The Last Dance: Lisa Leslie's Fourth Olympic Games

By Shera Everett (Contributed)
Posted Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Photos courtesy NBAEntertainment.

The United States will close the book on one of the most storied eras in the history of U.S. women’s basketball – but not before Lisa Leslie has one last rendezvous.

Leslie will compete with the U.S. Women’s National Basketball team in search of her fourth Olympic gold medal in Beijing this month.

“I’m excited and looking forward to playing in my last Olympics,” Leslie said. “But, I definitely see the end near.”

The story began in 1995, when Leslie, Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes teamed up alongside the legendary Teresa Edwards and Katrina McClain and took the world by storm. They competed against teams in seven different countries and finished with a 52-0 pre-Olympic record before dismantling Japan, Australia and Brazil to capture the gold medal in the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Amid chants of “U-S-A,” that team catapulted women’s basketball onto the national stage.

Twelve years later, Leslie, Staley and Swoopes each have three Olympic gold medals and a host of other awards. Leslie said the trio was a force to be reckoned with because they were powerful in three different positions.

“With the point being the most important position, Dawn always knew what our team needed and organized us, and we respected her,” Leslie said. “With Sheryl, her defense was second-to-none out there on the perimeter. She could always get us a basket just from her defensive intensity or by getting a steal. Then you have my presence inside, blocking shots. If any of them got beat, they knew that I would be behind them. There was a certain level of trust –- spoken and unspoken –- every single time that we stepped on the floor.”

That trust led to dominance, and dominance led to gold. For more than a decade, they were the face of USA women’s basketball. But now, Staley has traded in her jersey for an assistant coach’s polo, and Swoopes hung up her red, white and blue Nikes after the 2006 FIBA World Championship. How does Leslie feel about suiting up without them?

“It will definitely be hard to do,” Leslie said. “I’m happy that Dawn will be there in a coaching capacity, so that gave me a lot more comfort. But I have good teammates to build this camaraderie with and also trust in a very short period of time. I’m excited and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of being a leader and helping the team in any way that I can.”

In the past, Leslie has been one of the team’s go-to players, and after the 2004 Olympic Games she became the USA’s all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker. But she said that she
does not focus on her personal accomplishments.

“I’ve never been, ‘Oh, it’s all about me,’” Leslie said. “Dawn has always made me better and stayed on me and helped me improve in any areas that I was lacking. Sheryl always challenged me; she was always asking -- is that the best I can do. So we also had that level of respect for each other where it wasn’t just about what we were doing great, but also what we weren’t doing great and pushing each other to do our best.

“When we needed a basket, at times I’ve been the go-to player all these years,” she continued. “This time if that’s not my role, then I’m OK to pass it to the next person who is. It’s a certain level of understanding and unselfishness that you have to have, and I think I have that.”

While she doesn’t have Staley and Swoopes with her, she will have familiar faces surrounding her. Los Angeles Sparks teammates DeLisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker will join Leslie in Beijing. Parker is considered to be one of the players who will carry the team in the future. Who better to learn from than Leslie?

“I’m very excited about sharing this experience with Lisa and soaking in her knowledge,” Parker said. “I’m looking forward to helping her win her fourth gold medal and to winning one of my
own.”

Leslie said she realizes the importance of passing the torch to the younger players. She has had a head start with Parker and Sylvia Fowles, with whom she played during the 2008 Good Luck Beijing Tournament. Leslie said that she will try to prepare them for the Olympic competition and keep them encouraged.

“It’s kind of one of those things where you learn on the spot, too -- in the moment. When you’re down and you’re looking at each other and you have that deer-in-the-headlights look, it’s just a certain level that I know I’ll bring to the team and help us to be able to step up. I feel really comfortable about where we’re going in the future.”

Just as Teresa Edwards left the ball in Leslie’s court years ago, Leslie will now leave it to the younger players. But not before one last dance.