Magic Johnson, a Los Angeles Lakers legend and the second person honored with a statue outside what is now called Crypto.com Arena, has endorsed the star he thinks should be the next to have some bronze in the iconic Star Plaza.
Lisa Leslie, a former star at the University of Southern California and later the Los Angeles Sparks, is the next person deserving of a statue outside the arena, Johnson said on Instagram on Friday.
“You took the WNBA, women’s basketball, and the city of Los Angeles to new heights. My friend, your legacy is already women’s history,” Johnson wrote. “And now, your impact is continuing through your entrepreneurship! I am so proud of you. One day, I hope you get a well-deserved and earned statue outside Crypto!”
Leslie’s basketball resume can stack up with anyones. Born in Compton in 1972, she attended Morningside High School in Inglewood before heading to USC. There, she was an instant standout, netting four All-Pac 10 honors in her four years and the Naismith National Player of the Year award in 1994.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
She was among the first players to join the WNBA, and was part of the inaugural Los Angeles Sparks team in 1997. She won three WNBA MVP awards and two championships over the course of her 12 seasons — all with the Sparks. Leslie was also part of two gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic women’s basketball teams.
Since her 2008 retirement from basketball, she’s dabbled in broadcasting and coaching. She’s currently the head coach of the Triplets in the Big3 basketball league. Leslie earned induction into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
If honored, she’d be the 13th person with a statue in Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena — and the first woman. The most recent person sculpted was Laker great Kobe Bryant, who received a statue posthumously on Feb. 8.