For the first four years of the WNBA, the team with the best player won the championship. This year was not much different.

The balance of power has shifted to Lisa Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks, who claimed their first championship Saturday with an 82-54 dismantling of the Charlotte Sting.

Led by Leslie -- the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game, regular season and WNBA Championship -- the Sparks ended the four-year reign of the Houston Comets.

WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie celebrates the Sparks' first-ever championship.(AP Photo)

The Comets were led by Cynthia Cooper, who retired after last year to become coach of the Phoenix Mercury.

The Sparks, who lost to the Comets in the Western Conference finals last year, came back with a vengeance this year.

Los Angeles went 28-4 in the regular season before beating the Comets, Sacramento Monarchs and Sting in the postseason, losing just once in seven games.

"I see how Houston was feeling for four years straight," Sparks forward Latasha Byears said.

Now that the Sparks are on top, they plan on staying there for a while, the same way the Comets did.

"To get to this point and win, knowing that we were always physically capable, mental toughness was the key for us, and our focus," Leslie said. "Now that we have that, they had better watch out."

"It's going to be tough for these ladies to lose in the next coming year because they tasted the sweetness of being a champion," Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "They liked it out there on the court.

"They liked being sought after night after night. It's going to be tough for teams to come in here next year."

Leslie collected 24 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in the clincher.

She averaged 19.6 points and 9.6 rebounds during the regular season.

"She was on a mission from the beginning," WNBA president Val Ackerman said before presenting Leslie with the MVP trophy.

"Lisa is the best player in this world, the best player playing basketball today," said Sting guard Dawn Staley, Leslie's teammate on the U.S. Olympic team.

"She was on a mission."

The Sparks won Thursday's opener in Charlotte, 75-66 as Leslie had 24 points and eight rebounds.

Under first-year coach Anne Donovan, the Sting reached the WNBA Championship for the first time in their five-year history.

However, they were 0-4 against the Sparks.