interbasket.net  InterBasket > profiles > Leslie
  InterBasket > Player Profiles > Lisa Leslie, Usa From Wikipedia: Leslie became a famous basketball player long before her career in the WNBA began. The daughter of a female truck driver and sibling of two sisters, she was quite tall even in her youth, already standing six feet tall (1.83 m) when she started playing basketball in the seventh grade. She was a dominating player made legendary by scoring 101 points in the first half of a high school basketball game.  Among her many accolades in high school, Leslie was named the 1990 Gatorade Girls Basketball National Player of the Year. After high school, Lisa Leslie attended the University of Southern California. She was a four time All-Pacific Ten Conference first team selection.

(not from Wikipedia) Leslie was part of the great 1996 Olympic Women's Basketball Team that was composed of Olympic and professional greats and superstar college players.  The team began traveling and competing in late 1995 to prepare for the 1996 Olympics. They arrived in Atlanta in July of 1996 undefeated with a 52-0 record. Each of their Olympic contests sold out and the team rewarded the home crowd with an array of offensive talent.  In the eight victories en route to the gold medal, the United States averaged 102.4 points per game as Leslie, Katrina McClain, Teresa Edwards, Sheryl Swoopes, and Ruthie Bolton started all eight games - a team that also included Dawn Staley, Jennifer Azzi, Carla McGhee, Venus Lacy, Rebecca Lobo, Nikki McCray, and Katy Steding.

After winning the gold medal, Leslie became one of the founding members of the WNBA, as she was assigned to the Los Angeles Sparks when the WNBA's first season opened in 1997. (end)

Throughout the late 1990s, the Sparks kept making the playoffs, but getting eliminated as the Houston Comets claimed every WNBA championship played in that decade. In 2000, the Sparks were finally able to topple the Comets in 2001, and they beat the Charlotte Sting to win the WNBA title for the first time.

2002 was a very sucessful year for Leslie. In 2002, she helped win the USA World Championships in women's basketball., and was rewarded with MVP and All-Tournament team honors.

Lisa Leslie Profile

 Name: Lisa Leslie
Nickname: N/A
Born: July 07, 1972
Status: Active
Origin: Gardena, California, USA
Height: 6-5/1,96
Weight: 170lbs/77,1kg
Schools: Morningside High School  (Inglewood, California),  University of Southern California '94
Drafted: 1996, Inaugural WNBA Elite Draft
Languages: English
Website: InterBasket
Teams (jersey): US National Team, Los Angeles Sparks (9),
Ibn Notes: Lisa Leslie once scored 101 points in a high-school game, by halftime (the feat came against South Torrance High, Leslie also set a national high school record with thirty-one free throws and added thirty-seven field goals as well).  Lisa Leslie has always been one of the prominent women basketball players of every era she has stepped foot on a court.  Growing up, she watched Cheryl Miller, Cynthia Cooper and the McGhee twins dominate women's basketball at USC, so it was only natural that Leslie attend the powerhouse - in her first game, freshman Lisa Leslie made a huge impression by scoring 30 points and pulling in 20 rebounds..  Leslie owns three Olympic gold medals (1996, 2000, and 2004), two WNBA Championships (and 2 finals MVPs) named WNBA MVP in 2001, 2004, and 2006, the 2004 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and All-WNBA First Team in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006.  Leslie is the only WNBA player to be named MVP of the regular season, WNBA Championship and All-Star Game (2001).  In 2004, she was named to USA Today's All-time High-school All-USA first team.

On July 30, 2002, in a game played in Los Angeles against the Miami Sol (now defunct), Leslie had the distinction of being the first WNBA player to ever dunk in a game (click here to watch the video)...

Lisa Leslie Links  From our forum: WNBA All-Decade Team, Women's Basketball Forum, WNBA Forum  Articles and other resources: Lisa Leslie Photo Gallery (Yahoo!), Lisa Leslie: Best of the Bunch (UsaToday), Lisa Leslie Bio (Jockbio), Lisa Leslie Profile (Wikipedia), Lisa Leslie Dunks! (YouTube), Celebrating the 1995-96 Olympic Team Ten Years Later (Wnba.com)