Women's Hoops Guru

By Mel Greenberg

As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Conversely, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks were deconstructed in a summer and are about the reap the reward for futility.

Last season's implosion of the once-champion women's outfit in Tinseltown is but one of the many elements leading to the impending arrival of Tennessee superstar Candace Parker.

The Vols' multi-faceted all-American announced Thursday she will bypass her senior season to play in the WNBA and on this summer's Olympic squad in Bejing.

Los Angeles owns the No. 1 draft pick. Unless the Sparks are willing to listen to an offer from the Chicago Sky, which is willing to provide the No. 2 pick along with the Sears and Hancock towers, neither of which ever played in the WNBA, coach Michael Cooper will be using the phrase "no deal," until the moment a day after the NCAA title game to exercise his prized possession.

"Candace Parker is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Magic Johnson all rolled into one, that's how good she is," Cooper told the Chicago Tribune, alluding to the NBA Los Angeles Lakers' contributions to the all-time greats to basketball.

Curiously, Sparks center Lisa Leslie and the retired Chamique Holdsclaw -- two WNBA all-stars we'll get to in a little bit -- weren't mention.

But then Cooper was simply rebutting the Tribune description of its native women's star, who, on the Sky would be frequently compared to one Michael Jordan, who made the NBA Chicago Bulls a perennial power.

Incidentally, Parker, who is from Naperville, Ill., near Chicago, could stay put in her winter home in the Thompson-Bolling Arena in Knoxville to pursue her Olympic intentions and go for the gold.

She played with the national team last summer before returning to the Vols. Indeed,Oklahoma junior center Courtney Paris did likewise and has an outside shot at making the Olympic roster.

On the other hand, to not leave Tennessee now would be to risk that the prize behind door No. 1 in next season's WNBA auction might be a summer in -- well, let's leave that for the 2008 final standings to reveal a clue to that answer.

Much has gone into the impending signature moment in the Sparks' 12-year history: romance, disgruntlement, injury, a reluctance to dwell in desert heat, a cameo in this tale by the revitalized San Antonio Silver Stars, and, most important, the Minnesota Lynx's sudden attack of amnesia in the final weekend of last season. That's when the team suddenly forgot how to lose.

Now, as they say in RPI talk, let's look at the Nitty Gritty components leading to Thursday's announcement.

Injury: Parker missed her freshman season after having surgery to repair a torn knee ligament. Had she played, she would be a senior in eligibility, Thus, under WNBA rules she has the option of waiting one more season or turning pro now -- a move not unprecedented.

Tweety Nolan did such a thing leaving Georgia several years ago and helped Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer to a pair of WNBA titles. In fact, he has become such a personality in the women's pro league, that a new generation has come along with no recollection of him as a member of the Detroit Pistons "Bad Boy" era that won several NBA titles.

Actually, his former coach Chuck Daly voiced similar sentiments about Laimbeer last September at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. One of the honorees was former WNBA and women's Olympic coach Van Chancellor, now at LSU.

"Bill's going to get in here, too -- but it's not going to be for anything he ever did for me," Daly, himself a Hall of Famer, quipped.

Parker, who excels in the classroom as much as she does on the floor, was far enough ahead in her studies, she could have actually chose to leave Tennessee a year ago after the Vols won their seventh title, snapping a 10-year drought.

The Phoenix Mercury held the No. 1 pick, but Parker chose to have the best of both worlds -- play with the pros during the summer in USA Basketball competition, and return for a run at another NCAA title.

With Parker unavailable, the Mercury took Duke's Lindsey Harding as the No. 1 pick and promptly dealt her to Minnesota, which had previously collected two No. 1s on their own.

Had the Tennessee all-American decided to go with Phoenix, the Mercury would have been prohibitive favorites to win their first WNBA title.

Come to think of it, two of Parker's USA summer pals helped acquire the trophy without her -- Rutgers alum Cappie Pondexter and Connecticut grad Diana Taurasi. They were guided by WNBA carpetbagger Paul Westhead, who produced the run-and-hit concept. The Mercury were speed demons on the court, but he personally was unable to acquire more cash -- no, not Swin -- and returned to the NBA as an assistant in Seattle.

