Former USC Trojan turned Los Angeles Sparks star center Lisa Leslie named the best in Team USA history by The Athletic's Joe Vardon in an exhaustive list detailing both male and female star players. was selected as the best basketball player. Leslie competed at the Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 where she won four gold medals and from 1996 to 2004 she led the team in scoring) and the FIBA World Championships (1998 and she won a gold medal in 2002 and a bronze medal in 1994).
Among the Trojan candidates, Cheryl Miller also made Verdon's top 25 (she was 24th). Mr Verdon explained the thinking behind Leslie's top ranking.
“Not MJ, not LeBron, not Kobe. Not Taurasi, not Swoopes, not Miller,” Verdon wrote. “In 50 years of U.S. basketball, no player has had a more dominant presence every time she donned an American jersey than Lisa Deshawn Leslie. That's why she rose to the top of the list. It was a factor.”
“Leslie of Compton, California, was born just two years before USAB was founded and four years before the first U.S. women's team to compete in the Olympics,” Verdon continued. “By the Beijing Games on August 17, 2008, when she played in her last Olympic game, she had the most points (881), the most rebounds (431), the most rebounds (431), and the Both men and women can compete in the red, white, and blue. These records and more still stand.
“Scoring points at close range, corralling other people's missed shots, and knocking down shots of that magnitude are the epitome of dominance,” Vardon elaborated. “No one has ever done it like Leslie. Her 35 points in an Olympic game were the most in U.S. women's history, just two points shy of Carmelo Anthony's record for the men's team, set in 1996. Her 156 points at the Atlanta Games were matched only by Kevin Durant at the 2012 London Games.
At 6-foot-5, she played for the Trojans from 1990 to 1994 and eventually joined the Sparks in 1997 when the WNBA began. She won two consecutive years in Los Angeles in 2001 and 2002, and was named Finals MVP in 2001. She was named league MVP three times, an eight-time All-Star, and twice named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. pretty good.
Leslie herself also responded positively to Verdon's ranking on her official Instagram account.
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