The Sparks Gone Out of Lisa Leslie’s Eye
by Kenzie Rochelle

“I’m really excited about the next chapter of my life. I’ve been on an amazing journey that isn’t over yet, and feel blessed to have been able to play the sport that I love.”

~Lisa Leslie

Women’s basketball living legend, Lisa Leslie, announced her retirement from the WNBA today.  She will complete her final season with the Sparks this year after playing in all 12 seasons of the league. The star has two WNBA titles, two finals MVP awards, three league MVP awards, four Olympic gold medals, and she was the first woman to ever dunk a ball in a WNBA game. Since her success as a collegiate athlete at USC, Leslie has been the face of women’s basketball.

Leslie was not a basketball player immediately from childhood. She never thought to play the sport until asked in junior high school, when she was already 6 feet tall (she would later stretch to 6ft 5in). After transferring to a school without a girls’ team, Lisa joined the boys’ squad and continued to fall in love with the sport.

Playing for the early 90’s powerhouse USC team, Lisa averaged 20.1 points per game with a career total of 2,414 points. She earned awards as National Freshman of the year in 1991 and National Player of the Year in 1994. Never willing to lead a life with only one focus, Leslie completed a bachelor’s degree in communications and continued on to earn a master’s degree in business administration.

In 1997, Lisa was drafted to the inaugural Los Angeles Sparks team in the WNBA. She would not play for any other team for the entirety of her career.

Her only break from basketball came 10 years later, in 2007, when Leslie (with husband, Michael Lockwood) gave birth to daughter, Lauren Jolie Lockwood. Leslie is said to have played a pivotal role in teammate Candace Parker’s decision to take a break from the WNBA to give birth to a child of her own.

A mother. An athlete. A model. A life-long student. A mentor. Lisa Leslie will be missed on both the domestic and international women’s basketball scene and in the hearts of any number of young girls looking for a solid role model.  But if there ever were a time for handing on the torch, it is now. Candace Parker is ready and waiting.

photos by tara l. conley, cheryl coward

basketball, candace parker, LA sparks, lisa leslie, role model, wnba