[bigboydan]

Ok all you WNBA bettors...How should we cap the Sparks the rest of the year?

Chamique Holdsclaw, a six-time WNBA All-Star who re-signed with the Los Angeles Sparks in February, stunned the team by retiring Monday.

The 29-year-old forward had played in the Sparks' first five games this season, averaging 15.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

Holdsclaw did not give a reason for ending her pro basketball career.

"This was not an easy decision," she said in a statement released by the team. "I put a lot of thought into it."

Kathy Goodman said she and Carla Christofferson, the team's new owners, were surprised.

"This is not what we wanted," Goodman told The Associated Press by phone. "She said she'd given it a lot of thought and decided she didn't want to play anymore."

Goodman said Holdsclaw didn't give a reason and the owners didn't ask for one.

"We decided to respect her decision," she said. "I'm not sure how long she had been thinking about it. The first we heard about it was over the weekend. I'm not sure what all led into her decision."

The owners, along with coach Michael Cooper and general manager Penny Toler, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Holdsclaw to stay. She was playing on a one-year contract.

"We're relatively new, so we don't have a long relationship with her," Goodman said.

Before joining the Sparks two years ago, Holdsclaw played seven seasons with the Washington Mystics, who made her the league's top draft pick in 1999. She was the WNBA rookie of the year...

[Doc JS]

Didn't she have some depression issues? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Doc JS

[bigboydan]

I'm not sure off hand Doc.

[seaborneq]

Didn't she have some depression issues? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Doc JS

Yes she did.