by Lisa Leslie
Chamique Holdsclaw came to us with great credentials. She had won three NCAA championships under Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee. She had been the WNBA’s rookie of the year in 1999, she had led the league in scoring in 2002, and she had been a three-time All-Star with the Mystics. The media wanted to know if the Sparks would have enough basketballs to keep Chamique and me satisfied, but that was never a problem. We played well together.
The problem was that the Sparks did not play well together under Coach Bibby. In 1996 USC had hired him to coach their men’s team and to bring some discipline to the program. His squads posted two twenty-four-win seasons at the start of the new millennium, but they followed that with two sub-.500 seasons. Only four games into the Trojans’ 2004–05 season, Coach Bibby got fired, reportedly because several of his players complained that he had brought too much discipline to the program.
The situation was similar when Coach Bibby took over as Sparks head coach. We were a team in need of direction. Coach Bibby was a hard man to read, though, and I think some people questioned if he was in the WNBA for the right reasons or just there to get some exposure that might lead to another college coaching job or a job in the NBA. Obviously, we all wanted to win, but when you had major changes like the Sparks had, everything was going to be different because everything was new. We knew we had talent on our squad. Coach Bibby had the task of molding our individual skills into team talent in a very short period of time.
With D gone and a new coach in place, the highly touted team chemistry of the Sparks took a major hit. We needed time to develop team unity, but time was a luxury that the Sparks did not have in 2005, and that intangible bond never seemed to materialize. On top of that, I started the season with a strained groin. It was a nagging injury that affected my ability to jump more than anything else. I got all kinds of treatments for it, and the injury improved, but rest was the only way to get back to 100 percent, and I did not have time for that. We had games to play, so I just fought through it and kept working hard.
Chamique and I were fortunate to make the Western Conference All-Star team as reserves. We were both putting up decent numbers, but I was hobbling, and our team was only 9–7 when the WNBA broke for its All-Star Game. We had seven losses at the break! That was only two fewer defeats than the Sparks had in the entire 2004 season.
That All-Star Game, I got a clear path to the basket and dunked the ball. The fans and the media had finally got the All dunk that they had been waiting for. It was nice to get the first one, but it was not nearly as dramatic or exciting as my dunk against the Miami Sol back in 2002. It did give the fans something to talk about, though.
But there were lots of other things to talk about, too. The Sparks were losing under Coach Bibby, and his assistant coach, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant (Kobe’s dad), was chosen to guide our team through the rest of the season. Another coach fired and another coach hired. I remember crying that night in the locker room, because I was so upset. Our players and coaches thought that I was mad because Coach Bibby was gone, but it was not about him at all. I was sad that my career was being wasted and that the Sparks kept getting further and further away from winning another championship. That season, I posted some of the lowest numbers of my career, and even my Uncle Brainard told me, “Lisa, if you play next year like you played this year, it is time for you to retire!”
With so much basketball stuff going on, I was not sure when Michael and I would squeeze in the wedding. The best time seemed to be between the end of the WNBA season and the start of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. We chose November 5, 2005. I did not like the idea of having the wedding in one place, spending my wedding night in a hotel, and then leaving all our friends and family behind the next day, when we went off on our honeymoon. I wanted a one-stop wedding and honeymoon site.
We both really enjoy the outdoors, so we looked into Santa Barbara and some other areas where there was sun, water, and a beach. We love to be outside in warm weather. I thought, Let’s go to Maui. I had been there and thought it was really romantic. We could invite some select family and friends (Dionne was invited but did not attend), have the wedding and the reception there, and then stay on the island for ten days and live it up.
I had to prepare our entire wedding in about two months. I put together a guest list, mailed out invitations, and figured out all of the other details, including picking out dresses for my maid of honor (Tiffany) and two bridesmaids (Braquel and Karleen Thompson). And, of course, I had to find a wedding dress.
Michael had two groomsmen, and his stepfather was his best man. Since the wedding was in Maui, we thought it would be a great idea for everyone in the wedding to wear all white. Michael wore a white linen suit, and my dress was white chiffon. It was a really nice material that moved well and did not wrinkle easily. I found the dress that I liked in a magazine and then had Jhoanna of Élevée make it for me. She had done most of the clothes that I had worn for red-carpet events.
When the sun came up on the morning of the wedding, it was about as close to a perfect day as you could ask for. Michael asked only one thing of me. “Babe, just promise me that you won’t get stressed out. Whatever happens, just don’t get stressed out,” he pleaded. “If there is a problem or if something goes wrong, don’t worry about it. Just keep moving. We are going to have a great time.”
Thankfully, I was totally stress free throughout the entire wedding. The bridesmaids were on time. There were no “wardrobe malfunctions.” And our make-up and hair looked great. I did not have any problems. It was great. The wedding started about fifteen minutes late, but only because once I was all made up and in my gown, I had to hop into a golf cart to take me from my dressing area to the wedding site. That must have been quite a sight to see—a six-foot-five bride-to-be all dressed up and riding to her wedding in a golf cart.
