2001 WNBA Championship
Women's basketball series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Women's basketball series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2001 WNBA Championship was the championship series of the 2001 WNBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Los Angeles Sparks, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, defeated the Charlotte Sting, fourth-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, two games to none in a best-of-three series. This was Los Angeles' first title.
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| Dates | August 30-September 1 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Sparks: Lisa Leslie (2015) Sting: Dawn Staley (2013) Coaches: Michael Cooper (2024, player) Anne Donovan (1995, player) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Charlotte defeated New York, 2–1 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Los Angeles defeated Sacramento, 2–1 | |||||||||
The Sparks made their first appearance in the Finals in franchise history. The Sting also made their first Finals appearance.
Going into the series, no other team except the Houston Comets had ever won a WNBA championship (1997-2000).
The Sparks had a 28–4 record (.875), good enough to receive home-court advantage over the Sting (18–14). It did not matter, however, as the Sparks swept the Sting.
| Los Angeles Sparks | Charlotte Sting | |
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| 28–4 (.875) 1st West, 1st overall |
Regular season | 18–14 (.562) 4th East, 8th overall |
| Defeated the (4) Houston Comets, 2–0 | Conference Semifinals | Defeated the (1) Cleveland Rockers, 2–1 |
| Defeated the (2) Sacramento Monarchs, 2–1 | Conference Finals | Defeated the (2) New York Liberty, 2–1 |
The Sparks won the regular season series:
All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time.
August 30 |
| Los Angeles Sparks 75, Charlotte Sting 66 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–39, 40–27 | ||
| Pts: Leslie (24) Rebs: Leslie, Milton (8) Asts: Milton (5) |
Pts: Stinson (18) Rebs: Feaster (5) Asts: Stinson (5) | |
| L.A Sparks leads series, 1–0 | ||
Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte Attendance: 16,132 Referees:
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September 1 |
| Charlotte Sting 54, Los Angeles Sparks 82 | ||
| Scoring by half: 30–38, 24–44 | ||
| Pts: Sutton-Brown (12) Rebs: Smith (8) Asts: Staley (5) |
Pts: Leslie (24) Rebs: Leslie (13) Asts: Dixon (7) | |
| L.A Sparks wins WNBA Finals, 2–0 | ||
| 2001 Los Angeles Sparks Finals roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2001 Charlotte Sting Finals roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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