Updated: July 3, 2006, 12:14 PM ET

All-time best: (2) '99 Comets vs. (3) '02 Sparks

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By Nancy Lieberman and Melanie Jackson
Special to ESPN.com

As the WNBA turns 10 this season, ESPN.com needs your help.

We've done the hard work and seeded each former WNBA champ. Now it's your turn to determine the greatest championship team in the league's history. Yes, we know each past championship squad was special. But which one is the best of the best? Which one stands out above the rest?

Let the debate continue. Vote now on the semifinal matchups, then check back Wednesday afternoon for the championship pairing.

WHICH TEAM SHOULD ADVANCE?
(2) 1999 HOUSTON COMETS (3) 2002 LOS ANGELES SPARKS

RECORD: 26-6 (4-2 in playoffs)
KEY STATS: Averaged 74.0 ppg; gave up 64.7 ppg; three players in double figures; 44 percent shooting from field
PLAYOFFS: Beat Sparks 2-1 in West finals after dropping Game 1; beat New York 2-1 in WNBA Finals, dropping Game 2

WHY THEY WERE GREAT: As Houston hosted New York in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Sept. 5, 1999, the Comets' "Big Three" (Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson) aimed to win their third straight WNBA title in the league's third season.

But the Comets just wanted all those threes to add up to 10. The slogan "Three for 10" said it all -- Houston wanted to clinch its third crown in memory of Kim Perrot, a point guard who wore No. 10 during the Comets' back-to-back title teams in 1997 and '98 but died at the age of 32 on Aug. 19, 1999, from cancer. Cementing their status as a dynasty was one thing, but the Comets were also out to fulfill a promise to a fallen teammate.

As if the Comets needed any extra motivation. Houston already had everything it needed, like crazy talent in Cooper (above), who had already won two Finals MVP awards and two scoring titles, and Swoopes, who averaged 18.3 points that season, three more than in 1998. Like Cooper and Swoopes, Thompson was getting better each season, and though teams were devising offenses and defenses to stop the Comets, nobody could.

During the regular season, Houston twice strung together seven-game win streaks, and posted a 13-point average margin over 26 victories. The Comets' six losses came by an average of just 7.5 points, and Cooper grabbed her third scoring title with 22.1 ppg.

After the final whistle, when the Comets had clinched the three-peat, Cooper held up Perrot's No. 10 jersey. Forget that 52-foot 3-pointer Teresa Weatherspoon banked in at the buzzer just 24 hours earlier. This one was for Kim. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

RECORD: 25-7 (6-0 in playoffs)
KEY STATS: Averaged 76.6 ppg; gave up 69.8 ppg; four players in double figures; 45 percent shooting from field
PLAYOFFS: Swept Storm 2-0 in the first round; swept Starzz 2-0 in West finals; swept Liberty in WNBA Finals

WHY THEY WERE GREAT: Being a gracious loser is one thing. But Richie Adubato wouldn't have said it if he didn't really think it. And that's why his postgame quote after falling to L.A. in the WNBA Finals is so telling. "I think [the Sparks] have the greatest collection of athletes, from top to bottom, that I have seen," New York's coach said on Aug. 31, 2002.

With Lisa Leslie leading the way, Adubato's assessment isn't hard to buy. In 2001, Leslie won an unprecedented MVP trifecta (regular season, All-Star Game and WNBA Finals). Though Leslie landed just two of the three in '02 (Sheryl Swoopes earned regular-season MVP accolades), Leslie was regarded as the best player in the world. That season, she became the first WNBA player to amass 3,000 career points and the first woman to dunk (one-handed!) in a WNBA game.

But L.A. also had the perfect complement of All-Stars (such as DeLisha Milton-Jones, Mwadi Mabika and Tamecka Dixon) and role players (like Latasha Byears and Sophia Witherspoon). And OK, so the Sparks didn't go 32-0, as coach Michael Cooper -- who had them playing at a very high level mentally -- predicted before the 2002 season launched. But Los Angeles was 6-0 in the playoffs. Aside from the 1997 champion Comets, who had to play only two postseason games, just one other title team has gone undefeated in the playoffs (Houston in 2000).

Some might question (and already have on various message boards) why the 2002 Sparks got a higher seed than their 2001 counterpart, especially when the '01 version won more games and lost fewer games. Answer: Nikki Teasley. Brought to L.A. in a draft-day trade that sent starting point guard Ukari Figgs to Portland (and also added veteran Witherspoon), Teasley (above) came through in the clutch. In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, she dished out 11 assists, then did it again and added 11 points in Game 2. Still, the Sparks didn't seal their second straight title until Teasley's 21-foot 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left (and subsequent deflection on a desperation heave by New York's Teresa Weatherspoon) closed the book on a 69-66 victory

"Those veterans worked so long and hard to beat Houston," Lieberman said. "Not only did they win, but they did it with great spacing and a beautiful inside-out game."

At the time, Leslie noted that "this championship was so much harder to win. We had to find different ways to win." And with all that talent, they could.
(Noah Graham/WNBAE/Getty Images)

Nancy Lieberman, an ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Contact her at www.nancylieberman.com. Melanie Jackson coordinates ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage.