Lisa Leslie facts for kids

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Lisa Leslie

Personal information

Born

July 7, 1972 (age 52)
Compton, California, U.S.

High school

Morningside (Inglewood, California)

Listed height

6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)

Listed weight

170 lb (77 kg)

Career information

College

USC (1990–1994)

NBA Draft

1997 / Allocated

Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks

Pro career

1997–2009

Career history

As player:

1997–2009

Los Angeles Sparks

As coach:

2019–present

Triplets

Career highlights and awards

As player:

2× WNBA champion (2001, 2002)
2× WNBA Finals MVP (2001, 2002)
3× WNBA MVP (2001, 2004, 2006)
8× WNBA All-Star (1999–2003, 2005, 2006, 2009)
3× WNBA All-Star Game MVP (1999, 2001, 2002)
8× All-WNBA First Team (1997, 2000–2004, 2006, 2008)
4× All-WNBA Second Team (1998, 1999, 2005, 2009)
2× WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2004, 2008)
2× WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2006, 2008)
2× WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2009)
2× WNBA blocks leader (2004, 2008)
WNBA Peak Performer (2004)
WNBA 10th Anniversary Team (2006)
WNBA 15th Anniversary Team (2011)
WNBA 20th Anniversary Team (2016)
WNBA 25th Anniversary Team (2021)
No. 9 retired by Los Angeles Sparks
No. 33 retired by USC
FIBA World Championship MVP (2002)
Honda Sports Award (1994)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1994)
USBWA National Player of the Year (1994)
WBCA Player of the Year (1994)
Kodak All-American (1994)
2x All-American – USBWA (1993, 1994)
4x All Pac-10 (1991-1994)

As head coach:

BIG3 champion (2019)

Career WNBA statistics

Points

6,263 (17.3 ppg)

Rebounds

3,307 (9.1 rpg)

Blocks

822 (2.3 bpg)

Medals

Olympic Games

Representing United States
Gold	1996 Atlanta	National Team
Gold	2000 Sydney	National Team
Gold	2004 Athens	National Team
Gold	2008 Beijing	National Team
World Championships
Gold	1998 Germany	National Team
Gold	2002 China	National Team
Bronze	1994 Australia	National Team
World University Games
Gold	1991 Sheffield	Team Competition
Jones Cup
Gold	1992 Taipei	Team Competition

Lisa Deshaun Leslie, born on July 7, 1972, is an American former professional basketball player. She is famous for her amazing career in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2002, Lisa Leslie made history as the first player to dunk the ball during a WNBA game.

She played for the Los Angeles Sparks from 1997 to 2009. Leslie won the WNBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award three times. She also won four Olympic gold medals with the U.S. national team. After her playing career, she became a successful coach. In 2019, she led the Triplets team to win the BIG3 championship.

In 2015, Lisa Leslie was honored by being inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She is considered one of the greatest WNBA players of all time.

Early Life and School Years
- Discovering Basketball
- High School Star
College Career at USC
WNBA Career Highlights
National Team Success
Other Activities and Life After Basketball
Personal Life
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and School Years

Lisa Leslie was born in Compton, California. Her mother, Christine Lauren Leslie, was 6 feet 3 inches tall. Her father, Walter Leslie, was also a professional basketball player. Lisa's mother started her own truck driving business to support her children. Lisa has two sisters, Dionne and Tiffany, and a brother, Elgin.

Discovering Basketball

When Lisa started middle school, a classmate asked her to join the basketball team. On her first day of tryouts, players were told to split into groups for layup drills: left-handed and right-handed. Lisa was the only lefty. She decided to learn to play with her right hand so she wouldn't be alone. This made her able to use both hands well, which was a great advantage.

In eighth grade, she moved to a junior high school that did not have a girls' basketball team. So, she joined the boys' team instead. Playing with the boys helped her become even more confident in her basketball skills. She started playing basketball at a very young age.

High School Star

By the time Lisa was 14, before she even started high school, she was already getting many letters from colleges. Top basketball programs wanted her to play for them. She went to Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, starting in 1986.

