Lisa Leslie Gets First Sparks Statue Outside Crypto.com Arena — Wnba Standings
The Sparks will unveil a statue of Lisa Leslie on Sept. 20 before a game against the Portland Fire, making her the first Sparks player honored that way outside Crypto.com Arena. The announcement lands in the middle of the Wnba standings conversation for a franchise still building on its past while marking one of its biggest names.
Lisa Leslie And Crypto.com Arena
Leslie said she never had a statue on her bucket list, but the timing fits a season that is already leaning on the franchise’s history. She called it a strong fit with the new practice facility coming, the new CBA, everything aligning properly.
The honor puts her beside Sue Bird as the second WNBA player to be recognized with a statue at a franchise’s home arena. It also gives the Sparks a first of their own: no other player from the team had been featured among the Lakers and Kings heroes outside the building before this planned statue.
Leslie’s reaction carried the weight of that placement. She said she grew up seeing the statues of some of the amazing Lakers and was grateful to be alive and to be one of the first, especially in the WNBA for L.A. Sparks, adding that she hoped the community would rally around it.
A Sparks Career Built On Numbers
Her résumé explains why the franchise chose this moment. Leslie played 12 years for the Sparks, won two WNBA titles, collected three league MVP honors and four Olympic gold medals, and was the first player in WNBA history to dunk in a game.
She was one of the Sparks’ original players in 1997, and her No. 9 jersey was retired in 2010. She remains the franchise’s career leader in points, rebounds, blocks, field goals, free throws, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, minutes and games played.
Her numbers still sit near the top of the league as well. Leslie is third in the WNBA in blocks and double-doubles, a reminder that the statue is being added for a player whose record book has stayed relevant long after her final game.
Milton-Jones And The 30th Season
The franchise is layering the tribute into a wider anniversary run. DeLisha Milton-Jones will have her number retired on July 28 when the Sparks face the New York Liberty, and the Leslie statue comes during the Sparks’ 30th anniversary season.
Magic Johnson said Leslie helped bring back-to-back championships to the Los Angeles Sparks franchise in 2000 and 2001 and called her beyond deserving of the honor. He said the statue celebrates her excellence, her leadership and the future she helped create.
The first Sparks statue outside Crypto.com Arena is already being installed. For the franchise, the Sept. 20 ceremony turns that work into a public marker of who helped define the team’s rise, and it gives fans a fixed date to see Leslie’s place in Sparks history put in stone.
