The Los Angeles Sparks based in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began. The Sparks shared their market with the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers but are not affiliated with them. In the WNBA Playoffs in eleven of their fourteen years in Los Angeles. Franchise players Candace Parker, Nikki Teasley, and Tina Thompson have made for interesting play. They won the title in 2001 and 2002, beating Charlotte and New York, respectively, but fell short to Detroit in 2003.

Being in a major national market, the Sparks have always been a focal point of the league; they faced New York in the league's inaugural game.