Lisa quickly became a star on the girls' varsity basketball team. She also played volleyball and competed in track and field. She was so good that she could dunk the ball in an open court by her sophomore year. She led her team to the California state championship in 1989. In her senior year, she was the top player in the country. She helped her team win another state championship. In 1990, she tied a national record by scoring 101 points in just the first half of a game!

College Career at USC

From 1990 to 1994, Lisa Leslie attended the University of Southern California (USC). She earned a bachelor's degree in communications. Later, she also got her master's degree in business administration.

During her college career, Lisa played 120 games. She averaged over 20 points per game. She set new records for the Pac-12 Conference in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots. She scored 2,414 points, grabbed 1,214 rebounds, and blocked 321 shots.

Her USC team had a great record of 89 wins and 31 losses. They won one Pac-10 conference championship. Lisa was recognized as an All-Pac-10 player all four years. She was the first player in Pac-10 history to be on the first team for all four years.

WNBA Career Highlights

The WNBA started in 1997. Lisa Leslie was one of the first players chosen in the draft. She was picked by the Los Angeles Sparks. Her first game was on June 21, 1997. In that game, she scored 16 points and had 14 rebounds. This made her the first player in WNBA history to get a "double-double" (scoring double digits in two different stats).

Lisa helped the Sparks reach the playoffs many times. In 2001, her team finally won their first WNBA championship. Lisa was named the Sportswoman of the Year for team sports.

On July 30, 2002, Lisa Leslie made history again. She became the first woman to dunk the ball in a WNBA game! That same year, she was the first WNBA player to score over 3,000 career points. The Sparks also won their second straight WNBA championship that season. Later, she became the first player to reach 4,000 career points.

Lisa Leslie holds many records for the Sparks. She is their all-time leader in scoring and rebounding. She is also one of only three players in WNBA history to record a "triple-double" (double digits in three different stats). In 2005, she was the first WNBA player to dunk in an All-Star game. By 2009, she was the first player to score 6,000 career points.

Lisa Leslie announced her retirement from basketball in February 2009. The Sparks held a special ceremony to honor her. She finished her career holding league records for points (6,263), rebounds (3,307), and a combined stat of points, rebounds, and assists (10,444).

After she retired, fans voted her as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history in 2011. In 2016, she was also named to the WNBA Top 20@20 team, celebrating the league's 20th anniversary.

National Team Success

Leslie playing against Spain during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Lisa Leslie was a key player for the United States women's national basketball team. She played in four straight Olympic Games and won a gold medal at each one! She won gold in 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens), and 2008 (Beijing). She is one of only two female basketball players to win four Olympic gold medals.

She also helped the U.S. team win two World Championships in 1998 and 2002. During her Olympic career, she became the all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker for the U.S. team in Olympic competition.

Other Activities and Life After Basketball

Besides basketball, Lisa Leslie has also been a fashion model and an actress. She has appeared in magazines like Vogue and Newsweek. She has also been a guest on TV shows and in movies like Think Like A Man and Uncle Drew. She was even a playable character in the video game Backyard Basketball.

After retiring from playing, Lisa became a sports commentator and analyst for TV networks like NBC and ABC. She also wrote an autobiography called Don't Let the Lipstick Fool You. In 2011, she became a co-owner of her former team, the Los Angeles Sparks.

In 2019, Lisa Leslie became the head coach for the Triplets, a team in the BIG3 three-on-three basketball league. She led them to win the championship in her first year as coach.

Personal Life

Lisa Leslie at an event in Phoenix, Arizona.

On November 5, 2005, Lisa Leslie married Michael Lockwood. He played basketball in college and is a pilot. In 2007, Lisa took a year off from basketball when she was pregnant with her daughter. She returned to play in 2008 and had her second child in 2010.

Lisa Leslie is a Christian and has spoken about how her faith has helped her throughout her life. Today, she works as a realtor and is a co-founder of a real estate company for sports and entertainment.