EX-WNBA’S LISA LESLIE LEADS GUYS
Brings top Big3 team in for a game at Barclays
When the ball’s in Lisa Leslie’s court, she slam dunks it.
Not content to kick back and enjoy retirement, the former WNBA star — and first player in the league to dunk during a game — has been helming the Triplets, a team in the Big3, a 3-on-3 men’s league made up of former NBA players and international players.
As a coach, Leslie is proving women can succeed in a male-dominated sport — the Triplets, in their first season in the Big3, are atop the standings with a 3-0 record.
As someone who’s continued to break barriers, the 6-foot-5 four-time Olympic gold medal-winner has no qualms about leading former NBA players.
“I always say, ‘Basketball is basketball,’ and I think it’s mostly the media that asks me about them being men and me being a woman,” Leslie told the Daily News.
“It doesn’t come up throughout the week when [the players and I] are texting, and talking Xs and Os, and figuring out a game plan and implementing in practice.
“It’s a sport,” she added. “It’s almost like being an expert in anything in any field.”
Leslie’s new role coaching an expansion team with the Big3 — which was cofounded by rapper and actor Ice Cube and is now in its second season — was a perfect fit for the 47-yearold who juggles a real estate businesses, public speaking, television broadcasting gigs and family life.
“I choose jobs that allow me to be a wife and a mom first,” Leslie said. “And to have these nontraditional jobs are great.
“With the Big3, I thought about how convenient it would be with my children being out of school and how they can travel with me, because it’s such a family environment, and they allow me to bring my children,” the married mother of two added.
Leslie will speak Friday on women’s role in sports at the Museum of Contemporary African Disasporan Arts in Brooklyn.
On Sunday, she’ll coach the Triplets during her first game at the Barclays Center.
The U.S. women’s soccer team’s World Cup triumph is not lost on Leslie, who besides her Olympic gold medals helped the Los Angeles Sparks win two WNBA championships during an 11-season career.
“It’s unfortunate that it sometimes takes the media so long to recognize that we have so many wonderful role models right in front of you for your daughters and for women to see,” said Leslie.
“I have always said, ‘It’s not our fault that we were born girls,’” Leslie said. “We just want to play, too. We just want our space and a place here in our country, just like everyone else.”
“I always tell the women, ‘It’s important for women to learn to be more supportive of women,’ because sometimes we’re the ones that tear each other down, too,” she added. “It’s important for us to support each other and support the women’s soccer team and all the sports.”