Upon whiffing her third attempt, teammate Sheryl Swoopes yelled out, “Damnit, Tina!” The moment instantly became an inside joke for the team and is still referenced to this day. By the second, people started to lose their patience, and then the third was simply too much for some teammates to take. The first time Thompson missed the team was understanding. But unfortunately on this day, Tina Thompson has missed two layups so the drill keeps starting over,” Leslie recalls. “Of course, we are professionals, so you should make layups. In order to complete the game, each player had to net a layup and collect a rebound in succession without letting the ball hit the floor, or else the drill would start over. She has played for the Los Angeles Sparks since 1997 and has since won three MVP awards, led the team to two WNBA Championships. One memory in particular still makes the two laugh, reminiscing about a failed “circle the wagon” drill. Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game in 2002. Staley and Leslie remember getting their laughs in while playing for multiple Olympic teams. “They want the glitz and the glamor, they want the deals already, but who is in the gym at six in the morning?”ĭespite the grind, It wasn’t all work and no play with Team USA. “I don’t know that their level of passion and work ethic is the same,” says Leslie. With the exposure and connectedness that comes with social media, Leslie isn’t sure if the hunger of the 1996 group could be replicated by players today. The 1996 USA Basketball team went on to win the Atlanta Summer Games, capturing national attention and elevating the profile of women’s basketball. “It wasn’t the best players in the country, the 12,” recalls Leslie, “but we had the best chemistry and the best understanding of sacrificing self for the team.” Playing on the 1996 Olympic team together, Leslie remembers the entire squad sharing their grit and resilience. “We were of the same cloth,” Leslie tells Staley. The former Team USA and Los Angeles Sparks star reveals that fighting for her teammates is what kept her passion for the game alive. “What we have always had in common is our work ethic,” says Leslie, “and our work ethic was like, it does not matter who is in front of us, we are going after it, we are going one hundred percent.” What bonded the friends, however, was their shared commitment to the game of basketball. With Leslie projecting a laidback California demeanor and Staley sporting an east-coast toughness, the two couldn’t have been more different. The teammates first met when Staley was a freshman in college and Leslie was just a junior in high school.
The WNBA legend stopped by Dawn Staley’s new podcast Netlife to reminisce about her illustrious career, including her time on the court with Staley. Also, My Liver Cancer Options, a program and website that allows users to see their options and get additional cancer information.Opposites attract when it comes to former roommates, teammates and longtime friends Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley. She works with the Kay Yow/ WBCA Cancer Fund, which helps raise money to fight against cancer in women, focussing heavily on breast cancer. Since her father’s death, she has been heavily involved in cancer charities. Leslie is also a philanthropist working for several charitable organizations. She has commentated for NBC, ABC, and Fox Sports Net.
LISA LESLIE TV
She has made appearances on TV shows such as Sister Sister, The Game, and One on One. She is a fashion model and an aspiring actress. Leslie has featured in Vogue and Newsweek, and several sports publications.
LISA LESLIE PROFESSIONAL
She is one of only two female coaches to coach a professional men’s team. Leslie now coaches in the BIG3 Championship.
LISA LESLIE SERIES
In the years after her ground-breaking basketball career, she has gone on to co-host the television series “We Need to Talk,” a TV program produced and directed by women.
Consequently, she was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. She is the first female player to dunk and is considered among the top fifteen players in WNBA history. Lisa Leslie is an American former professional basketball player.
In the 1997 WNBA draft, she was the seventh pick, with eight WNBA All-Star selections to her name and two WNBA championships in a decade-long period of success with the Los Angeles Sparks. Lisa Leslie is a three-time WNBA MVP, winning Olympic gold on four occasions.
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