Lisa Leslie

Olympian 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008

4
GOLD

0
SILVER

0
BRONZE

Athlete Bio#

Age

Hometown

Inglewood, CA

Education

Morningside High School University of Southern California

Personal

Daughter of Christine Leslie-Espinoza…Has two sisters and four half brothers…Married Michael Lockwood in 2005, and has two children, Lauren Jolie and Michael Joseph…Graduate of Morningside High School in California, where in 1998, she dedicated the Lisa Leslie Sports Complex, which includes a 42,000 square foot court with 12 hoops…Established the Lisa Leslie Basketball & Leadership Academy in 2012...Is a three-time ESPY Award Winner for Best WNBA Player and two-time Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year...After retiring from Basketball in 2009, became the first WNBA player turned owner as co-owner of the Los Angeles Sparks…Has worked with foster children in Los Angeles and was presented with the 1999 Young Heroes Award from the Big Sisters Guild of Los Angeles…Served as a color commentator for USC Basketball and has also been a guest correspondent on national networks, including ABC, Turner, Fox Sports and NBC, including supporting NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games in 2012.

Olympic Experience

4-time Olympian; 4-time Olympic medalist (4 gold)

Olympic Games Beijing 2008, gold (Team - Women)
Olympic Games Athens 2004, gold (Team - Women)
Olympic Games Sydney 2000, gold (Team - Women)
Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, gold (Team - Women)

World Championships Experience

Most recent: 2002 – gold (Team - Women)
Years of participation: Team - Women 1994, 1998, 2002
Medals: 3 (2 gold, 1 bronze)

Gold – 2002 (Team - Women); 1998 (Team - Women)
Bronze – 1994 (Team - Women)

Hall Of Fame Bio #

Crucial to the development of women’s basketball in the United States, Lisa Leslie became the second women’s Basketball player to be inducted into the USOPC Hall of Fame. As an All-American at USC, she led the Trojans to four NCAA tournaments, advancing to the Elite Eight in 1992, and was named the 1994 National Player of the Year. After college, she became a member of the historic 1995-96 U.S. team that tallied a 52-0 record in preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The team’s 1996 gold medal was the first in a string of four straight Olympic titles for Leslie. After setting a U.S. Olympic record 156 points in Atlanta, she led her team to another gold medal and a perfect 8-0 record at the Sydney 2000 Games. In 2004, she became Team USA’s all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker with 407 points, 185 rebounds and 25 blocked shots through three Olympic appearances. As the oldest member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team at age 36, she remained a double-digit scorer in Team USA’s gold-medal performance in Beijing. At the time of her induction into the USOPC Hall of Fame, she owned 10 U.S. Olympic women’s Basketball records. Just one of five U.S. women to have played in four or more Olympic Basketball tournaments, she posted double-digit scoring averages in every major international event in which she competed. Additionally, she helped launch the WNBA in 1997 as one of the league’s first premier players. She is a three-time WNBA MVP, two-time WNBA champion and eight-time WNBA All-Star. During the 2001 WNBA season, she became the first person to win the league MVP, all-star game MVP and championship MVP honors. She was also the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. She retired in 2009 as the WNBA’s all-time leader in points and rebounds, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.