Lisa Leslie

At 51 years old, Lisa Leslie has this physical status:

Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is the Head Coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Florida.

Leslie is a former professional basketball player who competed in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medalist.

She began her career at the University of Southern California with eight WNBA All-Star picks and two WNBA championships over the course of eleven seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks before retiring in 2009.

Leslie was the first player to dunk in a WNBA game.

She was voted by fans as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history in 2011.

She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Early life

Leslie was born in Compton, California, the granddaughter of Christine Lauren Leslie, who stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), and Walter Leslie, a former professional basketball player. Christine started a trucking business to help her three children. Walter left the family when her mother was four months pregnant with her daughter. Leslie has two sisters, Dionne, who is five years older, and Tiffany, who is eight years younger. Elgin is also a sister of the Los Angeles Lakers, who was named after Elgin Baylor. She competed on a girls team with a record of 33–1.

A classmate asked Leslie to assist the basketball team during the first two weeks of middle school. Team members were told to divide into two groups for layup drills: lefties and righties, on her first day of basketball tryouts. Leslie was the only lefty in the company, so from then on, she began to be right-hand dominant so she didn't have to stand in a line by herself. Since she became ambidextrous, she benefited from her decision.

She went to a junior high school without a girls' basketball team in eighth grade and joined a boys' basketball team. Her playing experience boosted her confidence in her playing skills.

Leslie was recruited to more than a hundred college recruiting letters, some from top Division I programs at the University of Tennessee and Stanford University, beginning at the age of 14.

Leslie continued her education in 1986 by enrolling in Inglewood, California, at Morningside High School. She made an immediate impact on the basketball program by starting every game for the girls' varsity team. She also played volleyball and played in track and field, as well as swimming. She ended up being a state qualifier for the 400-meter run and the high jump.

Even though she wasn't able to palm the ball, she was able to dunk the ball in the open court by the time she was a sophomore in high school. She was her team's top scorer and rebounder, winning the 1989 California state championship. Leslie was accepted to compete in the USA's Junior World Championship team. She made a name for herself in the country's top player in her senior year. She led her team to a state championship with a score of 27 points and 15 rebounds per game. With Cheryl Miller in 1990, she tied for points scored by a high school basketball player, all in the first half. She had scored 105 points, but four of the points were due to a technical foul on the opposing team for a suspension of play after halftime, which were later declared to end after the first half.

Personal life

Leslie married Michael Lockwood, who played basketball for the United States Air Force Academy and is a pilot for UPS, on November 5, 2005. She took a year off of professional basketball for a year as a child in 2007, and her daughter was born in 2007. Leslie returned to the WNBA for the 2008 season. Leslie had her second child in 2010.

Leslie is also a Christian. "I was always putting my faith and goals in the Lord's name as a prayerful child," she said in an interview. That was always one of the things that made me smile the most. I've always wanted to fulfill His calling. That seems to be the saving grace for me. You have faith, but you have to take it [and pray for God].

Leslie King was interviewed by Gayle King on February 4, 2020 to discuss her friendship with Kobe Bryant. Leslie was asked about Bryant's sexual harassment lawsuit in 2003 during the interview. Leslie said that those charges were not related to the person she knew.

Leslie Rose, a realtor and co-founder of Aston Rose, a sports and entertainment real estate company.

Leslie was initiated as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. on July 15, 2021.

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College career

Leslie was a member of the University of Southern California's women's basketball team from 1990 to 1994. She received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

Leslie appeared in a total of 120 college games, averaged 20.1 points, hitting 56.4 percent 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, totaling 2,414 points, 1,214 rebounds, and 321 blocked shots. She also holds the single season record for blocked shots (95).

The United StatesC set a new record in 1984-31, which was during her college years. They won one Pac-10 conference championship and four NCAA tournament appearances. Leslie was honoured with All-Pac-10 honors for four years, as well as being the first Pac-10 player to play for all four years and earn the Pac-10 Rookie of the Year award in 1991. Leslie was also honoured on national television for receiving the national freshman of the year award in 1991. She received several national player of the year awards in 1994, including the Naismith College Player of the Year award, the USBWA Women's National Player of the Year award, the Honda Sports Award for basketball, and the WBCA Player of the Year award. She received All-American Honors in 1992, 1993, and 1994.

WNBA career

The WNBA was established in 1996 and began playing in 1997. Leslie was drawn by the Los Angeles Sparks on January 22 as part of the draft's Initial Allocation phase. She helped the Sparks make the playoffs five times, but the team didn't win a WNBA title until 2001. The Women's Sports Foundation named Leslie as the 2001 Sportswoman of the Year (in the team category) that year.

Leslie was the first woman to dunk the ball in a WNBA game on July 30, 2002. That year, she became the first WNBA player to score over 3,000 points in a career and was instrumental in the Sparks winning their second straight WNBA championship that season. She became the first player to reach the 4,000-career point mark two seasons ago. Leslie is still the Sparks' career scoring and rebounding leader. Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles, and Tamika Catchings are the fourth best all-time rebound leader in the United Kingdom. She was also the third player in WNBA history to reach a triple double in the same season, with 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 blocks in the same season. Leslie was also the first WNBA player to dunk in an all-star tournament in 2005. Leslie earned his first appearance in a career on August 11, 2009. She was the first player to reach 10,000 career PRA (points + assists), a key statistic in the WNBA's "Pick One Challenge" fantasy game.

Leslie announced her retirement on February 4, 2009. During Leslie's last home game of the season, the Sparks held a farewell ceremony. She finished fourth in the league for points (6,263), rebounds (3,307), and PRA (10,444). Fans named her as one of the top 15 players in the WNBA's fifteen-year history in 2011. In 2016 she was elected into the WNBA Top 20@20 in honor of the league's 20th anniversary.

National team career

Leslie was named to the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team (now the U19 team). She was 17 years old at the time and was the youngest player on the USA team. The team competed in the second Junior World Championship, which took place in Bilbao, Spain, in 1987. The USA team lost in overtime in the first round to South Korea and then lost by two points to Australia. The USA team was defeated by three points to Czechoslovakia after winning their next game against Bulgaria, behind 22 points and nine rebounds from Leslie. The USA team played Spain and fell three points short of defeating Zaire in their next game. Leslie led the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks, averaging 13.3 points and 7.0 blocks per game, as well as 21 blocks over the course of the season. The United States team came in seventh place.

Leslie was a member of the United States squad at the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield, England. Leslie, the second leading scorer on the USA squad, averaged 13.0 points per game, and aided the Tara VanDerveer-coached team to a 7–0 record and a gold medal.

For the first time since 1987, she competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1992 Jones Cup Team, which took the Gold in Taipei.

Leslie has won four gold medals in a row and has appeared in four Olympic appearances. After Teresa Edwards, she became the second female basketball player to win so many gold medals. Leslie has also competed with the United States national women's basketball team, winning gold medals in 1996 and 2000, as well as a world championship. Leslie scored 35 points against Japan in the semifinals of the 1996 Olympics, putting her first American Olympic women's scoring record.

Leslie is one of seven members of USA Basketball's three-time Olympians and one of two athletes with four gold medals. During the 2004 Olympic Games, she led the US team in scoring. She became the USA's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker in Olympic competition during her third Olympic appearance. She has scored in double-digits each time she has competed in a major international tournament. Leslie, who was 20 years old at the time, was also the youngest participant to attend the USA Olympic Trials in 1992.

Since the Australian star tore out Leslie's hair extensions during a game, they have been a rivalry with Lauren Jackson since the 2000 Olympics.

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