Lisa Leslie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lisa Leslie

Personal information
Born	(1972-07-07) 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
1997–2009	Los Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
Honda Sports Award (1994) 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) 4x All Pac-10 (1991-1994) Naismith College Player of the Year (1994)
Career WNBA statistics
Points	6,263 (17.3 ppg)
Rebounds	3,307 (9.1 rpg)
Blocks	822 (2.3 bpg)
Medals Representing  United States Olympic Games 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 July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is currently the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on Fox Sports Florida.

Early life

Leslie was born in Compton, California. Her mother is Christine Lauren Leslie, who stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), and her father is Walter Leslie, a former professional basketball player.

Walter left the family when her mother was four months pregnant with her. Christine started her own truck driving business to support her children. Leslie has two sisters: Dionne, who is five years older, and Tiffany, who is eight years younger. She also has a brother, Elgin (named after Elgin Baylor of the LA Lakers).

Middle school

During the first few weeks of middle school, a classmate asked Leslie to help out the basketball team. On her first day of basketball tryouts, team members were told to split into two groups for layup drills: lefties and righties. Leslie was the only lefty in the group, so from then on, she decided 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.

In eighth grade, she transferred to a junior high school without a girls' basketball team, and joined a boys' basketball team. Her success there contributed to her confidence in her playing abilities.

She started playing basketball at an early age.

High school

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

Leslie 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 girl's varsity team. She also joined the volleyball team and competed in track and field. She ended up being a state qualifier in the 400-meter run and the high jump.

By the time she was 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 was her team's leading scorer and rebounder and led them to the 1989 California state championship.

Leslie was invited to participate in the USA's Junior World Championship team. Entering her senior year, she developed into the top player in the country. She led her team to a state championship averaging 27 points and 15 rebounds per game. She tied the national record for points scored by a high school basketball player with Cheryl Miller in 1990 with 101 points scored, all in the first half. She had scored 105 points but four of the points were due to a technical foul charged on the opposing team.

College career

Leslie attended women's basketball powerhouse the University of Southern California from 1990 to 1994. She graduated from USC with a bachelor's degree in communications and later completed her master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

Leslie 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 rebounds, and 321 blocked shots. She also holds the USC single season record for blocked shots (95).

During her college career, USC compiled a 89–31 record. They won one Pac-10 conference championship and earned four NCAA tournament appearances. Leslie 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 Pac-10 Rookie of the Year award in 1991.

Career outline

Leslie played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 through 2009. Leslie was drafted on January 22 by the Los Angeles Sparks. She helped the Sparks make the playoffs five consecutive times, but the team did not win a WNBA title until 2001.

In 2002, she contributed to the Sparks winning their second straight WNBA championship that season.

Leslie announced her retirement effective 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).

All throughout her WNBA career, Leslie also played for USA Basketball in international competition.

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.

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.

Leslie has made four consecutive Olympic appearances, earning four Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), and two FIBA World Championships (1998, 2002).

On January 10, 2019, Leslie was named coach of the Triplets - an expansion team of the BIG3 three-on-three league founded by Ice Cube - and that year led the team to a 7–1 record, and winning the BIG3 Championship.

Media appearances

• 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.
• Leslie appeared on the show, Superstars, and she and her partner, David Charvet, took third place after David injured his wrist.
• Leslie also played herself in an episode of the TV-show The Jersey called "Nick's a Chick", where she switched bodies with a boy named Nick Lighter (played by Michael Galeota).
• 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 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 played septuagenarian Betty Lou in Uncle Drew which hit the theaters in June 2018.
• 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.
• Leslie is now a realtor and co-founder of a sports and entertainment real-estate firm named Aston Rose.

Personal life

Leslie at an event hosted by National School Choice Week in Phoenix, Arizona.

On November 5, 2005, Leslie married Michael Lockwood, who played basketball for the United States Air Force Academy and is a pilot for UPS. In 2007, she took a year's leave from professional basketball for a pregnancy, 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 a Christian. In an 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]."

Interesting facts about Lisa Leslie

• As a child, she played on an all-girls team with the record 33–1.
• She is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner.
• On July 30, 2002, Leslie became the first woman to dunk the ball in a WNBA game.
• In 2002, she became the first WNBA player to score over 3,000 total career points.
• Two seasons later, she became the first player to reach the 4,000-career point milestone.
• She 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.
• She was the first player to reach 10,000 career PRA (points + rebounds + assists).
• With four Olympic gold medals, she was the second female basketball player ever to earn that many gold medals, after Teresa Edwards.
• Every time she has competed in a major international event, she has compiled double-digit scoring averages.
• Leslie, at age 20, was also the youngest player to participate at the USA Olympic Trials in 1992.
• Leslie has had a rivalry with Lauren Jackson ever since the 2000 Olympics, when the Australian star ripped out Leslie's hair extensions during a game.
• She 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.

Honors

• In 1991, Leslie was also honored on the national platform by earning the National Freshman of the Year Award.
• In 1994, she won multiple national player of the year awards—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.
• In 1992, 1993, and 1994, she earned All-American Honors.
• In 2001, Leslie was named the Sportswoman of the Year (in the team category) by the Women's Sports Foundation.
• In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.
• In 2015, Leslie was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
• In 2016, she was voted into the WNBA Top 20@20, in celebration of the league's 20th anniversary.
• Leslie was initiated as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. on July 15, 2021.

Lisa Leslie quotes

• "I think it's great for the women to show that they are women and be feminine. And that's something that I've always promoted."
• "Goal-setting and achieving those goals - that's just what I do."
• "I have 'the first' attached to my name in a whole lot of different aspects when it comes to the sport of basketball."

Career statistics

USC statistics

WNBA career statistics

†	Denotes seasons in which Leslie won a WNBA championship
	WNBA record

Regular season

Lisa Leslie WNBA regular season statistics

Playoffs

Lisa Leslie WNBA playoffs statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Los Angeles	4	4	36.3	.483	.308	.778	8.5	2.8	1.0	1.5	3.50	19.0
2000	Los Angeles	4	4	34.8	.491	.000	.826	10.3	2.0	0.2	1.2	3.25	18.8
2001†	Los Angeles	7	7	37.1	.492	.429	.740	12.3°	3.0	1.7	4.4°	3.71	22.3
2002†	Los Angeles	6	6	38.7	.535	.625	.731	7.8	1.8	1.8	2.8	1.33	19.3
2003	Los Angeles	9	9	36.3	.540	.333	.704	8.9	2.6	1.3	3.1	2.67	20.8°
2004	Los Angeles	3	3	36.7	.452	.000	.750	8.7	0.7	0.3	2.7	2.67	11.3
2005	Los Angeles	2	2	33.5	.357	.000	.615	6.5	3.5	2.5	1.5	1.00	9.0
2006	Los Angeles	5	5	32.6	.308	.333	.759	7.2	1.8	0.8	1.6	3.40	12.6
2008	Los Angeles	6	6	32.0	.516	.500	.625	8.8	2.2	1.2	2.8	4.33	13.8
2009	Los Angeles	6	6	34.6	.452	.000	.615	9.2	2.0	1.3	1.5	2.17	16.7
Career	10 years, 1 team	52	52	35.4	.480	.390	.711	9.1	2.3	1.3	2.5	2.90	17.5

See also

In Spanish: Lisa Leslie para niños In Spanish: Lisa Leslie para niños