LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23, 2007 – The Los Angeles Sparks were elated to win the seventh annual WNBA Draft Lottery Tuesday and earn the top pick in the 2008 draft in April.

“It’s a great day for the L.A. Sparks,” said head coach Michael Cooper. “I think the player we pick will be a special player that will add to what we will have on the court with Lisa (Leslie) coming back. Now our fans will really have something to come out to watch.”

“Incredible,” said general manager Penny Toler. “Los Angeles, get ready, because ‘Showtime’ is back in town. The talent pool is so deep to choose the player we’ll select with the No. 1 pick. This is a great day for Los Angeles and the Sparks.”

The winning team had 341 chances out of 1,000 to receive the first overall selection.  The Chicago Sky will have the second pick in the draft followed by the Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta, Houston Comets and Washington Mystics.

The Atlanta franchise, announced last week as the league’s 14th team, was previously awarded the fourth pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft.

WNBA officials and a representative from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young conducted the Draft Lottery in New York City, which included the five teams that did not qualify for the 2007 Playoffs and established the order of selection for the first six picks of the 2008 Draft.  The order of selection for the first, second and third picks was determined by the lottery while the fourth pick was awarded to the Atlanta franchise.  The fifth and sixth picks were then designated for the two remaining lottery-eligible teams who did not earn one of the top three picks, based on inverse order of their finish during the 2007 regular season.  Additionally, the order of selection for the remainder of the first round as well as the second and third rounds is also based on each team’s finish during the 2007 regular season.

Following are results of the 2008 Draft Lottery:

2008 WNBA DRAFT LOTTERY ORDER                           

Following is the remaining order for the first round as determined by overall records from 2007:

REMAINING ORDER FOR FIRST ROUND

The WNBA will feature 14 teams in 2008, with the Eastern and Western Conferences comprised of seven teams each. Atlanta will join the Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Detroit Shock, Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Washington Mystics in the Eastern Conference, while the Houston Comets, Los Angeles Sparks, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, San Antonio Silver Stars and Seattle Storm will continue to comprise the Western Conference.

The Sparks will tip-off the 12^th WNBA season in May 2008.  Sparks season, group and general tickets are on sale now.  For more information, please call 877-44-SPARKS or visit wnba.com/sparks

The Sparks are one of the eight original teams in the WNBA.  In January 2007 the Sparks became the first team in the WNBA to be co-owned by two women.  The Sparks were led to back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2001 & 2002 by head coach Michael Cooper.  The team’s roster of star athletes is led by three-time league MVP Lisa Leslie and includes 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year Temeka Johnson, African Congo native Mwadi Mabika, WNBA All-Star Taj McWilliams-Franklin, and stand-out rookie Sidney Spencer.