{"id":501476,"date":"2026-03-03T15:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501476\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:48:09","slug":"unrivaled-gives-lisa-leslie-space-to-impart-wisdom-to-the-next-generation-of-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501476\/","title":{"rendered":"Unrivaled gives Lisa Leslie space to impart wisdom to the next generation of players"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa Leslie likes to call herself a proud auntie.<\/p>\n

In her second season as a color commentator for the Unrivaled league\u2019s broadcast team<\/a>, Leslie, a Naismith Hall of Famer<\/a> and women\u2019s basketball icon, has had a front-row seat to the sport\u2019s continued evolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel really blessed to be able to sit there and be a part of it, my small piece that I contribute, to just watch these women progress,\u201d Leslie said.<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s contributions to this Unrivaled season, however, have gone beyond the broadcast booth.<\/p>\n

As players take advantage of the Unrivaled facility\u2019s many amenities \u2014 from weight rooms to saunas and on-site estheticians \u2014 one of the most in-demand services has been one-on-one instruction and mentorship from Leslie.<\/p>\n

Over the course of this Unrivaled season, Leslie has advised and worked with a number of frontcourt players, including Cameron Brink, Dominique Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, Kiki Iriafen and Monique Billings.<\/p>\n

She also mentioned wanting to work with Shakira Austin, whom Leslie advised during Unrivaled\u2019s inaugural season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that as a role model, I\u2019m giving back, paying it forward, and being of service to these players. We owe that to the game,\u201d said Leslie, who will call Unrivaled\u2019s championship game Wednesday.<\/p>\n

When Billings saw Leslie during the first week the Hall of Famer was in Miami for the season, Billings approached her, asking for pointers on playing 3-on-3.<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s response was unequivocal.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was like, \u2018Oh, take my number and let\u2019s get in the gym,\u2019\u201d Billings said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, OK, say less.\u2019 We got to work the following week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unrivaled’s Philly stop reflects momentum driving WNBA players amid labor dispute \u2013 AndscapeRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

Though she never played 3-on-3 in a formalized league, the 53-year-old Leslie has experience with the format. Leslie said teams she played on would use 3-on-3 as a way to stay in shape, with the small-sided games serving somewhat as a \u201cpunishment\u201d due to their intense physical demand.<\/p>\n

Leslie also referenced playing 3-on-3 with Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes for their famed 1995 Nike commercial<\/a> directed by Spike Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played 3-on-3 in New York all day to do that commercial,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cWe [also] played 3-on-3 in Venice Beach competitively against women. So, I have 3-on-3 experience before it was an actual league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billings, 29, grew up in Riverside, California, and remembers attending Los Angeles Sparks games and vying for Leslie\u2019s autograph during her days as a WNBA superstar. To now be working with the Sparks\u2019 legend, whom Billings said as a kid she viewed as a \u201csuperwoman,\u201d is surreal.<\/p>\n

‘We are the missing piece’: 5 Black woman coaches see fresh opportunity in Unrivaled \u2013 AndscapeRead now<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been incredible the way that that woman pours into me, pours into us,\u201d Billings said. \u201cNine-year-old me freaks out.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Billings readied for her first season in Unrivaled, Leslie put a challenge before her: She wanted Billings to average a double-double.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least, like, double-digit rebounding,\u201d Billings said. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Break it down into three rebounds a quarter if you can.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Billings recently ended her first Unrivaled season averaging 14.2 points<\/a> and 10.9 rebounds in 14 games for the Hive Basketball Club.<\/p>\n

Leslie\u2019s work with this year\u2019s Unrivaled roster is an extension of her mentorship during the inaugural Unrivaled season, when she worked with players such as Austin and Angel Reese.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Angel \u2014 just another player who was like, \u2018I want to get better. I want you to help me.\u2019 And that\u2019s what I did,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cI just feel like it\u2019s really the player who has that desire, who wants to be great. And you can tell the way that they show up, you know, when they text, they call, they want to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n

During one of Malonga\u2019s practices with the Breeze Basketball Club this season, she turned her head as Leslie entered the gym. As a post player, Malonga has always used Leslie as a reference to watch and study as she developed her own game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, she\u2019s a dunker,\u201d Malonga said.<\/p>\n

