titles since then, they were 91-45 in the ensuing four seasons with Leslie — reaching at least 24 wins three times.
“L.A. has the hype for a reason,” Seattle Storm star Sue Bird said. “They have their all-time best player ever returning in Lisa Leslie. ... You have one of the best players right now playing, even though she hasn’t played in a WNBA game, in Candace Parker. You can really put in anyone around them and they’re supposed to be amazing. ... They’re expected to do well.”
Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper has compared Parker’s versatility to that of his former Lakers teammate Magic Johnson, and envisions the rookie being the key to the Sparks’ new uptempo offense.
“We’re going to really go full throttle because she’s the one that can rebound and get our transition game going,” Cooper said. “Our goal is to run our way to a championship.”
The Sparks also reacquired two-time Olympian DeLisha Milton-Jones, who spent her first six seasons in Los Angeles and teamed with Leslie on the championship teams.
Los Angeles’ biggest challenges in the West will come from defending champion Phoenix and veteran-laden Seattle.
The Mercury went 12-2 after the All-Star break, then swept Seattle and San Antonio in the playoffs before beating Detroit in five games to win their first championship.
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Phoenix thrived under coach Paul Westhead’s frenetic pace, averaging a league-best 89.0 points per game. Westhead, however, left to join the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics, replaced by assistant and protege Corey Gaines. Also, second-leading scorer Penny Taylor (17.8 ppg) is training with the Australian national team and won’t rejoin the Mercury until the stretch run after the Olympics.
Gaines has more than 20 years experience with Westhead’s system, having played for him at Loyola Marymount in 1986-87. He knows his biggest challenge will be making up for Taylor’s lost production.
He also doesn’t mind Los Angeles stealing the headlines.
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“That may be a blessing in disguise,” Gaines said. “Everybody may be talking about L.A., we’ll just sit back like we did last year. Everybody picked us last year to come in fifth or fourth. They didn’t think we were going to make the playoffs. ... I guess it all counts in the end what you do.”
The Storm also have a new coach — Brian Agler — after Anne Donovan stepped down, and they improved their lineup by acquiring Swin Cash from Detroit and signing veterans Sheryl Swoopes and Yolanda Griffith to complement Bird and Lauren Jackson. Seattle can start a lineup full of past champions, including two with multiple titles — Swoopes won four with Houston, Cash two with Detroit.
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