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Basketball93% complete

Gender:Female

Est:1997

Players:13

Los Angeles Sparks

Also known as: Los Angeles Sparks W

📍 Los Angeles, California, USA, United States•WNBA

ID: team_136443

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About

The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began. Like some other WNBA teams, the Sparks have the distinction of not being affiliated with an NBA counterpart, even though the market is shared with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers. As of 2019, the Sparks are the last franchise to win back-to-back titles. Lakers owner Jerry Buss owned the Sparks from 1997 to 2006 when Williams Group Holdings purchased the team. It was previously the sister team of the Los Angeles Lakers. As of 2014, the Sparks are owned by Sparks LA Sports, LLC. The Sparks have qualified for the WNBA Playoffs in sixteen of their twenty years in Los Angeles, more than any other team in the league. The franchise has been home to many high-quality players such as 6 foot 4 inch center Tennessee standout Candace Parker, flashy point guard Nikki Teasley, and nearby USC products Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson. In 2001, 2002, 2003, 2016 and 2017, the Sparks went to the WNBA Finals. They won the title in 2001, 2002, and 2016, beating Charlotte, New York, and Minnesota respectively, but fell short to Detroit in 2003 and Minnesota in 2017. Being in a major national market, the Sparks have always been a focal point of the league; they faced New York in the league's inaugural game on June 21, 1997.

City:Los Angeles, California, USA

Country:United States

Stadium:Crypto.com Arena

Capacity:18,997

Home Venue

Crypto.com Arena

Capacity:18,997

Location:Los Angeles, California, USA

Staples Center (officially stylized as STAPLES Center) is a multi-purpose arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999. It is owned and operated by the Arturo L.A. Arena Company and Anschutz Entertainment Group. The arena is home venue to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL) and the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League were also tenants; the Avengers were folded in 2009, and the D-Fenders moved to the Lakers' practice facility at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, California for the 2011–12 season. Staples Center is also host to over 250 events and nearly 4 million guests each year. It is the only arena in the NBA shared by two teams, as well as one of only three North American professional sports venues to host two teams from the same league; MetLife Stadium, the home of the National Football League's New York Giants and New York Jets, is one; SoFi Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, is the other. Staples Center is the venue of the Grammy Awards ceremony and will host the basketball competition during the 2028 Summer Olympics.