History will be made at Crypto.com Arena this fall, but not inside the legendary arena, rather outside it, with a SoCal basketball legend getting immortalized in Star Plaza.
Lisa Leslie, theCompton-born basketball legendwho lit up basketball courts in high school, college and the WNBA — all in SoCal — will be the firstWNBA playerto get a statue in Star Plaza.
TheLos Angeles Sparksannounced via press release on Thursday that the statue will be unveiled Sunday, September 20, before the Sparks’ game against the Portland Fire.
She becomes just the second WNBA player ever to get her own statue outside of the arena she helped fill, following Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird, whose statue was unveiled last August outside Climate Pledge Arena.
“To be cemented in Los Angeles, the city that raised me, I couldn’t be more proud to be a role model forever!” Leslie, 53, said in a statement.
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“God has blessed me and I have truly given my all to this sport and our community. I am thankful to my coaches, teammates, incredible fans, and, most importantly, my family and friends,” she added.
“As the saying goes, ‘The wolf is only as strong as the pack,’ and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing pack supporting me every step of the way,” she concluded.
Leslie started playing basketball at a school without a girls team, and she impressed scouts so much that when she transferred to Inglewood’s Morningside High, where she received over 100 recruiting letters from colleges.
She led Morningside to a California state championship in 1989, and in her senior year, she turned in a legendary performance in just one half.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
