The Sparks will retire former player DeLisha Milton-Jones’ No. 8 jersey on July 28 when the team hosts the New York Liberty as a part of the WNBA’s 30th anniversary celebration.
A three-time All-Star, Milton-Jones played 11 years for the Sparks, helping lead them to back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.
“It’s like one of those moments where it’s Christmas, and you’re anticipating getting a gift and when the day finally is here, that feeling you can’t even describe is rather euphoric and nostalgic all at the same time, and it brings a peace about you in a way that you can’t explain,” Milton-Jones said. “Because you put so much time, energy and effort into everything that you did in that moment in your life, and now to be rewarded in this manner is just pretty big.”
Milton-Jones will be the fourth Sparks player to have her number retired after Lisa Leslie (No. 9), Penny Toler (No. 11) and Candace Parker (No. 3).
“I’m going to be cheesing from ear to ear,” she said about the upcoming ceremony. “I’m probably going to be fighting back tears, because when I think about my time spent in the purple and gold man, it was riddled with so many hard days, but it taught me so much about being a winner, and that turned into being a champion two times over.”
Now the coach at Old Dominion, the 51-year-old Milton-Jones was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. She is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning with the U.S. in 2000 and 2008, and formerly coached at Pepperdine.
She played 17 years in the WNBA after being drafted fourth overall by the Sparks in 1999 and set the record for most games played before it was broken by Sue Bird.
She played the first six seasons of her career with the Sparks and returned for a second stint from 2008-12. Her 5,571 career points rank 22nd in WNBA history. In addition to the Sparks, she played for Atlanta, New York, Washington and San Antonio.
Milton-Jones averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Sparks’ 2001 championship run, the franchise’s first. She played all 40 minutes of Game 1 of the 2002 WNBA Finals and scored 17 points with three blocks and two steals.
She holds the franchise records for points in a first half (27) and a quarter (18).
The Sparks and Liberty faced each other in the first WNBA game in 1997, and the Sparks wanted to find a way to honor some of their franchise greats during the 30th anniversary season.
Milton-Jones said they had been talking about a number retirement ceremony for years, and the timing felt right to do it.
“I found out [officially] a month ago,” she said. “And I cried like a baby. I was just elated that it was finally going to happen.”