When the wedding party was ready, a man blew a conch shell to announce our arrival. Tiki torches were lit, and Hawaiian dancers escorted us into the ceremony. Karleen walked in first, followed by Braquel and then Tiffany. Uncle Brainard walked me down the grassy aisle. He was the one that I had picked to give me away on behalf of all of my family. We had about eighty people there, and the ceremony was beautiful, the weather, too. It can get really hot in Maui, but we were very comfortable because there were a few clouds, which kept the sun from beating directly down on us.
As I started down the aisle, I spotted my husband-to-be. He was so tall that I could see him over the heads of all the people. Michael looked so handsome. Once I locked my eyes on him, I never stopped looking at him.
We had a wonderful pastor, who blessed us and read 1 Corinthians 13:13, which talks about faith, hope, and love, with love being the greatest of them all. Michael and I had read that scripture many times before, so it was significant that the pastor chose those very words to describe our love on our wedding day.
About a month before the wedding, I had given my engagement ring back to Michael because he needed it to get my wedding band. I felt weird without it, and I never saw the ring again until my wedding day, so when Michael put the ring on my finger, it was like seeing it for the first time. I loved it and even turned to give the crowd an approving look after Michael put it on my finger.
Michael had designed my ring, and I was thrilled with it. The ring was perfect. The ceremony went perfectly, and everything was perfect on our wedding day. Once Michael and I were officially declared husband and wife, his daughters—now our daughters—released doves. It was a wonderful sight to see, and then we walked off.
Our reception was terrific. People would ask me about my new husband, and I would tell them, “Michael is like me, but he’s a boy.” Seriously, at times it seems as though we are the same person. He is what I would be if I were a boy, and we are kind of like brother and sister. You may not always agree with your brother or sister, but you love them just the same. I think the great thing about my relationship with Michael is that we met at an ideal time for both of us. We bot
h had been in and out of relationships before, but we were single when we met, and we were really comfortable with ourselves. We were past the point of trying to impress. We each realized that we had to be ourselves. I also knew that our morals and values were also truly in line, so that made things much easier.
Our honeymoon was fabulous, and we were so glad that we had planned to have the wedding and the honeymoon in the same place. That way there were no hassles, no packing, and no flights to catch. We were very happy right where we were. Michael and I had a good time spoiling one another. For example, he knew that I loved to take baths, so he made sure that there were rose petals in the bathtub every night. It was a really nice touch and so thoughtful.
For the next several days, we rode bikes, drove around and explored the island, swam, and ate. We stopped at about ten different waterfalls and hiked several miles through rain forests. Michael would pick up a stick and take off all of the branches for me so that I would have a weapon just in case we saw some critters along the way. I felt like Moses with that huge stick in my hand.
On the other side of the island, we stayed at a bed-and-breakfast place that Michael had found online. It was a cute little cabin on a black sand beach. The coolest part about driving around Maui was that one side of it was so tropical and green, while the other side was completely dry. One side of the island was like Florida, and the other side was like Arizona. We were in awe of our surroundings and of each other. And we took pictures of just about everything we saw. But here is the thing about honeymoons and pictures: the great part is that there are just the two of you, and the bad part is that there are just the two of you. Michael and I wound up taking a lot of pictures of each other and holding the camera at arm’s length to snap a picture that we hoped would have both of us in the frame. But I could not complain. I finally had the man of my dreams all to myself.
Chapter 15
Retirement or Russia?
My family life was going really well now, but I knew that after my disappointing 2005 WNBA season I needed to find a way to get back on top of my game. I thought if I went overseas, it would really give me time to focus on my skills, so I signed to play for Spartak, a team that played in Moscow during the winter as part of the Russian Basketball Federation. I had not played overseas professionally since Italy in 1995. That had been a very lonely experience for me, so I had vowed at that time not to play pro ball outside the United States again unless I could take a husband with me. Well, I had a husband now, and Michael was happy to come along. He took a leave of absence from flying so in January of 2006, he and I made the trip from LAX to Moscow.
You already know how much this California girl dislikes cold weather. I was really concerned about the frigid temperatures in Russia, so I took a lot of thermals with me. When we arrived in Moscow, the ground was covered with snow, but my new team had flowers waiting for me, and a driver was there to take Michael and me to our home. In fact, we had a driver for our entire stay in Moscow, and that was great. Whenever I had to go anywhere, I could stay nice and warm in the car and then dash into the gym or the store, so I never had to be outside in the cold for more than thirty to forty seconds at a time.
