30 greatest female athletes of all time
By Nick Villano
16. Lisa Leslie
Basketball
It is more than ironic that one of the first greats in WNBA history did it in the city of Los Angeles, side by side with the prime of Kobe Bryant. Lisa Leslie wore the same purple and gold as Black Mamba, and she was at the top of her sport. When she became the first woman to dunk in a professional basketball game, it was international news.
She won every possible accolade one could win in the WNBA. She was a three-time MVP, two-time Finals MVP (2001, 2002), eight-time All-WNBA First Team, and a three-time all-defensive team. She holds the first double-double in WNBA history, a 16-point, 14-rebound performance against the New York Liberty in 1997.
Things didn’t start dominant like other ladies on this list. Leslie never made it to the Final Four in college, and her first trip to the Olympics finished with a bronze medal, which was considered a failure for American basketball, no matter the gender. She overcame the slow start and became a no-doubt Hall of Famer. On the international stage, Leslie finished her career with four gold medals, including the female Dream Team in 1996 in Atlanta. She also took home FIBA gold in 1998 and 2002.
Leslie had all of the “firsts” in the WNBA. She was the first to 3,000 points, first to dunk, first to reach 4,000, first to reach 10,000 combined points, assists, and rebounds, and more. She was the league star to break this league out, and she’s still in the conversation today. Maybe her innovator role has her up a few slots, but doing it first always is the most impressive.