A statue celebrating four Olympic gold medals and a legendary WNBA career already has plenty of reasons to stand out. But Lisa Leslie has revealed one detail on her new Los Angeles monument that fans might not immediately expect: its lips are painted L’Oréal red.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Speaking on Friday’s episode of the Chiney Today podcast, Leslie shared some of the personal details built into the statue when host Chiney Ogwumike asked her to.
“I have four gold medals, and there are four pieces of gold on the statue,” Leslie said. “I got a better one. My book is called Don’t Let the Lipstick Fool You. So, my statue has on lipstick. Red. L’Oréal red, by the way.”
The Lisa Leslie statue is a historic bronze monument positioned at Crypto.com Arena’s Star Plaza. Scheduled to be unveiled on Sunday, September 20, Leslie makes history as the first female athlete ever to receive a statue in Star Plaza, and only the second WNBA player in league history to be honoured with a franchise statue, following Sue Bird.
Leslie’s professional career spanned 12 seasons from 1997 to 2009, all of them spent exclusively with the Los Angeles Sparks, where she became the defining face of the league during its foundational years. She led the Sparks to back-to-back WNBA Championships in 2001 and 2002, claimed two WNBA MVP awards, and won two WNBA Finals MVP honours in the process.
One detail that many fans will also remember Leslie for is the fact that she was the first player in WNBA history to dunk in a game. Alongside that landmark moment, she is also an eight-time WNBA All-Star, a 12-time All-WNBA Team selection, three all-star MVPs, and a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year who retired with 822 career blocks, a testament to the dominance she brought to the defensive end throughout her career.
Her most celebrated achievement, however, may be her four consecutive Olympic gold medals with Team USA, in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. And as she has now revealed, those four gold medals are honoured directly on the statue itself, with four pieces of gold incorporated into the monument’s design.
Leslie’s statue becomes the 15th addition to the legendary Star Plaza lineup, joining basketball icons including Kobe Bryant, Gigi Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor. The monument permanently immortalises her legacy alongside the most celebrated names in Los Angeles sports history.
How Lisa Leslie’s Statue Unveiling Event Will Unfold
The Lisa Leslie Star Plaza statue was first officially announced in May of this year, though discussions about the honour had originally begun as far back as 2019. Four months after that announcement, the statue is now ready to be revealed, and the unveiling ceremony takes place on Sunday, September 20.
The official ceremony will unfold right before the Los Angeles Sparks take on the Portland Fire, a game that tips off at 4:00 PM PT. The celebration will take place inside the arena, featuring special game-day activations, a halftime recognition ceremony, and exclusive giveaways for fans in attendance.
Those at the game will also receive a special Lisa Leslie commemorative ticket, with a limited number of them personally autographed by Leslie herself. And for the wider public, general access to the statue in Star Plaza begins on Monday, September 21.
The monument was crafted by the renowned sculpting duo Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany, the same pair responsible for several of Star Plaza’s most iconic monuments, including those honouring Chick Hearn, Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, and Pat Riley. For a statue already rich in personal meaning and historical significance, it could not have been placed in more capable hands.
Leslie’s statue will become another permanent reminder of her extraordinary impact on the Los Angeles Sparks, the WNBA, and basketball as a whole. And thanks to its distinctive L’Oréal-red lipstick, the monument will carry a personal touch that is unmistakably Lisa Leslie.