Lisa Leslie statue unveiling a reminder of LA Sparks legend's enduring legacy

Lipstick. Long nails. A pose capable of conveying the lofty legend of Lisa Leslie.

Those are the natural requirements that came along with the Los Angeles Sparks announcing in May that they were set to honor the Hall of Famer with a statue.

That statue will be unveiled on Sunday, Sept. 20 at Crypto.com Arena with a ceremony in the Star Plaza. Regardless of how the bronze carving looks, Leslie's ever-growing women's basketball legacy was already apparent.

A two-time WNBA champion, three-time league MVP, winner of four consecutive Olympic gold medals and the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game, Leslie broke multiple barriers for women athletes, showing they could dominate while expressing themselves through fashion and media as she spent her 12-year WNBA career with the Sparks.

Leslie left a blueprint that can be traced to the multi-faceted nature of stars like Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson – the league's only four-time MVP – and Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese , who both boast signature shoes, appear in Vogue magazine and music videos while fiercely bolstering their respective teams.

"I stamped my position in this game and carried it as far as (I) could," Leslie said as she reflected on the state of the league in a conversation with USA TODAY ahead of working as an analyst for CBS Sports on the network's final pregame show of the season. "I'm proud of the players and the product that is being put on the floor each and every night. And I'm just proud of the opportunities that these women are getting."

The 6-foot-5 center from Inglewood, California, was fresh off playing in the 1994 NCAA Tournament for USC when she negotiated her own Nike deal. She pushed even further into popular culture as the first WNBA player to sign a contract with a major traditional modeling agency in 1996, when she signed with Wilhelmina models less than a month before winning Olympic gold for Team USA in Atlanta.

Leslie also ventured into Hollywood, acting in movies like "Think Like a Man" and "Uncle Drew" and in shows including "Sister, Sister" and "The Simpsons." You can even hear her name mentioned in hip-hop hits by the likes of Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and more.

For Wilson and Reese, Leslie's impact is in the moments that no one sees.

"She told me she believed in me and what I could do, even when other people didn't," Reese said after practice on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

What's Lisa Leslie's influence on the WNBA's current stars?

Leslie describes herself as an "auntie" to many in the league, who instead consider her as something even closer.

"She's been a great mentor to me. A big sister to me," Reese said.

Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike , who is retiring at the end of this season , used the same verbiage as she spoke to reporters about Leslie's statue at practice on Saturday, Sept. 19.

"She came in early in my career and provided me mentorship," Ogwumike said. "(It's) an almost-like a family relationship, a very surprising sisterhood."

For Leslie, sometimes sisterhood looks like showing up. She was there when Wilson passed her to move into 14th place on the league's all-time scoring list on July 12, with her 6,264th career point.

But long before then, Leslie was there for Wilson. Pushing and supporting her.

"I remember having conversations with her in the bubble (2020 COVID-19 season) when I first went to the Finals, when I first won my MVP," Wilson told USA TODAY. "She's always someone that is constantly a bug in my ear of how I can be better, but also understanding that I'm great at where I am."

Before Reese was the No. 7 overall pick by the Chicago Sky in 2024, Leslie made sure to provide encouraging words.

"When I knew I wasn't going back to LSU, she called me and told me, 'I know you're ready and you're going to do a lot of great things,'" Reese recalled.

What was Lisa Leslie's 'sweat equity' in the WNBA?

Ogwumike willed the struggling Sparks to a win over the New York Liberty in their celebration of the WNBA's 30 seasons on June 21. As Ogwumike cried after the buzzer-beating shot , Leslie was there to embrace her.

"It's emotional seeing all these legends in the building. People that didn't get paid their value, and they're still coming here and supporting us," Ogwumike said.

Leslie's compensation in the WNBA never came close to the new million-dollar salaries Ogwumike helped negotiate for the league in its latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. Leslie was making league maximum of $91,000 in 2006, according to the Associated Press. She retired in 2009.

Even Leslie's off court opportunities were limited. She had the Nike Total Air 9 released in 1998 as the second WNBA signature athlete behind Sheryl Swoopes, but there was never another release of Leslie's shoe.

"I don't know if (interest) wasn't there or if the shoes just sold out and that was the end of it," Leslie told USA TODAY. "I'm not saying Nike didn't grasp the moment — obviously I never got a seven-figure contract and I never got my own line — but I think it's like the sweat equity that's required in any new business. Investment and loss of money or whatever is sometimes necessary in order for there to be growth, and we understood that. The sweat equity that we put into it was to see these moments right now."

That reality isn't lost on Reese, whose Reebok signature shoe has been released in multiple colorways amid a flurry of deals, including partnerships with Victoria's Secret and Juicy Couture. That's why Reese made sure to include Leslie in the 2025 McDonald's Super Bowl commercial to launch the Angel Reese Special, which was the fast food chain's first signature meal for a female athlete.

Wilson's Nike signature line includes clothing and shoes; the A'One that was announced in 2024 and the A'Two that was unveiled in March this year.

"I put together a whole PowerPoint to try and create my own line back in the day and try to get Nike to make longer pants and cute sweatsuits and all of these things,'" Leslie told USA TODAY. "I fought for those things and I tried. It didn't happen. But I look at A'ja and I'm happy."

Leslie will be just the second WNBA player honored with a statue by their professional team after the Seattle Storm gave Sue Bird a statue at Climate Pledge Arena in August 2025. Wilson has a statue on the University of South Carolina's campus.

"Lisa was not the cookie cutter image of what they wanted us as women of the WNBA to look like. She gave us the feel of, 'Be yourself.' I think that was kind of overlooked and overshadowed, but I think she still always shows up as her true self always. That's why I admire her so much," Wilson told USA TODAY.

"She's done a great job of transcending our game. It's obviously been a part of me. When you have greats like that pouring into you, it's just — I'm glad she's getting a statue. It's about damn time."