VNBA in the 2001 season

VNBA season 2001 - became the 5th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (VNBA) , after which the Los Angeles Sparks team became the champion for the first time.

In the regular season 16 clubs took part, which played in the past. On April 20, in Sikokas ( New Jersey ), the Seattle Storm Draft picked the Australian Center Loren Jackson , who had previously played for the Canberra Capitals in the women's national basketball league , under the 1st number in the 2001 VNBA draft . Under number 2 on that draft by the Charlotte Sting Club, defender Kelly Miller of the University of Georgia was selected.

The regular season started on May 28 with a match between last year's champion, the Houston Comets team, and the Los Angeles Sparks club, in which Sparks won in a bitter struggle with the score 66:63. On July 16, the All-Star Match took place at TD Waterhouse Center in Orlando , Florida , in which the West team beat the East team with a score of 80:72. For the second year in a row, the MVP of this match was recognized by the center “Los Angeles Sparks” Lisa Leslie , who, in the 23 minutes spent on the site, gathered a collection of 20 points and 9 rebounds for the West team. The regular season that year ended on August 14 , the MVP of which was also recognized by Lisa Leslie. The Cleveland Rockers club mentor, Dan Hughes , was recognized as the coach of the year , and Jackie Styles , 4th draft pick from Portland Fire , was the rookie of the year . The 2001 season ended officially on September 3 , when the Los Angeles Sparks outplayed the Charlotte Sting in the second game of the final series, and the center MVP of the final was again recognized by the center Sparks Lisa Leslie, who thereby made a peculiar hat trick, collecting all three MVP titles in a single season, an achievement that so far no one has been able to repeat.