Lisa Leslie Honored With 11-Foot Statue Outside Crypto.com Arena

An 11-foot bronze statue of Lisa Leslie dunking was unveiled in Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, making the Hall of Famer the first Los Angeles Sparks player honored there. Leslie became the 16th person with a statue in the plaza, according to ESPN's report from the afternoon ceremony.

Marianne Stanley, who coached Leslie at USC, was part of the program. So were former Sparks teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Candace Parker and Los Angeles Lakers greats Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, James Worthy, and Michael Cooper.

The statue is named The First Lady and sits atop a 4½-foot base. Leslie is the second woman honored in Star Plaza. The first was Gigi Bryant, who died alongside her father, Kobe Bryant, in a 2020 helicopter crash.

Designing the Statue

Sculptor Omri Amrany and artist Julie Rotblatt Amrany created the piece. Leslie fussed over it for months and traveled to Chicago to meet with the two of them.

"First of all, she's cute," Leslie said. "I was so worried. I did not want to look like a linebacker up here. But she's cute."

"I wanted to make sure that this statue was a perfect blend of fearlessness and the competitor that I was and I am and I'll always be," Leslie continued. "But also ... I wore my ribbons, I had my nails polished, which y'all can't see, but the girl got her polish on because I never wanted the boys or the men to think that I was a boy."