2021_Los_Angeles_Sparks_season

2021 Los Angeles Sparks season
2021 Los Angeles Sparks season
Coach	Derek Fisher
Arena	Los Angeles Convention Center; Staples Center
Attendance	1,221 per game
Results
Record	12–20 (.375)
Place	6th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Team Leaders
Points	Nneka Ogwumike – 14.5 ppg
Rebounds	Nneka Ogwumike – 6.5 rpg
Assists	Erica Wheeler – 4.8 apg
Media
Television	Spectrum SportsNet; ESPN2, CBSSN, NBATV
	← 2020 season 2022 season →

2021 Los Angeles Sparks season

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The 2021 WNBA season was the 25th season for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season tipped off on May 14, 2021, versus the Dallas Wings.^[1]

Quick Facts Los Angeles Sparks season, Coach ...

The Sparks split time in two arenas during the 2021 season. They played at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May until July and then played at the Staples Center after the league took its Olympic break.^[2]

The Sparks started the season slowly, losing the first two games. However, they won the next two to finish May with a 2–2 record. June proved difficult, as the team couldn't sustain a winning streak, as wins were followed by two losses frequently. They finished June 4–7 and 6–9 overall. The Sparks went into the Olympic break on a low note when they lost all four games in July. After the break, a favorable schedule contributed to a four-game winning streak to begin the August schedule, with wins over Indiana and Atlanta who finished in the bottom two of the final regular season standings. Once the winning streak ended, the Sparks lost six straight games to slide to 10–19 going into the final three games of the season. Despite winning two of the last three, a final day loss meant the Sparks finished outside the playoff places with a 12–20 overall record.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 2021_Los_Angeles_Sparks_season, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

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"Sparks Re-Sign All-WNBA Defender Brittney Sykes". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 8, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

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"Sparks Sign Former No. 2 Overall Pick Amanda Zahui B." sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 11, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

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"Sparks Sign Bria Holmes". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

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"Sparks Sign Nia Coffey". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. March 4, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

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"Sparks Tweet". twitter.com. Twitter. March 16, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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"WNBA Transactions". wnba.com. WNBA. May 6, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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"After suspending Gabby Williams for the season, Sky trade her to Sparks for Stephanie Watts". CBS Sports. May 9, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

[23] [23]
"Eight-time All-Star Seimone Augustus retires, joins Los Angeles Sparks' coaching staff". espn.com. ESPN. May 13, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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"Sparks Trade Sydney Wiese to Washington Mystics". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. May 13, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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"LA Sparks Sign Gabby Williams To Contract Extension". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. May 14, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.

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"Sparks Sign Kristine Anigwe & Karlie Samuelson". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.

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"OFFICIAL: Kristine Anigwe and Bria Holmes have been waived". twitter.com. Twitter. June 28, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

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"Official: The Los Angeles Sparks terminated the hardship contract of Karlie Samuelson". twitter.com. Twitter. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

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"Sparks Sign 2020 No. 3 Overall Pick Lauren Cox". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

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"Sparks Re-Sign Karlie Samuelson". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

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"Sparks Re-Sign Bria Holmes". sparks.wnba.com. WNBA. June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

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Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	7	Jasmine Walker	United States	Alabama
1	10	Stephanie Watts	United States	North Carolina
2	22	Arella Guirantes	Puerto Rico	Rutgers
3	28	Ivana Raca	Serbia	Wake Forest
3	34	Aina Ayuso	Spain	Casademont Zaragoza (Spain)

