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Lisa Leslie

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Lisa Leslie
File:Lisalmnbvm,eslie.jpg
Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks
No. 9 – Los Angeles Sparks
PositionCenter
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1972-07-07) July 7, 1972 (age 52)
Gardena, California
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
CollegeUSC
NBA draft1997: 7th, Initial Player Allocation
Playing career1997–present
Career highlights and awards

  • Four-time Olympic gold medalist 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008
  • Three-time WNBA MVP 2001, 2004, 2006
  • Seven-time WNBA All Star 1999–2003, 2005, 2006
  • First player to dunk in a WNBA game
  • First WNBA player to reach the 3,000 point plateau
  • First player ever to garner regular season, WNBA Championship and All-Star Game MVP awards in the same season.
  • MVP of the WNBA Championship and All-Star Game in 2002
  • MVP and All-Tournament team honors, USA World Championships, 2002
  • Led the WNBA in rebounds in 1997 (9.5 rpg) and 1998 (10.2 rpg)
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972, in Gardena, California) is an American professional women's basketball player in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks.[1] She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. The number seven pick in the 1997 WNBA draft, she followed a superb career at the University of Southern California with seven WNBA All-Star appearances and two WNBA championships. A 6'5" forward, Leslie is the first player to dunk in a WNBA game.

Considered a pioneer and conerstone of the league during her eleven-year WNBA career, Leslie announced her retirement effective at the end of the upcoming 2009 season on January 4, 2009.[2] Entering that season she is #2 all-time in the WNBA in total rebounds and rebounds per game, and #1 in total blocks and blocks per game.[3]

Early years

Lisa grew up as the second of three children of a single mother. Her mother, Christine Lauren Leslie, stood at 6 ft 3 in and started up her own truck driving business. Her father was never a part of her life, as he left her mother soon after she became pregnant. Lisa has two sisters: Dionne, who is five years older than Lisa, and Tiffany, a product of Christine's later relationship, who is eight years younger than Lisa.[4]

High school

By the time Lisa was in middle school, she had sprouted to over 6 feet tall.[4] She had never participated in athletic activities besides tether ball and double dutch. Her dream was always to be on television and become a weather reporter.[5]

During the first few weeks of junior high, Lisa was asked to join the basketball team. On her first day of basketball tryouts, they were told to split into two groups for layup drills: lefties and righties. Lisa was the only lefty in the group, so from the next day on, she decided she was going to become right hand dominant so she would not have to stand in a line by herself. That decision worked to her advantage, as she became ambidextrous.[4]

In eighth grade, she transferred to a new junior high school, one without a girls' basketball team. She was forced to join the boys' team. However, her success there only contributed to her confidence in her playing abilities.[4]

At the age of 14, before Lisa had even started high school, she received more than a hundred college recruiting letters, including from top Division I programs at the University of Tennessee and Stanford University.[4]

Lisa continued her education in 1986 by enrolling at Morningside High School in Inglewood, California. She made an immediate impact on the basketball program, starting every game for the girls' varsity team. She also found time to join the volleyball team and compete in track and field. She ended up being a state qualifier in the 400-meter run and the high jump.[5] By the time she became a sophomore in high school she was able to dunk the ball in the open court, even though she was not able to palm the ball. She led her team to the state championship in 1989, as she was the leading scorer and rebounder. She was so talented that she was invited to participate in the USA's Junior World Championship team.[5] Entering her senior year, she developed into the top player in the country. Again, she led her team to the state championship averaging 27 points and 15 rebounds per game.

101-point game

It was a tradition of Morningside High's basketball coach Frank Scott to arrange to have a star player attempt to break the single game scoring record each year. In 1990, Leslie was his star and he purposely[6] chose a game with the struggling South Torrance Spartans for her attempt to beat Cheryl Miller's record of 105.[5] After a humiliating half for the Spartans, the score was 102–24,[7] with Leslie scoring all but one of the Morningside points; her team giving her all the shooting opportunities. She never crossed half court and remained firmly underneath her team's basket—also known as "cherry picking." Two foul outs and an injury had reduced the Spartans from seven players to four and they chose to forfeit the game rather than return for the second half. Hoping to break the record, Leslie asked the Spartan coach to continue long enough for her to break the record but he declined.[6] The referees allowed her to shoot four "technical" fouls claiming "delay of game" due to the forfeit. She made the shots, which would have tied the record had they not been subsequently nullified.[6][7]

The reaction to the game was strong and widespread. The Torrance team called it audacious[6] and "local media and angry callers to talk shows [decried Morningside's] ... lack of decorum in destroying an overmatched foe."[8] Coach Scott regretted his actions in hindsight and vowed to discontinue the tradition.[6] The game is still talked about today, and Leslie continues to tell the story when asked.[9]

College

Lisa decided to stay close to home and attend woman's basketball powerhouse the University of Southern California from 1990–1994.[10] She completed her time at USC with a bachelor's degree in communications and eventually completed her master's degree in business administration[11] from the University of Phoenix.[12][13]

Her college basketball career was spectacular. Lisa played in a total of 120 college games, averaging 20.1 points, hitting 53.4% of her shots, and knocking down 69.8% of her free throws. She set the PAC-10 conference records for scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots accumulating 2,414 points, 1,214 boards, and 321 blocked shots. She also holds the USC single season record for blocked shots in a single season (95).[10]

During her college career, USC compiled an impressive 89–31 record. They won one PAC -10 conference championship and earned four NCAA tournament appearances. She was honored with All PAC-10 recognition all four years, as well as becoming the first player in PAC-10 history to obtain first team all four years and earn the prestigious Rookie of the Year award in 1991[14].

