2002 WNBA Finals

2002 WNBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Los Angeles Sparks Michael Cooper 2 New York Liberty Richie Adubato 0
Dates	August 29 – 31
MVP	Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks)
Hall of Famers	Sparks: Lisa Leslie (2015) Liberty: Becky Hammon (2023) Teresa Weatherspoon (2019) Coaches: Michael Cooper (2024, player)
Eastern finals	New York defeated Washington, 2–1
Western finals	Los Angeles defeated Utah, 2–0

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, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the New York Liberty, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Los Angeles' second title.

Until 2023, this was the last time a WNBA franchise has won back to back championships. Coincidentally 2 months before the finals, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA would win their 14th title by sweeping a New York Metro team, the New Jersey Nets 4–0.

The Liberty made their fourth appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sparks made their second straight Finals appearance.

The Sparks went into the series as defending champions. 2002 marked their second WNBA championship. (The Houston Comets hold the record with four championships won.)

The Sparks had a 25–7 record (.781), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Liberty (18–14).

Road to the finals

Los Angeles Sparks		New York Liberty
25–7 (.781) 1st West, 1st overall	Regular season	18–14 (.562) 1st East, 4th overall
Defeated the (4) Seattle Storm, 2–0	Conference Semifinals	Defeated the (4) Indiana Fever, 2–1
Defeated the (3) Utah Starzz, 2–0	Conference Finals	Defeated the (3) Washington Mystics, 2–1

Regular season series

The teams had split the regular season series:

May 25

New York Liberty 64, Los Angeles Sparks 72

STAPLES Center, Los Angeles

July 18

Los Angeles Sparks 59, New York Liberty 72

Madison Square Garden, New York

Game summaries

All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time.

Game 1

ESPN2

August 29 7:30pm

"Game 1". Archived from the original on November 26, 2002. Retrieved September 14, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

Los Angeles Sparks 71, New York Liberty 63
Scoring by half: 35–35, 36–28
Pts: Mabika 20 Rebs: Byears 11		Pts: Hammon 18 Rebs: Weatherspoon 7
L.A Sparks leads series, 1–0

Madison Square Garden, New York

Game 2

NBC

August 31 3:30pm

"Game 2". Archived from the original on November 26, 2002. Retrieved September 14, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

New York Liberty 66, Los Angeles Sparks 69
Scoring by half: 24–31, 42–38
Pts: Johnson, Whitmore 17 Rebs: Phillips 8		Pts: Leslie 17 Rebs: Byears 11
L.A Sparks wins WNBA Finals, 2–0

STAPLES Center, Los Angeles

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

2002 Los Angeles Sparks Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight From C 41 Askamp, Marlies 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 198 lb (90 kg) Germany F 00 Byears, Latasha 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 206 lb (93 kg) DePaul F 14 DeSouza, Erika 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Brazil G 21 Dixon, Tamecka 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 148 lb (67 kg) Kansas F 17 Grgin-Fonseca, Vedrana 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Croatia C 9 Leslie, Lisa 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) USC F 4 Mabika, Mwadi 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Democratic Republic of the Congo G 10 McCrimmon, Nicky 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 125 lb (57 kg) USC F 8 Milton, Delisha 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Florida G 42 Teasley, Nikki 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) North Carolina G 13 Witherspoon, Sophia 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Florida	Head coach Michael Cooper (New Mexico) Assistant coaches Glenn McDonald Karleen Thompson Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured

2002 New York Liberty Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Height Weight From C 42 Cooper, Camille 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Purdue F 31 Frohlich, Linda 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 183 lb (83 kg) University of Nevada, Las Vegas G 25 Hammon, Becky 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) 136 lb (62 kg) Colorado State G 7 Hlede, Korie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Duquesne G 55 Johnson, Vickie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Louisiana Tech C 50 Ngoyisa, Bernadette 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Democratic Republic of the Congo F 24 Phillips, Tari 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) University of Central Florida F 3 Robinson, Crystal 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Southeastern Oklahoma State University G 11 Weatherspoon, Teresa 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 161 lb (73 kg) Louisiana Tech F 44 Whitmore, Tamika 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Memphis F 23 Wicks, Sue 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 174 lb (79 kg) Rutgers	Head coach Richie Adubato (William Paterson) Assistant coaches Pat Coyle (Rutgers) Jeff House Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended Injured