{"id":470607,"date":"2026-09-21T05:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T05:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470607\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T05:10:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T05:10:18","slug":"sparks-deliver-a-win-after-lisa-leslies-statue-is-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/470607\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparks deliver a win after Lisa Leslie’s statue is unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sparks legend Lisa Leslie<\/a> has officially been immortalized in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, became the first female professional athlete to receive a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. After the ceremony, the Sparks<\/a> earned a 105-84<\/a> win over the Portland Fire. <\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s friends and family gathered outside the arena for the unveiling of the statue Leslie dubbed \u201cThe First Lady,\u201d celebrating her 12-year pro basketball career in Los Angeles. Many speakers, including former Sparks coach Michael Cooper<\/a> and Lakers legend Magic Johnson<\/a>, noted Leslie\u2019s accomplishments while also saluting her as a kind person.<\/p>\n

Leslie became the second WNBA player to be honored with a bronze statue outside of a U.S. pro basketball arena, joining the Seattle Storm\u2019s Sue Bird.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa <\/p>\n

Lisa Leslie celebrates on stage after her statue is unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there is a low percentage of women who have statues in our country,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cI just feel like we are just starting to get our flowers and reap some of the benefits of hard work, blood, sweat and tears that we put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie sat courtside with her family watching her former team beat the expansion Fire. Rae Burrell co-led the Sparks with 20 points and added two assists. Nneka Ogwumike<\/a> also finished with 20 points and became the fourth player in WNBA history to reach 8,000 points and Ariel Atkins had 14 points.<\/p>\n

Burrell led the team with 13 first-half points. The Sparks led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, during which several Sparks reached double-figure scoring.<\/p>\n

The Sparks kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter despite playing without Cameron Brink, Dearica Hamby and Aaliyah Nye.<\/p>\n

Many Sparks said they felt blessed to have formed relationships with Leslie. Burrell said Leslie has been a big help during her career. The retired star has responded when players around the WNBA have sought advice.<\/p>\n

Ogwumike said the team was happy to attend the pregame statue reveal.<\/p>\n

\"Sparks <\/p>\n

Sparks legend Lisa Leslie takes photos with family and friends at her statue unveiling outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s history, you know? I am very adamant about players coming in and knowing their history,\u201d Ogwumike said. \u201cThat\u2019s something you can\u2019t let go of. I think we can see, especially in the NBA, where they are honoring these legends and they are coming back. I think we\u2019re entering an era where there is so much history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie grew up in Compton. During the ceremony, she spoke about watching her siblings whenever her mother went to work as a truck driver. She said she pushed to make good things happen for her siblings and didn\u2019t quit or make excuses when life was difficult. She embraced challenges and often challenged herself.<\/p>\n

Cooper said Leslie would go head-to-head with some of the Lakers\u2019 players during practice to give herself a bigger challenge and it was impressive to watch her hold her own. Leslie was determined to be the first player in the WNBA to dunk, which helped redefine what was possible in women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n

The statue outside of Crypto.com Arena depicts her dunking a basketball.<\/p>\n

\"Lisa <\/p>\n

Lisa Leslie and her family celebrate as her statue is unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope they see themselves out there. I hope you can find a girl that looks like you, whether she has long hair or short hair,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cThat\u2019s the key for kids in general. You have to see yourself. If you see it, then you also start to dream and believe that you can be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie recalled walking around Los Angeles as a child. Her affection for the city receiving a statue here more meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also feel a certain level of pride,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like we are such good people in L.A.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s statue stands next to Lakers Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi. Leslie called Kobe her younger brother during the ceremony and is happy to be close to him again.<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s career will be hard to repeat, but she sees it as a blueprint WNBA players can follow.<\/p>\n

She said she is pleased with the direction the WNBA is heading, leaps and bounds ahead of her experience joining the league in 1997. She said it\u2019s been great to see sponsors pouring in and helping the game grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so proud of where the women\u2019s game is,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cBut the dream was always that we hoped that our USA, everybody across the board, could see the beauty in us, could see the strength in us and our resilience. I am so proud of the product that\u2019s on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sparks legend Lisa Leslie has officially been immortalized in Los Angeles. Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion and member…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28647,73761,418,48,52,51,185115,132284,47,50,49,63,133020,9442,1417,126714,86805,13562,1543,53199,1557],"class_list":["post-470607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ceremony","tag-former-team","tag-history","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-leslie","tag-lisa-leslie","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-nneka-ogwumike","tag-player","tag-point","tag-rae-burrell","tag-spark","tag-statue","tag-win","tag-wnba","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}