She was also honored on the national platform by earning the National Freshman of the year in 1991, and recognition as the nation's best female basketball player earning the National Player of the year in 1994. In 1992, 93, and 94, she earned All-American Honors as well[14].

WNBA

1996 was the golden year in women's basketball. It marked the year when Women's National Basketball Association (professional basketball) was incorporated. 1997 is when the official league games started to play. Lisa Leslie was drafted on January 22 as one the top picks to the Los Angeles Sparks team, and is still competing in the league. She helped the Sparks make the playoffs five consecutive times, but the team was never able to win a championship until the 2001 season when the Sparks won the WNBA title.[15]

In 2003 she became the first woman to ever dunk the ball in a WNBA game. That same year she became the first WNBA player to score over 3,000 total career points. Importantly from a team perspective, she helped the Sparks win their second straight world championship that season. Two seasons later, she became the first player to reach the 4,000-career point milestone.[15] Leslie remains the Sparks career scoring and rebounding leader, as well as the all time league leader in rebounds.[10]

She has announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2009 season.[16]

WNBA award[14] years
MVP 2001, 2004, 2006
WNBA Titles 2001, 2002
Finals MVP 2001, 2002
All-WNBA First Team 1997, 2000–2004, 2006
All-WNBA Second Team 1998, 1999, 2005
All-Star Game MVP 1999, 2001, 2002
All-Star Games 1999–2003, 2005, 2006
All-Decade Team 1997–2006
Defensive Player of the Year 2004, 2008
All-Defensive First Team 2006
All-Defensive Second Team 2005
Player of the Week 14 (league record)

International and Olympic

Lisa Leslie has made four consecutive Olympic appearances, and has earned four gold medals. She was the second female basketball player ever to earn that many gold medals, after Theresa Edwards. Lisa has also made appearances with the United States national women's basketball team where she won gold medals in 1996 and 2000, and has also earned a world championship.[1]

Lisa Leslie is one of seven USA Basketball's three-time Olympians, and one of two players with four gold medals. She led the U.S. team in scoring during the 2004 Olympic Games. During her third Olympic completion, she became the USA's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker in Olympic competition. Every time she has competed in a major international event, she has compiled double-digit scoring averages. Lisa, at age 20, was also the youngest player to participate at the USA Olympic Trials in 1992.[14]

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics medal awards, despite being requested by officials not to, Leslie wore her gold medals from 3 past Olympics whilst being awarded her teams current win. Leslie's actions were viewed by her opponents as grandiose and poor sportsmanship.[17]

Leslie has had a fierce rivalry with Lauren Jackson ever since the 2000 Olympics, when the Australian star ripped out her hair extensions during a game.[18][19]

Off the court

She took a year's leave from professional basketball in 2007 so that she and husband Michael Lockwood could have a child. Lauren Jolie Lockwood was born on June 15, 2007.[20] After having the baby, Lisa focused her energy on getting back in shape and returned to the WNBA for the 2008 season.[4]

Lisa is also a fashion model and an aspiring actress. She has been on ESPN numerous times and has been a guest star on several top hit shows such as Sister Sister, The Jersey, and One on One. She has also acted in a variety of commercials. Early in her career she signed a modeling contract with the Wilhelmina modeling agency.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Lisa Leslie Bio". NBC Universal. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  2. ^ http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/wnba/sparks/la-sp-lisa-leslie5-2009feb05,0,4691069.story
  3. ^ http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/lisa_leslie/career_stats.html
  4. ^ a b c d e f Leslie, Lisa, and Larry Barnett. Don't Let the Lipstick Fool You. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2008
  5. ^ a b c d "Lisa Leslie Biography". Black Book Partners. 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e ""They made their stand, simply by walking away"". LA Times. 26 February 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  7. ^ a b "She Was Truckin'". SI Valut. Sports Illustrated. February 19, 1990. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  8. ^ http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/26/sports/sp-nucrowe26
  9. ^ "Lisa Leslie: The best of the bunch". USA Today. 30 April 2002. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  10. ^ a b c Meyer, Jan (1997). "Women in Sports". Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  11. ^ Peter, Josh (21 July 2008). "Day in the life of Lisa Leslie". Yahoo. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  12. ^ SPORTS OF THE TIMES; University Sells Itself During Playoffs NYTimes Website, Accessed March 20, 2009
  13. ^ Los Angeles Sparks Lisa Leslie Receives her Masters at University of Phoenix WireImage Website, Accessed March 20, 2009
  14. ^ a b c d "USA Basketball". United States Olympic Committee. 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  15. ^ a b c Gretchen (March 22, 2006). "Girl's Can't What". Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  16. ^ Lisa Leslie to Retire from WNBA at the End of the Season SI.com, February 4, 2009
  17. ^ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24235038-5017043,00.html
  18. ^ http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1105899/index.htm
  19. ^ http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24044768-10914,00.html
  20. ^ http://www.wnba.com/sparks/news/leslie_baby_070615.html
Awards and achievements
Preceded by United States Basketball Female Athlete of the Year
1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Basketball Female Athlete of the Year
1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Flo Hyman Memorial Award
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Basketball Female Athlete of the Year
2002 		Succeeded by
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