This Is Our Team: Lisa Leslie

With three gold medals under her belt, Lisa Leslie faces her ultimate challenge: passing on her wisdom to a new Team USA.

No one on the U.S. Women’s Team has more experience than Lisa Leslie – or the gold medals to prove it. The future Hall of Famer, who’s been setting records and standards since high school, is now putting her experience to good use. Because for Team USA to bring home the gold this year, it’ll take more than just Lisa Leslie; it’ll take her leadership, guidance, and mentorship of younger players.

It’s not that Leslie is just the team’s star. She’s also the strategy. Women’s head coach Anne Donovan is relying on her to turn the young team into a cohesive unit, shaping much of the raw talent on the court.

“Lisa’s leadership, experience and her voice is something that we really need to play with again,” said Coach Donovan. “For our younger players in particular, to have that opportunity to be with her, interact with her and learn from her… it’s an exciting time for us.”

It would be hard to overstate Leslie’s importance to Team USA. The few times she’s been absent – the semis against Russia at the World Championships, the 2007 qualifying campaign – her team has fallen in defeat. It was only in 2007, at the FIBA Americas tournament, that her teammates forged ahead without her at the helm. “Lisa is our rock,” said a fellow team member. “She’s our foundation.”

After over ten years of professional league play, Lisa Leslie has had the time and dedication to work on all aspects of her game. The result is the most agile center in the history of the WNBA: she’s unguardable, impenetrable, and often unstoppable. But her strength, perhaps, still lies in her mental game.

“I feel a mixture of emotions,” Leslie says. “I feel young enough to play, but old enough to be a leader.”

And lead she will. Right to U.S. victory.

For over a decade now, Leslie has been one of the biggest forces in women’s basketball. And she knows that this summer is her chance to cap off her career as no one has done before: by winning a fourth Olympic gold medal.

“When I put on the red, white and blue,” she says, “It’s all about the gold.“


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