LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of Los Angeles Sparks fans gathered around the fences on Star Plaza on Sunday afternoon, draped from head to toe in purple, gold and teal, just trying to catch a glimpse of Sparks legend Lisa Leslie’s statue unveiling ceremony.
Myla Hollyfield, a Sparks season ticket holder and fan since the franchise’s inception in 1997, was among them, trying to peer through the fences and get a glimpse of The First Lady, the aptly given name of Leslie’s statue.
“I was a young basketball player
(in 1997). Lisa Leslie was one of my first basketball players that I’d loved growing up,” Hollyfield said, donning the gold, white-shouldered No. 9 jersey Leslie immortalized during her 12-year career in Los Angeles.
“She means everything to me,” said Brittany Wallace, another lifelong Sparks fan. “One, she’s a Compton legend, Morningside High School, 100 points in one half, so it means a lot to the city. And then, as a basketball fan and a WNBA fan, to see how somebody as legendary as her has taken the game from where it was to where it is now — first dunk (in WNBA history), four gold medals. Don’t even get me started on the accolades.”
Wallace was only scratching the surface of the plethora of accolades Leslie earned throughout her career. The former USC Trojan was taken by the Sparks in the 1997 WNBA allocation draft and finished her career with two WNBA championships, three MVPs, eight All-Star selections, two block titles and three rebounding titles, just to name a few. That culminated with her induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
The statue itself honors one of Leslie’s aforementioned accomplishments — the first dunk in WNBA history.
“The statue is beautiful,” Hollyfield said. “Just looking at it from this angle, it has her likeness. I like it. If we’re going to give the first woman out here her flowers, I’m glad that it represents who she is.”
Leslie is the first woman to have her statue planted among all the legendary monuments in front of Crypto.com Arena. The sculpting was meticulous, according to Leslie, from the purple and gold accents on the uniform to the lipstick, nail polish and earrings that separate hers from the rest.
“I am beyond happy with how beautiful The First Lady looks,” Leslie told reporters after the ceremony. “It’s gorgeous. I just love that she has her ponytail, and when little girls get a chance to walk around and see it, they see a woman — The First Lady — statue out there. That just means so much to me.”
As for the game that followed the celebrations, the Sparks routed Portland, 105-84, on a night where forward Nneka Ogwumike put up 20 points and 12 rebounds en route to becoming the fourth player in WNBA history to reach 8,000 career points with just two games left in her storied career.
Despite Los Angeles being eliminated from playoff contention, what fans will go home remembering is the impassioned speech Leslie gave them at halftime. Joined on the court by her family and former Sparks head coach Michael Cooper and assistant coach Karleen Thompson, Leslie had the crowd attached to every word.
“To the fans, this is about you,” she said. “This game does not get to where we are today without all of you who are sitting with us, riding with us. Just know, every time I’ve been in this arena, I have never left this arena without signing autographs, taking pictures and giving you guys my all. I left it out here on the floor because that’s what you deserve as fans.
“Every opportunity I had was a moment to change the mind of a man who was a hater,” Leslie added to the cheering crowd, “it was a chance to convince somebody who didn’t believe in women’s basketball. It was an opportunity to let a little girl believe that she could be me.”
You can follow Connor on Twitter at @cmorenoNBA.
