How Lisa Leslie’s dunk marked a turning point in WNBA history | NBA

July 30, 2002 is a historic date in the WNBA. It marks a turning point. This moment, we owe it to Lisa Leslie, one of the legends of women’s basketball, with her three MVP trophies and her two WNBA titles, as well as her four Olympic gold medals. But that day, for the first time, a player dunked in the WNBA. Dunks in women’s basketball, it had happened before since in 1984, in NCAA, Georgeann Wells had succeeded. And there too it was historic. But never at such a level.

Lisa Leslie (1m96) had already tried her luck during the first season of the WNBA, without success. It was a career goal, she worked for it after practice and Michael Cooper, her coach in Los Angeles, knew that one day, “This was going to happen”.

“A moment that broke a barrier”

This July 30, 2002, the Sparks are struggling against Miami Sol, at Staples Center. Then, after a rebound, Lisa Leslie found herself alone on the counterattack, thanks to a pass from Latasha Byears. The defense is behind her, the space is immense, she can prepare herself and fly off for a one-handed dunk.

“I was on the bench, and I said to myself that it was the right moment”, remembers Michael Cooper. “I did this dunk without thinking that I was the first one”, points out Lisa Leslie. “I had done it and the team reacted. We wanted to go for this match, but we lost it. “

The Sparks will indeed lose 82-73, but nobody cares and no one withholds the final score. The event of this match is obviously Lisa Leslie’s dunk. Even for the opponents who have won this meeting.

“We could no longer say that women were not capable of dunking”, recalls Ruth Riley, Miami player. “Somehow it disarms some critics and young women who grew up with it can see the image and be inspired by it. It was a moment that broke a barrier. “

The barrier fell and several players will then join Lisa Leslie in the story. Candace Parker, upon her arrival in the league in 2008, also a teammate of the pioneer in Los Angeles, follows in her footsteps. It must be said that Anthony’s sister, who is one of the 25 best players in history, did not wait long before flirting with the circles. “I dunked before my brothers”, she proudly argues. “I was 14 and they were 15 or 16. “

Then, in WNBA, she goes on two dunks in two matches! “I coached the two players who have become legends”, rejoices Michael Cooper. “I wanted to do it at Staples Center”, continues Candace Parker. “And I did it on the same basket as Lisa Leslie. Doing it back-to-back was huge. “

A few years later, Brittney Griner took up the torch. With her 2m06, the star of the Mercury Phoenix is ​​easy to climb to the circle, with one or two hands, much more than Lisa Leslie or Candace Parker. For her first match, in 2013, she was already dunking and like Lisa Leslie, a little over ten years later, her team’s defeat took a back seat behind her dunk. “It was crazy. People don’t remember the defeat, only the dunk ”, she says.

The proof that, even if the dunks in WNBA are now more frequent for some time, they remain events which monopolize the attention. Until when ? “This generation will make it commonplace, almost everyday, and it won’t be so crazy anymore”, ad Candace Parker.