So Cal's All-Time Roster: No. 9
No. 9:
Our pick:
==Lisa Leslie, Sparks (1997- )
What has the 6-foot-5 center done for the team lately? Well, nothing. She sat out the 2007 season because she had a baby. She may have had the chance to come back at the end of the season, but it was such a lost cause, he was better for the former USC star out of Morningside High to just rest up for the '08 Summer Games preparation, trying to add to the three gold medals she already has (from '96, '00 and '04). The 35-year-old three-time WNBA Player of the Year and first in the league to top 5,000 points for her career was named to the All Decade Team and All Defensive teams last season. In 2001, she was named league MVP, playoffs MVP and All-Star Game MVP -- the first to win all three awards in one season, not to mention lead her team to their first of back-to-back league titles.
Oh, and she can dunk (see above). Not that there's anything wrong with that in the women's game.
On July 30, 2002 she made history by becoming the first WNBA player to do such a thing. In a game against Miami, Leslie went on a breakaway and dunked it one-handed at Staples Center, leading to an eruption from the crowd that actually stopped the game. She said her goal upon joining the league was to be the first to dunk. She tried in her very first game against New York -- and missed. But no one's been able to dunk since in the WNBA (that we know about, and we keep pretty close tabs on such stuffs).
What we like about Leslie most is her abilty to act as a league role model for young ladies. She says her role model is her mother, Christine Leslie-Espinoza, who was a truck driver. She's done some modeling, some broadcasting, some acting. Even appeared in an episode of "The Simpsons." She plans to come back to the Sparks for 2008, a season that will be interrupted by the Olympics in China.
On her 34th birthday in 2006, the team decided to rename their court "Lisa Leslie Court." How's that for an honor. Retiring her No. 9 will be next.
Runner-ups:
==Paul Kariya, Ducks (1995-'03)
==Bernie Nicholls, Kings ('81-'90, also wore No. 10)
==Bill "Cowboy" Flett, Kings ('67-'72)
Other No. 9s:
==Wally Moon, Dodgers ('59-'65)
==Nick van Exel, Lakers ('93-'98)
==Greg Brock, Dodgers ('82-'86)
==Mickey Hatcher, Dodgers (’87-’90) (also wore No. 44 in '79-'80)
==Pat Powers, USC men’s volleyball ('78-'80)
==Paula Weishoff, USC women’s volleyball ('80)
==Ricky Manning Jr, UCLA football ('99-'02)
==Babe Herman, Hollywood Stars (PCL)
==Paul Pettit, Hollywood Stars (PCL)
==Damon Allen, Cal State Fullerton football ('81-'84) and baseball ('83-'85)
Led team to only football championships ('83 and '84 PCAA titles and '83 California Bowl), pitched for '84 College World Series title team, became all-time passing leader in pro football history with more than 70,000 yards in the Canadian Football League, still playing at age 44 for Toronto.
Sports Illustrated's pick for the all-time No. 9: Ted Williams over Gordie Howe.
Did we miss anyone?
You've got our vote, now let's see yours: