Kathy Goodman: Phoenix then and now

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

As I was making my plans for this weekend’s final regular season game in Phoenix, and Lisa Leslie’s final regular season game in a Sparks uniform, I couldn’t help but reflect back on Season 1—back in 1997. At the start of the inaugural season, L.A. had been widely picked as a favorite to win the first championship in the league, in large part because of the star power of its first assigned player, Lisa Leslie. However, the season had not gone exactly as planned. There had been losing streaks and coaching changes. By the time the last game of the regular season arrived, L.A. was fighting for its life to make the playoffs and it all came down to the final game of the season against the Phoenix Mercury. The game was on a Sunday afternoon, and if we won, we were going to the post-season. If Phoenix won, they were on their way. It was a big game for Sparks fans in that inaugural season and I convinced my brother, with whom I was sharing a house (and Sparks season tickets) at the time, that true fans would road trip to Phoenix to cheer on the team. He thought I was crazy, but he helped pack the car.

So, in tribute to Leslie, and because the parallels were so strong (except the part about having to qualify for the playoffs, fortunately), I decided it was time once again to load up my car with water and chips and head out......

into the desert.

In 1997, Phoenix had one of the largest and most vocal fan bases in the league. Their arena seemed to literally shake when they all got going. They had a group of dedicated nuns who cheered them on from the stands and Cheryl Miller as their fiery coach. In the pre-Penny Taylor days, their Australian on the roster was the tenacious point guard Michelle Timms. Nancy Lieberman was still playing guard for Phoenix, her coaching and broadcasting careers still far in her future. Everyone in the arena seemed to know all the words to the “Mighty Mercury” song. Los Angeles had its own stars: Leslie, of course, and Penny Toler in her pre-GM days. Chinese National Team standout Haixia Zheng also played a big role.

Much like today, it was about 105 degrees in Phoenix when my brother and I rolled into town, about two hours early, since we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss any of the game. When we could finally enter the building, we found our seats at the top of the arena behind one of the baskets. (My seats were a little better than that this year.) We had come to cheer on Leslie and our team, proudly wearing our Sparks logos in “enemy territory.” In 1997, Leslie was No. 1 in the league in rebounds, No. 3 in points per game and No. 2 in blocked shots.

This year, unlike in 1997, we didn’t have much to play for in this final game. We had our third spot locked up and Phoenix had their No. 1 seed locked in. We all wanted to rest our players and shelter them from injury. But that didn’t mean we didn’t both want to come away with the win. We let Phoenix build up a pretty good lead and we, as usual, had trouble shutting down their three-point shooters. I was having flashbacks to 1997, remembering the long drive home across the desert after seeing our post-season plans evaporate at the final buzzer, wondering why I had ever thought it was a good idea to drive 800 miles round trip in a day to watch two hours of basketball. But then the team decided we were not going to lose. We stopped settling for jump shots and started pounding the ball back into the paint. We hit the boards hard and chased down loose balls. We went on an 11-4 run at the end of the fourth quarter until finally, with 5.5 seconds left in the game, we were up by 2, with Candace Parker at the line shooting two. We needed them both to make it a two possession game. Parker had played incredibly well, notching her 14th double-double, and it was time to get us home. She lets the first free throw go up, and clangs off the rim. Even at the end, Parker had to make the game exciting. She made the second one, so all we had to do was prevent Phoenix from shooting a 3 in the last five seconds. Believe it or not, Kelly Mazzante let one fly less than a second before the end of regulation. It looked good leaving her hand. I thought about how long the drive home was going to be and I really did not want overtime. Mazzante’s ball floated through the air and then clanked off the rim—so close! Tina Thompson grabbed the rebound and the win.

In 1997, it was a long hot drive home that Sunday as I reflected on the end of the Sparks season. Today I spent the drive reflecting on the end of Lisa Leslie’s regular season pro ball. But the drive seemed a lot shorter as I eagerly awaited the post-season starting Wednesday night at Staples Center. Leslie may not be willing to stay for one more year, but it is going to be great to watch her fight for one more championship.

-- Kathy Goodman

Goodman is co-owner of the Sparks.