“This championship was so much harder to win. We had to find different ways to win. We’ve held our own, we’ve been strong and it’s just an amazing feeling.”
That’s what Lisa Leslie said when the Los Angeles Sparks won their second-straight WNBA title in 2002.
But back then, one could be excused for thinking repeating as champions of the basketball world wasn’t all that difficult. The Houston Comets launched the WNBA by winning four-straight titles (1997-2000). In the NBA, the Sparks’ LA counterparts, the Lakers, just had won their second of an eventual three-straight titles (2000-02), while the two three-peats achieved by the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s remained top of mind for basketball fans.
Yet, in the 21 years since the Spark’s second-straight title triumph, the WNBA has not seen a repeat champion.
The Las Vegas Aces, who are threatening the all-time regular-season winning percentage established by those Comets in 1998, stand a strong candidate to break the drought, although the challenge of the league’s first 40-game season recently has exposed some cracks in the Aces’ armor.
So how did the Sparks do it in 2002? And are there any parallels with the 2023 Aces?
More than just back-to-back ambitions
After winning their first WNBA championship…