Date	Details
December 31, 2020	Renounced rights to G Ángela Salvadores^[3]
January 6, 2021	Extended Qualifying Offers to G Brittney Sykes and C Marianna Tolo^[4]
January 7, 2021	Extended Qualifying Offer to G Te'a Cooper^[5]
January 11, 2021	Re-Signed G Te'a Cooper^[6]
January 13, 2021	Cored F Nneka Ogwumike^[7]
February 2, 2021	Signed G Erica Wheeler^[8]
February 8, 2021	Re-Signed G Brittney Sykes^[9]
February 11, 2021	Signed C Amanda Zahui B.^[10]
February 19, 2021	Signed G Bria Holmes^[11]
February 22, 2021	Re-Signed G/F Seimone Augustus^[12]
February 25, 2021	Re-Signed F/C Chiney Ogwumike^[13]
March 2, 2021	Re-Signed F Nneka Ogwumike^[14]
March 4, 2021	Signed G Nia Coffey to a Training Camp Contract^[15]
March 16, 2021	Waived C Marie Gülich^[16]
April 14, 2021	Acquired the 7th pick in the 2021 WNBA draft and Dallas's 2md Round pick in the 2022 WNBA draft in exchange for the Sparks' 2022 1st Round pick.^[17]
April 18, 2021	Waived G Tierra Ruffin-Pratt^[18]
April 19, 2021	Signed G Stephanie Watts to a Rookie Scale Contract^[19]
April 20, 2021	Signed F Jasmine Walker to a Rookie Scale Contract^[20]
May 6, 2021	Signed G Arella Guirantes to a Rookie Scale Contract^[21]
May 9, 2021	Traded G Stephanie Watts and the rights to G Leonie Fiebich to Chicago in exchange for G/F Gabby Williams^[22]
May 13, 2021	G Seimone Augustus retires and is named an Assistant Coach^[23]
	Traded G Sydney Wiese to Washington in exchange for a 2022 2nd Round Pick.^[24]
	Waived F Kristine Anigwe.^[25]
	Temporarily Suspend C Maria Vadeeva.^[26]
May 14, 2021	Signed G/F Gabby Williams to a Contract Extension^[27]
June 4, 2021	Signed G Karlie Samuelson and C Kristine Anigwe to Hardship Contracts^[28]
June 28, 2021	Released C Kristine Anigwe from the Hardship Contract and Waived G Bria Holmes^[29]
June 29, 2021	Released G Karlie Samuelson from the Hardship Contract^[30]
June 30, 2021	Signed C Lauren Cox^[31]
	Signed G Karlie Samuelson to a Hardship Contract^[32]
	Signed G Bria Holmes to a Hardship Contract^[33]
August 3, 2021	Terminated the Hardship Contracts of Bria Holmes and Karlie Samuelson^[34]
August 3, 2021	Signed G Karlie Samuelson to a 7-Day Contract^[35]

#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Conf.	Home	Road	Cup
1	x – Connecticut Sun	26	6	.813	–	12–3	15–1	11–5	9–1
2	x – Las Vegas Aces	24	8	.750	2	11–4	13–3	11–5	6–4
3	x – Minnesota Lynx	22	10	.688	4	10–5	13–3	9–7	7–3
4	x – Seattle Storm	21	11	.656	5	9–6	11–5	10–6	8–2
5	x – Phoenix Mercury	19	13	.594	7	6–9	7–9	12–4	5–5
6	x – Chicago Sky	16	16	.500	10	10–5	6–10	10–6	6–4
7	x – Dallas Wings	14	18	.438	12	7–8	7–9	7–9	3–7
8	x – New York Liberty	12	20	.375	14	6–9	7–9	5–11	5–5
9	e – Washington Mystics	12	20	.375	14	7–8	8–8	4–12	4–6
10	e – Los Angeles Sparks	12	20	.375	14	2–13	8–8	4–12	1–9
11	e – Atlanta Dream	8	24	.250	18	6–9	4–12	4–12	4–6
12	e – Indiana Fever	6	26	.188	20	4–11	4–12	2–14	2–8

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
Nneka Ogwumike	18	18	31.7	53.2	36.7	80.0	6.5	2.7	1.4	0.3	14.5
Erica Wheeler	32	32	30.2	41.7	35.5	82.7	3.1	4.8	1.3	0.3	13.6
Kristi Toliver	19	19	27.6	41.4	33.7	84.2	1.4	2.9	0.7	0.0	9.4
Brittney Sykes	32	20	29.3	40.5	26.2	77.2	4.6	2.2	1.8	0.5	9.4
Amanda Zahui B	30	27	23.8	42.7	28.0	76.7	5.1	1.0	0.6	1.2	9.2
Te'a Cooper	31	13	22.0	37.9	32.4	75.0	1.7	1.4	0.9	0.2	9.1
Nia Coffey	32	17	25.2	42.1	41.7	77.8	3.8	0.9	0.8	1.2	8.3
Chiney Ogwumike	7	3	19.1	40.8	75.0	75.0	4.1	1.1	0.9	0.4	7.0
Lauren Cox	15	0	14.0	41.3	20.0	77.8	3.7	0.6	0.7	0.9	3.5
Arella Guirantes	25	2	11.6	27.4	22.2	80.8	1.3	0.6	0.3	0.2	3.2
Jasmine Walker	2	0	10.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.0
Maria Vadeeva	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

2021_Los_Angeles_Sparks_season

2021 Los Angeles Sparks season

Transactions

WNBA draft

Trades/Roster Changes

Roster

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Standings

Statistics

Regular Season

Awards and honors

References

External links

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Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Brittney Sykes	WNBA All-Defensive First Team	September 26	^[37]
Nneka Ogwumike	Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award	October 3	^[38]