At the end of practice, Leslie asked Malonga and Breeze teammate Brink if she could work out with them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDom has been great,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cShe\u2019s such a high IQ player. We may have talked about 10 things that she needed to work on and fix, and \u2026 she\u2019s checked all those boxes. She realizes when she makes a mistake on something that we\u2019ve worked on. A pleasure to work with.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2002, Leslie made history as the first player to dunk<\/a> in the WNBA during a regular-season game against the Miami Sol.<\/p>\n

A handful of players followed in Leslie\u2019s footsteps, including Candace Parker, Sylvia Fowles and most notably Brittney Griner. Malonga, 20, is next in line, and she has the potential to jump-start a new era of dunking within the sport. With Leslie watching from the sidelines, Malonga has converted three in-game dunks<\/a> this Unrivaled season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019s proud,\u201d Malonga said of being able to dunk in front of Leslie. \u201cIt\u2019s just really fun for her to witness that, with the way that she led. I\u2019m really happy to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leslie has taken it a step further when it comes to Malonga\u2019s potential as a dunker. Leslie pushed the 6-foot-6 Frenchwoman to challenge herself at the rim and adopt a dunker\u2019s mindset \u2013 something Leslie said she did not have during her playing career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Every single chance you have an opportunity [to dunk], go for it,\u2019 because I didn\u2019t. And I love that for her,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cI learned to dunk in track practice. It rained and they sent us to the gym. I was dunking a ball [while] warming up for my high jump. Basketball and dunking wasn\u2019t necessarily connected for me the way that it is for these players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malonga has been intentional when it comes to adopting Leslie\u2019s mindset, which she said goes beyond dunking. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just makes me jump higher,\u201d Malonga said. \u201cI know that nobody can block me up there, so it\u2019s just increased my chances to make the bucket, and it\u2019s just an aggressive mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billings and Malonga both said Leslie\u2019s expertise shines through during workouts, and they described her presence on the court as both commanding and deliberate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re working, she means business, and I like that,\u201d Billings said. \u201cShe just has an aura about her that she knows who she is. She doesn\u2019t have to say too much, but is willing to give a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Leslie is eager to pass on her deep knowledge of X\u2019s and O\u2019s to the players she works with, she considers it just as crucial to reinforce their mental game, empowering them to reach their potential by instilling deeper convictions in their abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s important to me, to make sure that they\u2019re spiritually strong and just feel confident in themselves. It is important to help them mentally as well, because they\u2019re dealing with a lot,\u201d Leslie said.<\/p>\n

Her proteges say Leslie has succeeded in fostering their self-belief.<\/p>\n

Amid a stretch of strong performances earlier this season in which Billings totaled several consecutive double-doubles, she encountered Leslie, who heaped praise on the Hive forward. Billings responded, \u201cGirl, that\u2019s because of you. You sparked something in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHer feeling strong and confident about herself, I\u2019m like, \u2018Listen, you have everything that you need,\u2019\u201d Leslie said to Billings. \u201cIt\u2019s just any little thing that can help them really see the fun and the excitement in this game and the challenge that they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Leslie, making the most of her opportunity to pass her knowledge to the next generation of players is continuing what the generation before her did in terms of helping to push the sport forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always like to look at Cheryl Miller and Ann Meyers and Nancy Lieberman. They took the game as far as they could for their era, and they passed it on,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cMyself, you think about Teresa Weatherspoon, Katrina McClain. There\u2019s groups \u2014 Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beautiful thing about arriving now, because [today\u2019s players] understand what the past is and how we\u2019ve helped build this. They\u2019re building now for the future \u2014 for these little girls that are watching now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Billings and Malonga now view Leslie as a mentor. Leslie has encouraged all of the players she has worked with to call if they need her for advice \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t have to be about basketball.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, you know, life is life-ing,\u201d Leslie said. \u201cSometimes these women are going through things that are a little bit heavier, and you don\u2019t have a space where you can communicate and know that it\u2019s safe. They know that with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Billings, just having the opportunity to work with Leslie, a pioneer of the sport, carries a sense of pride in her own journey as a pro \u2014 a feeling shared by many.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing. It\u2019s a privilege. It\u2019s things that I never could have even imagined,\u201d Billings said. \u201cI admire her, you know. Twenty years later, [that] 9-year-old [is] still admiring, just enamored.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sean Hurd is a senior writer for Andscape who primarily covers women\u2019s basketball. His athletic peak came at the age of 10 when he was named camper of the week at a Josh Childress basketball camp.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t