| 2020 Los Angeles Sparks season | |
|---|---|
| Coach | Derek Fisher |
| Arena | Originally: Staples Center Rescheduled to play at the: IMG Academy, in Bradenton, Florida |
| Attendance | 0 per game |
| Results | |
| Record | 15–7 (.682) |
| Place | 3rd (Western) |
| Playoff finish | 3rd Seed, lost in the 2nd Round #7 Connecticut Sun, L 73-59 |
| Team Leaders | |
| Points | Candace Parker (14.7 PPG) |
| Rebounds | Candace Parker (9.7 RPG) |
| Assists | Chelsea Gray (5.3 APG) |
| Media | |
| Television | Spectrum SportsNet ESPN2, CBSSN, NBATV |
The 2020 WNBA season was the 24th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season will tip off on July 25, 2020, versus the Phoenix Mercury.[1]
This WNBA season will feature an all-time high 36 regular-season games.[2] However, the plan for expanded games was put on hold on April 3, when the WNBA postponed its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Under a plan approved on June 15, the league is scheduled to hold a shortened 22-game regular season at IMG Academy, without fans present, starting on July 24.[4][5]
The Sparks' season started slowly, with the team going 3–3 in their first six games. Every win was followed by a loss during that streak. Then the team warmed up and won nine games in a row, before losing the last game in August to go into the final month of the season 12–4, and already having secured a playoff berth. September was not kind to the Sparks, as they went 3–3 to finish out the season. Their final record of 15–7 was good enough for the third seed in the playoffs.
As the third seed, the Sparks were awarded a First Round bye and awaited the lowest remaining seed in the second round. They played the seventh seeded Connecticut Sun and suffered a disappointing 59–73 loss to end their season.
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 20 | Beatrice Mompremier |  United States
|
Miami (FL) |
| 2 | 22 | Leonie Fiebich |  Germany
|
Wasserburg (Germany) |
| 3 | 34 | Tynice Martin | United States
|
West Virginia |
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| February 10, 2020 | Signed G Kristi Toliver[6] | |
| Traded C Kalani Brown to the Atlanta Dream in exchange for G Brittney Sykes and C Marie Gülich[7] | ||
| February 11, 2020 | Re-signed G/F Tierra Ruffin-Pratt[8] | |
| February 20, 2020 | Signed G/F Seimone Augustus[9] | |
| February 21, 2020 | Traded G Marina MabreytoDallas in exchange for Dallas' Second round pick in the 2021 WNBA draft[10] | |
| February 28, 2020 | Re-signed G Chelsea Gray[11] | |
| May 15, 2020 | Signed G Sydney Wiese to a contract extension.[12] | |
| May 26, 2020 | Traded the second round pick acquired in the February 21st trade to Dallas in exchange for C Kristine Anigwe and a third round pick in the 2021 Draft.[13] | |
| June 26, 2020 | GKristi Toliver opts out of the 2020 season.[14] | |
| F/C Chiney Ogwumike opts out of the 2020 season.[15] | ||
| June 27, 2020 | Signed F Reshanda Gray.[16] | |
| June 28, 2020 | Signed G Te'a Cooper.[17] | |
| 2020 Los Angeles Sparks roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2020 game log Total: 15–7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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July
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August
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September
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| 2020 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 playoff game log Total: 0–1 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Second Round
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| 2020 playoff schedule | ||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
| 2 | x – Seattle Storm | 18 | 4 | .818 | – | 8–2 |
| 3 | x – Los Angeles Sparks | 15 | 7 | .682 | 3 | 5–5 |
| 4 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 14 | 8 | .636 | 4 | 4–6 |
| 5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 13 | 9 | .591 | 5 | 4–6 |
| 6 | x – Chicago Sky | 12 | 10 | .545 | 6 | 6–4 |
| 7 | x – Connecticut Sun | 10 | 12 | .455 | 8 | 7–3 |
| 8 | x – Washington Mystics | 9 | 13 | .409 | 9 | 6–4 |
| 9 | e – Dallas Wings | 8 | 14 | .364 | 10 | 1–9 |
| 10 | e – Atlanta Dream | 7 | 15 | .318 | 11 | 5–5 |
| 11 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 16 | .273 | 12 | 4–6 |
| 12 | e – New York Liberty | 2 | 20 | .091 | 16 | 2–8 |
| First round: Single elimination (September 15) | Second round: Single elimination (September 17) | Semifinals: Best-of-five (September 20–29) | WNBA Finals: Best-of-five (October 2–11) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 62 | 83 | 68 | 84 | 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Minnesota Lynx | 80 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 87 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 63 | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 85 | 5 | Phoenix Mercury | 79 | 1 | Las Vegas Aces | 80 | 91 | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Washington Mystics | 84 | 2 | Seattle Storm | 93 | 104 | 92 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle Storm | 88 | 89 | 92 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Los Angeles Sparks | 59 | 4 | Minnesota Lynx | 86 | 79 | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Chicago Sky | 81 | 7 | Connecticut Sun | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Connecticut Sun | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Teams re-seeded after each round.
| 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 | ||||
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candace Parker | 22 | 22 | 30.0 | 51.0 | 39.6 | 73.1 | 9.7 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 14.7 |
| Chelsea Gray | 22 | 22 | 30.6 | 44.2 | 30.5 | 93.9 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 14.0 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 18 | 18 | 26.2 | 56.9 | 50.0 | 83.7 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 13.3 |
| Riquna Williams | 21 | 4 | 21.1 | 43.5 | 42.2 | 88.9 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 10.5 |
| Brittney Sykes | 21 | 14 | 24.4 | 48.7 | 32.7 | 80.6 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 10.1 |
| Te'a Cooper | 20 | 3 | 17.3 | 45.1 | 34.4 | 76.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0 | 7.0 |
| Sydney Wiese | 19 | 15 | 19.1 | 50.5 | 47.2 | 91.7 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 6.8 |
| Seimone Augustus | 21 | 0 | 15.8 | 49.1 | 54.5 | 66.7 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 5.9 |
| Kristine Anigwe | 17 | 1 | 11.6 | 60.4 | 0 | 53.8 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 4.6 |
| Tierra Ruffin-Pratt | 17 | 10 | 14.5 | 26.7 | 46.2 | 73.1 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Marie Gülich | 12 | 1 | 9.9 | 50.0 | 0 | 100.0 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| Reshanda Gray | 10 | 0 | 6.3 | 36.4 | 0 | 85.7 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candace Parker | WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week | August 24, 2020 | [18] |
| Peak Performer: Rebounds | September 14, 2020 | [19] | |
| Defensive Player of the Year | September 24, 2020 | [20] | |
| Nneka Ogwumike | Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award | September 29, 2020 | [21] |
| Brittney Sykes | 2nd Team All-Defense | September 29, 2020 | [22] |
| Candace Parker | All-WNBA First Team | October 4, 2020 | [23] |
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| Franchise |
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| Arenas |
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| Head coaches |
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| Administration |
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| All-Stars |
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| Seasons |
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| Playoff appearances |
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| Conference Championships |
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| WNBA Championships |
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| Rivals |
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| Media |
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2020 WNBA season by team
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| Eastern |
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| Western |
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