- Weren't y'all the Women's Dream Team, right?
- That's sometimes the part that gets sketchy because
here we are for our country,
but we don't really get the recognition in our country.
We don't get the support.
Our games obviously speak for itself.
So we went 58 and 0.
We played in Russia, we played in China, we played in–
- Whooped all they asses.
- Cuba, we played in Slovakia, we played you— you name it.
- [Laughing]
♪♪♪
- [Master Tesfatsion:] So who we got in the pool hall today?
Lisa Leslie, what's up with you?
- [Lisa Leslie:] Hey. I'm so happy to be here.
How's your pool game?
- Mine's nice, how's yours?
- Man, it’s all good. It's subjective. Where's that little chalk?
- She about to hustle the hell outta me.
- It’s subjective. - I don’t even know where it is.
- I’m actually a lefty. You know that, right?
- So, Lisa.
- You are a trailblazer and I appreciate that.
Of the many things that you do the most,
what does it take to be a trailblazer, as a Black woman in this country?
- It really is about believing in yourself, learning to love yourself.
And I think for me, listen, I was six foot in the sixth grade.
I wore a size 12 shoe when I was 12 years old.
Now, you look around and you’re like, “Damn. That is taller than everybody in this room.”
Taller than most people at home watching.
And it was different, I was different.
And so, I think my mom did an amazing job
of really helping me to understand that.
- In that belief, where did basketball come into the fold?
- Basketball I feel like is my destiny.
And that was it. I love competition.
Everybody doesn’t like to be competitive and that’s OK.
And I think that part was really natural for me. I love to win.
- You talk about all these ambitions and dreams you had as a kid playing basketball.
But the WNBA didn’t exist.
So how far did you think you could take basketball?
- Once I got to high school
it was there that I realized you can get a scholarship.
So that scholarship and me going to college to play basketball became the first piece.
The second piece was that I wanted to be an Olympian and represent our country.
Basketball's how I'm gonna travel the world.
- So there isn't a professional league, you're at USC, okay?
You enter the Olympics.
Weren't y'all the Women's Dream Team, right? At the time, in '96?
- Well nobody–
- [Laughing]
- Appreciate the love.
That's sometimes the part that it gets sketchy, because again,
here we are for our country,
but we don't really get the recognition in our country.
We don't get the support the way that we would hope.
So we went 58 and 0. 58 and 0.
We played in Russia, we played in China, we played in—
- Whooped all they asses.
- Cuba, we played in Slovakia, we played you- you name it.
- [Laughing]
- We played everywhere and beat everybody
and it's tough because America's not recognizing any of that.
You know, nobody sees that, nobody knows about these trips
but it was an amazing time. - So how was that for y’all then?
The media that you're seeing in Barcelona for the '92 team, it's not there.
How did y'all handle that?
- They formed the US Olympic team in 1995.
They created a USA national program where we – 12 of us –
traveled the world together for the whole year
playing everybody in their country.
It was an amazing time in our lives.
We would never trade any of that, any of our teammates for that experience.
Representing USA, wearing that red, white, and blue, and kicking butt.
So having our American flag raised and hearing our anthem
on podium after podium and having gold medals placed around my neck,
that's the highlight of my career because that was always my ultimate goal and I made it.
Is it my turn?
- Hell yeah.
- I’d like to beat you.
- You really trying to beat me right now, ain't you?
- Oh, always.
- So the gap between the Olympics and the inception of the WNBA,
what are you doing in that meantime?
- So I was in New York.
When I get the call- so that's it within that one year, right?
'96, I'm out, I'm gone.
And then we get the call about the WNBA and they're like,
"Oh, it's gonna be in the summer."
So I'm like, "Okay, cool. It'll be like a summer league, right?
Like, we wear reversible jerseys, we probably play like Long Beach State.” I don’t know.
By the time it was all put together, we played at the
Great Western Los Angeles Forum where the Los Angeles Lakers play.
So like my locker and Kareem's locker is the same locker
and I'm like, “Dude.” I was not ready. You know, I really wasn't.
[Balls hitting]
You all aggressive with it too.
- [Laughing]
- I should hit mine harder.
- [Laughing]
- I was probably, what, seven or eight at the time
and I remember the "We Got Next" commercials.
- See what I’m saying?
- What do you remember from that shoot with Spike Lee?
- Now, Spike was awesome because,
you know, he's an avid basketball fan.
- Facts.
He's New York. Poor Knicks.
Spike is one of those guys who was like,
"We gotta tell this story because this is really what it is.
Put together, give me your best," which was myself,
Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley. They had men lined up
cuz they want to be in the commercial but they’re ballers, around the cage.
And so they broke 'em up in four teams.
So there was a guard, you know, a forward and a center.
And we played these men, just like the commercial said, all day.
Three-on-three, screening, shooting buckets, blocking shots,
like, just really playing these guys. And they filmed all day.
And like the commercial says, basketball is basketball.
We didn't win every game, and I will say to this day, we only lost one game.
So, he says in the commercial, "They didn't win every game,
but they won enough to say, 'Basketball is basketball.'"
And so, that's where the, "Yo, we got next," that was my line.
You’re kidding.
- [Laughing]
- Just be more aggressive.
- It almost feels like, for Black women in the league,
you gotta be an athlete and like a model.
Or an athlete and an activist.
And it's difficult to just market yourself as a Black woman that's really really good at the sport.
Do you see some discrepancies there in terms of how
white women in the WNBA and how Black women in the WNBA are marketed?
- This is really being kind of deep but when you think about it
we watch television and we love white people because we watch shows,
and we've watched shows for many years,
where we have characters that we love because we're like,
"Oh I like Cindy Brady, I like these people."
And I don't look at them based on because she's a white girl and I'm a Black girl.
I identify with things she's talking about,
things that's going on with her family or maybe what she's wearing, right?
So, I don't think we've had that reverse where a lot of white people
have had the opportunity to see Black people in a way where you would
like, love, and admire them other than seeing them in sports.
- I love how you say that too.
there's so many of us doing great things on a everyday basis.
- Absolutely.
- That should be reflected that people can find some level of commonality with.
- Absolutely.
- There it is.
- Yeah.
- [Laughing]
♪♪♪
- So Lisa, let’s see what you can do in the Pop-A-Shot, okay?
- Alright, let’s do it. - You got 60 seconds.
I’m gonna ask you some questions. Let’s see what you can do, cool?
- Let’s do it.
- Let’s get it.
[Digital beeps from game sounding]
- 3, 2, 1.
The one athlete dead or alive you’d wanna play with?
- Muhammad Ali.
- Who are you listening to before a game?
- Tupac.
- Funniest teammate you’ve ever had?
- DeLisha [Milton-Jones], by far.
- What’s your signature move?
- Depends on where the defense is.
- What if you’re hittin’ ‘em though?
- A turnaround off the glass.
- Dirtiest opponent you’ve ever faced?
- Latasha Byears, man.
She’s my teammate. She eventually became my teammate.
- Is it a hot dog or a sandwich?
- Uh. Sandwich.
- Favorite pair of kicks you own?
- Anything by Jordan.
- 8 seconds. Gold medal or WNBA Championship?
- Oh man, always a gold medal. Always. Come on.
- Who’s the greatest WNBA player ever?
- Ever? Including myself?
Gotta vote for myself. I got 96 by the way.
- You better say yourself.
- I mean am I in the running or what? You see I got 96, right?
- You killed that thing, Lisa. Yo.
- Boom boom. We be old school. Blow it up
- Thank you for coming to the pool hall.
It was great to have a legend in the building. Appreciate you.
- Thanks for having me. This was fun.
- You already know.