Good morning, POU! It’s Friday, time to start the weekend. Today’s WBNA player to honor Lisa Leslie.
Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, and a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on Fox Sports Florida. Leslie played in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. The number-seven pick in the 1997 inaugural WNBA draft, she followed her career at the University of Southern California with eight WNBA All-Star selections 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. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. In 2015, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Leslie was also inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Leslie was born in Gardena, California, the daughter of Christine Lauren Leslie, who stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), and Walter Leslie, a former professional basketball player. Christine started her own truck driving business to support her three children. Walter left the family when her mother was four months pregnant with her. Leslie has two sisters: Dionne, five years older, and Tiffany, eight years younger. She also has a brother, Elgin (named after Elgin Baylor of the LA Lakers). She played on an all-girls team with the record 33–1.
The WNBA was incorporated in 1996 and began playing in 1997. Leslie was drafted on January 22 by the Los Angeles Sparks as part of the Initial Allocation phase of the draft. She helped the Sparks make the playoffs five consecutive times, but the team did not win a WNBA title until 2001.That year, Leslie was named the 2001 Sportswoman of the Year (in the team category) by the Women’s Sports Foundation.
On July 30, 2002, Leslie became the first woman to dunk the ball in a WNBA game. That same year she became the first WNBA player to score over 3,000 total career points and contributed to the Sparks winning their second straight WNBA championship that season. Two seasons later, she became the first player to reach the 4,000-career point milestone. Leslie remains the Sparks’ career scoring and rebounding leader. She is the 4th highest all-time rebound leader, after Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles, and Tamika Catchings. Within that same season, she also became the third player in WNBA history to record a triple double, when she had 29 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks. In the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game, Leslie had also become the first WNBA player to dunk in an all-star game. On August 11, 2009, Leslie became the first player to score 6,000 points in a career. Earlier that month she was the first player to reach 10,000 career PRA (points + rebounds + assists), a statistic fundamental to the WNBA “Pick One Challenge” fantasy game.
Lisa Leslie announced her retirement effectively at the end of the 2009 season on February 4, 2009. The Sparks held a farewell ceremony for Leslie during their final home game of the season in September. She finished holding the league records for points (6,263), rebounds (3,307) and PRA (10,444).[24] In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA. In 2016, she was voted into the WNBA Top 20@20, in celebration of the league’s 20th anniversary.
Leslie was named to the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team (now called the U19 team). She was 17 at the time, the youngest player on the USA team. The team participated in the second Junior World Championship, held in Bilbao, Spain in July 1989. Leslie was a member of the USA team competing at the 1991 World University Games held in Sheffield, England. Leslie was the second leading scorer on the USA squad, averaging 13.0 points per game, and helped the Tara VanDerveer-coached team to a 7–0 record and the gold medal.
She competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1992 Jones Cup Team that won the Gold in Taipei for the first time since 1987.
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 Teresa Edwards. Leslie 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.
Apart from basketball, Leslie is also a fashion model and an aspiring actress. She has been featured in Vogue and Newsweek, as well as many sports publications. She has been on ESPN numerous times and has been a guest star on several television shows such as Sister Sister, The Game, and One on One. She is a guest commentator for “Sports Zone” on KABC-TV/Los Angeles and wears the Circle 7 logo from the channel when on the show. She has also acted in a variety of commercials. Early in her career she signed a modeling contract with the Wilhelmina modeling agency. Lisa also was on the show, Superstars, and she and her partner, David Charvet, took 3rd place after David injured his wrist.
In addition, she played herself in one episode of The Simpsons. She also appeared in the movie Think Like A Man, and played as herself. Leslie is also a playable character in the original Backyard Basketball, alongside Kevin Garnett. She was only the fourth female professional athlete in the Backyard Sports series, after Brianna Scurry, Brandi Chastain, and Tiffeny Milbrett. She also appeared in the 2nd episode of “All in with Cam” with host, Cam Newton. In 2013, Lisa switched places with Downtown Julie Brown on the show Celebrity Wife Swap. On January 28, 2016, it was announced that she would be a contestant in The New Celebrity Apprentice (also known as Celebrity Apprentice 8). Recently, she played septuagenarian Betty Lou in Uncle Drew which hit the theaters in June 2018.
In 2009, Leslie earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Phoenix.[32]
Since her retirement from professional basketball, Leslie has worked as a sports commentator and analyst for several sports networks, such as NBC, ABC and Fox Sports Net. She had also released an autobiography called Don’t Let the Lipstick Fool You. In 2011, she had become a co-owner of the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2018, Leslie joined Fox Sports Florida as a studio analyst on Orlando Magic broadcasts.
On November 5, 2005, Leslie married Michael Lockwood, who played basketball for the Air Force Academy and is currently a pilot for UPS. In 2007, she took a year’s leave from professional basketball for a pregnancy. Leslie and Lockwood have a daughter named Lauren Jolie Lockwood, who was born on June 15, 2007. After having the baby, Lisa got back in shape and returned to the WNBA for the 2008 season.Leslie had her second child, Michael Joseph Lockwood II, on April 6, 2010.
Leslie is also a Christian. In a most recent interview, she spoke out about her faith by saying: “As a prayerful kid, I was always putting my faith and goals in the Lord’s name. That was always one of the things that helped me the most. I always wanted to fulfill His purpose. I think that’s really been the saving grace for me. When you have faith, you have to step out on it [and trust God].