Lisa Leslie statue unveiled on Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Lisa Leslie has always been a trailblazer. The first woman to dunk in a WNBA game, the first WNBA player to sign with a modeling agency, and now the first Los Angeles Sparks player to be immortalized with a bronze statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.

Leslie became the 16th person honored with a statue in what has become known as Star Plaza in a Sunday afternoon ceremony featuring her college coach at USC, Marianne Stanley; Los Angeles Lakers legends Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, James Worthy and Michael Cooper; and former Sparks teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Candace Parker.

«First of all, she's cute,» Leslie said upon seeing the 11-foot bronze statue of her iconic dunk unveiled to the public for the first time. «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. 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.

«I wanted to play hard like them, but I wanted them to know that I respected myself and that I was a lady. And I wanted for little girls to see my ribbons when I played because I wanted them to be able to see themselves in me.»

Leslie's statue, which sits atop a 4½-foot-tall base, is named The First Lady. She is the first Sparks player to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza and the second woman. The first was Gigi Bryant, who died alongside her father, Kobe Bryant, in a 2020 helicopter crash.

«I'm right across from my little baby brother, Kobe,» Leslie said, pointing to a statue of Bryant across the plaza.