#Lisa er earth girls are easy upgrade

However, basketball did help me with my true calling: writing. I sprained my knee at my middle school basketball team tryouts, and that injury still gives me problems. Third, I had what was probably the shortest basketball career in history. Second, at 10, I hit 5-foot-1 and never surpassed it, so being a center like her was out of the question. There is nothing easy about reaching that level of greatness. For starters, it was Lisa frickin' Leslie, a legend. So when I saw those WNBA commercials (you know, the ones with a young Kyla Pratt challenging players as the 'Little Rascals' theme played in the background), I thought I had found my calling.īeing the next Lisa Leslie was not easy. Michael Jordan was one of the best humans to walk the earth in my eyes, third only to Jesus and my mother. His love for the game and my grandmother's love for the game found their way to me through a combination of genetics and learned behavior.Īt 7, I was shooting 3s with so much ease that the guys at the neighborhood park were impressed.

Although my memories of him are limited, I do remember watching him on the sideline as he dished out plays and yelled at girls to hustle. (Apparently, it was legendary.) My dad coached women's basketball at a local HBCU (historically black college or university).

If you're lucky enough to find someone who still has a sharp memory of those days, they can tell you all about her jump shot. My maternal grandmother was a star on her high school basketball team in small-town Mississippi. When I was a kid, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was easy - the next Lisa Leslie.Īs cliché as this will sound, basketball was in my blood. In honor of Black History Month, espnW is running essays and poems inspired by influential black athletes.

#Lisa er earth girls are easy upgrade

You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĮssay: How one woman's WNBA dreams of being the next Lisa Leslie steered her writing career