WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie Reveals the Story Behind Her First Dunk as a 14-Year-Old

The biggest criticism the WNBA has faced for the longest time has been the lack of dunks. Shaquille O’Neal even wanted the league to lower the rim. But in the history of the league, there have been a handful of players who have dunked. Those dunks changed the game. However, like every great movement, there is always a flagbearer. In the WNBA, the flagbearer was Lisa Leslie. She was the first one to dunk in the league’s history. In fact the first time she dunked, she was just 14.

Leslie, egged on by Angel Reese, passionately retold the story of her first dunk. She says that she discovered she had the athleticism to slam-dunk a ball while at a random track practice, which she used to train in to get better at basketball. However, one rainy day led to Leslie capturing the attention of her track coach.

“It rained one day and we went indoors,” Leslie began. After finding out track and field wasn’t for her, she switched to long jumps and high jumps. “My coach was giving me my approach for my high jump and long jump. So anyway I just ran and after I finished it I just grabbed the rim. he was like, ‘Did you just touch the rim?'”

Leslie’s coach then encouraged her to try and do the action over again, but this time while attempting to dunk a tennis ball. After succeeding, she then dunked a volleyball and finally a basketball.

The newfound skill became a staple for Leslie’s high-school persona. She says she dunked “all the time,” including at every school pep rally, where she dunked alongside the boys.

Funnily enough, Leslie states that never considered doing it in a game, then made history in 2002. This conversation then took an interesting turn into a topic that has plagued the WNBA for decades.

Angel Reese and Lisa Leslie spoke about the rims being lowered in the WNBA

Reese brought up to Leslie how there is an argument being made that the WNBA should lower the rims to allow for more dunking in the league. Both vehemently disagreed with the notion. “Never. That’s just so obsolete. It’s dumb. They been saying that forever,” jabbed Leslie.

This isn’t the first time Reese spoke about this on her program. Back in the fall of 2024, the Chicago Sky superstar had Shaquille O’Neal on to discuss WNBA salaries — and how they are a fraction of what NBA players make even though Reese and Caitlink Clark have mainstream appeal.

The Lakers legend suggested that if the WNBA lowered the rims so that more women could dunk, this would create more buzz and help the female ballers make more money. However, Reese wasn’t a fan of the idea.

“I feel like it still wouldn’t be good enough, it’s never good enough,” Reese stated. “People always disrespect women regardless; they are always going to not give us the same value as a man. So I don’t think that.”

Shaq is a legend of the game, but Reese is right. She and Clark helped raise attendance in the 2024 WNBA season to its biggest gates ever, yet the players still don’t earn enough. Not to mention that aside from Leslie, other women have dunked in the WNBA, including Brittney Griner, Candace Parker, and Sylvia Fowles.

Post Edited By: Adit Pujari

Angel Reese Lisa Leslie Shaquille O'Neal

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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