Ex-Boiler ready for life in WNBA.

Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton hasn’t spent much time in Los Angeles. During her freshman season at Purdue, the Boilermakers played games at UC-Santa Barbara and UCLA. But there wasn’t time for sight-seeing. Wisdom-Hylton hopes there will be plenty of time for that this spring and summer as a member of the WNBA’s L.A. Sparks. For that to [...]

Sparks Coach Michael Cooper in discussions about USC job.

Sparks Coach Michael Cooper is having discussions with USC about becoming the Trojans’ women’s basketball coach, Sparks co-owner Carla Christofferson confirmed today. Christofferson said Cooper told her “very recently, in the last day or so” of his intention to talk with USC officials. She said she didn’t know whether an offer had been made. Cooper [...]

Home beckoned to Tina Thompson.

Now, for one year at least, Los Angeles will have a chance to get reacquainted with one of its greatest female basketball stars. The Sparks formally introduced the former USC and Morningside High star at a press conference Thursday morning at the Grammy’s Hall of Fame at L.A. Live. Like many of the greats immortalized [...]

Tina Thompson to Re-Unite with Lisa Leslie?

The Los Angeles Sparks have called a press conference tomorrow to make a “major player personnel announcement” introducing “the newest addition to the Sparks roster.” No one will say before tomorrow, but signs point to L.A. having finally signed free agent Tina Thompson, formerly of the Houston Comet, whose career has in many ways mirrored [...]

The Selling of Candace Parker.

She’s the total package: your sister’s pal, your brother’s prom date, supermom-to-be. She’s also an MVP—of a league few watch. So can Candace Parker be the female Jordan? Lots of folks are banking on it.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3967891

WNBA pioneer will make farewell tour.

One of the foundational players upon which the WNBA was built after the 1996 Olympics, Leslie considered retiring after last season and after she won her fourth Olympic gold medal. Her Los Angeles Sparks teammates, including 2008 Rookie of the Year Candace Parker, convinced Leslie, who turns 37 in July, to return for a final [...]

Sparks’ Lisa Leslie cites balancing act in decision to retire.

Her news conference in El Segundo had a charming “This Is Your Life”-type feel, from her proud husband, Michael Lockwood, on hand and her toddler, Lauren, saying, “Mommy!” to her own mother, Christine, saying, “She’s still my little girl.”The 36-year-old Leslie got emotional once in the prepared remarks and that was when she was thanking [...]

Sparks’ Lisa Leslie expected to retire after this season.

The finish line, apparently, is in sight for a basketball icon. Lisa Leslie of the Sparks, WNBA pioneer and four-time Olympic gold medalist, is expected to announce that this will be her final season in the league, according to sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-wnba-lisa-leslie4-2009feb04,0,3112471.story

Best time for Parker to become a mom? Is there one?

Have a baby early on like Parker and you’re forever juggling the responsibilities and demands of motherhood with your career. Not easy, especially as time passes and you’re anxious to push yourself to the next level at work. Have a baby mid-career and you’re forced to slow down, perhaps even stop altogether, just when things [...]

Candace Parker eagerly awaits motherhood.

Candace Parker spoke with a non-stop giggle in her voice. She is in Chicago, staying with her family as she prepares for the birth of her first child with her new husband, Sacramento Kings basketball player Shelden Williams. Parker on Friday talked publicly for the first time since announcing she and Williams, who eloped last [...]