Romance: This would be multiple MVP winner Lisa Leslie's department.

One of the all time centers in the women's game, the former Southern Cal star, who has been with the Sparks since their outset in 1997, married several years ago and learned prior to last season that early-round draft options can also result in pregnancy.

That meant time off, causing the Sparks to discover new levels. Unfortunately, they were discovered on a downward path.

Disgruntlement. With Leslie gone from the scene, Sparks fans still had hopes because of the presence of Chamique Holdslcaw, Parker's predecessor at Tennessee in the late 1990s who has since been sort of eclipsed by Parker's play in Knoxville.

On July 11, three days before Tennessee coach Pat Summitt's birthday, Los Angeles suddenly announced that Holdsclaw had decided to retire. The result was an immediate dive toward the bottom of the WNBA, with the Sparks plunging 3-12 the rest of the way to improve their chances to acquire the top pick.

Still, it took a little help from Minnesota to enhance the Spark's chances, because the Lynx were able to use such events as Harding's ACL to stay below sea level.

Lotto Dynamics: While a three-way race for the No. 1 seed in the WNBA West playoffs was being contested among the Sacramento Monarchs, San Antonio Silver Stars, and Phoenix, few noticed, except persons with occasional half-baked senses of humor such as the Guru, that real contest for future wealth was being fought at the bottom of the standings.

Minnesota went into anti-choke mode, winning three of the Lynx's final five games. After beating playoff-bound Seattle, 95-74, the Lynx quickly snapped out of their spell, losing to Los Angeles, 89-80, on Aug. 12.

That created a 2-2 tie in head-to-head competition in what had become a two-team race to become the worst of the worst.

Thus, if Minnesota and L.A. frinished with exact records, the first tie-breaker had become unoperable.

Lynx fans had to be thrilled on Aug. 14 when Minnesota fell at Seattle 81-67.

But on the same night, San Antonio, still pushing for tops in the West, beat Los Angeles, 84-77, in overtime.

The Lynx's once-solid last-place locale was being threatened by the Sparks, who were two games away.

When Los Angeles hands out thanks after the pick of Parker become official, nods should be made in the direction of playoff-bound Detroit and San Antonio, which didn't need to use the regulars much on the final weekend.

The result was Minnesota's 87-77 victory over the Shock and 81-55 triumph over San Antonio.

Meanwhile, that "thud" outside the Lynx's door was none other than the Sparks themselves, which lost at Seattle, 97-77, and Houston, 82-72.

Final records at the bottom of the West: Minnesota - 10-24; Los Angeles - 10-24.

Chicago was a distant third-worst at 14-20. The Sky performed all summer with the notion that second-year franchises can become contenders with such blossoming young talent as former Temple star Candice Dupree.

The San Antonio factor: Now, in terms of which of the two - Los Angelesor Minnesota - would be allowed a better shot at the draft lottery balls, the tie-break went to worst holder of in-conference won-loss records.

That result: Los Angeles - 6-16. Minnesota 8-14. The Sparks went 1-10 their final games against West teams. Minnesota was 4-7.

The Sparks also owe some thanks to the Connecticut Sun, which lost a double overtime game at Minnesota, 77-73, on June 13.A Lynx win that day is one to remember in terms of affecting the lotto ball action, although who knows what Parker's thoughts would have been if Minnesota emerged with the No. 1 pick.

Another factor was San Antonio's season 3-0 sweep of Los Angeles, while Minnesota went 2-1 against the Silver Stars. San Antonio coach Dan Hughes, incidentally, has held No. 1 picks when he headed the former Cleveland franchise.

Minnesota was also 2-2 against Seattle, while Los Angeles was 0-4.

All that remained was the luck of the lotto ball and Parker's announcement, the second of which occurred Thursday

Still, Minnesota, holding the No. 3 pick, will draw some attention the next few weeks with the Lynx's draft day move the first bit of suspense right now.

Chicago, failing to gain No. 1, had publicly indicated that if the Sky can't get Parker, they will be quite contented to take LSU's Sylvia Fowles at No. 2.

Click her on the jump to read Dawn Staley's reaction.