The most surprising thing to me about Russia was how much it had changed since I had been in St. Petersburg with USA Basketball back in 1994. At that time, Russia was under Communist rule, and the hammer was really down. The city was all gray. The people did not smile, and they did not seem happy at all. On this trip, though, there were all kinds of colors in Moscow. I know it sounds weird, but color was the thing that stood out the most to me. The buildings had color, and people were wearing bright shades of pink, orange, and green.
The other huge change was in our gym facility. I was surprised at how nice Spartak’s gym was, and it actually had heat! Our home court was DS Vidnoe. It was comparable to one of the small college or high school gyms in America. The arena seated about two thousand people, but it was a quality facility, and it was warm. I was surprised and happy about that, because it meant that I did not have to practice in sweats, a scarf, a headband, and a beanie. I could warm up for practice in my sweats and then take them off as the workout progressed.
My accommodations were much improved from my first trip to Russia as well. Spartak had set me up in a two-story house that was nice and warm. When I was there for the Goodwill Games in 1994, it was so cold that we had to sleep in our clothes. They would not turn on the heat until 5 PM, and then they turned it off at midnight. So, it was really nice to be in Moscow in 2006 and to have a really nice home and a new, warm arena to play in.
My new teammates were very welcoming, and there were some familiar faces from the WNBA on the Spartak team. Ticha Penicheiro, whose Sacramento Monarchs had knocked the Sparks out of the playoffs the past two years, was on my team, and so were Crystal Robinson and Linda Froehlich from the New York Liberty. When Tamika Catchings, of the Indiana Fever, and my former Sparks teammate Gordana Grubin joined us along the way, I had several English-speaking teammates, and that was a real plus.
I liked Spartak’s team president, Shabtai Kalmanovic. He was a unique man and very wealthy. He also loved women and liked to touch and caress his players. I gave him a nickname: Papa san. I was the only person that called him Papa san; I wanted something with “Papa” in it to make it doubly clear that I did not want him to touch me or be disrespectful to me. The “san” part sounded a little exotic and reminded me of what younger people sometimes call their wiser elders. I told Papa san that I wanted to be treated as if I were his own daughter. After that, he was very respectful, and we got along great. Papa san was extremely intelligent, so I talked with him about buying and selling gold and silver, investing in the stock market, and opening a European bank account. I learned a lot from him, but I never forgot what I was there to do: improve my game.
I had four things to work on in Russia: my turnaround jump shot, field goal percentage, offensive rebounding, and free throw shooting. Working on those skills proved an interesting task because of the unusual practice sessions that we had with Spartak. We practiced twice a day, and the first session was called Tac, Tac, Tac!! We would get a ladder, lay it across the floor, and work on quick foot movements. We would run in and out of the ladder, and that was pretty much all that we did through the hour-long practice. We would go through all the foot drills, then lift weights and work on agility. When that was done, we would go home for a while and then return to the gym around five or six o’clock for our second workout of the day. That session lasted about sixty to ninety minutes, so we only got very limited time to actually practice on the basketball court.
Spartak had a trainer named Virgus who loved to be in control of the girls. After each practice he would tell everyone to take off their shoes and run two laps in their socks. I was thinking, Dude! We don’t really do this in the United States. Why are we barefoot? He seemed to think that this was good for our feet, so I tried it the very first day and decided right away that I would never do it again. I ran only in my Nikes from then on.
I thought our practices were way too short, too. Our team would run up and down the court about three times, and then everything else we did was half-court. I worried that as a team, we were not in great shape, so when our workouts were over, I put in extra time running wind sprints or the stairs. I felt that I had to do what was best for me. It was very important for me to get in better shape.
The Russians did not work nearly as hard as we did in the WNBA, and their rules were a little different, but they were very skilled in offensive play. Overall, the league was extremely physical, especially away from the ball. For example, when the ball came off the rim, you could go over another player’s back to get the rebound. You can climb on your opponent, slap the ball out, or tip the ball over your opponent’s head. The Russians also did a whole lot of reaching, grabbing, and touching in their game. It was a real adjustment for me, and I got into a lot of foul trouble in my first few games over there. I could not get the opponents off of
me, and I could not get free to rebound when I played it my way, so I made some adjustments. I got more physical, and I learned how to tap the ball out and rebound with two hands. I came to understand that I really had to go after the ball, because if I did not, my opponents would just go over my back and take it away.
Trying to learn the language was difficult, too. Michael and I bought Russian vocabulary books and started to learn the alphabet. Every time that we rode in the car, we would try to say words that we would see on the signs along the way. I learned some words and some phrases, but learning the Russian language was like solving a puzzle.
When I was not playing basketball, I spent a lot of time at a place called the Ramstore (in English). It was an Internet café, and Michael and I would go there to check our mail and pay our bills. There was also a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a McDonald’s, a Sbarro Italian restaurant, and a Pizza Hut. I really enjoyed eating at those places, but I also got into doing some serious cooking of my own while we were in Russia. I had always liked to cook, but had never had the time. In Moscow, it was painfully cold outside, so I decided to pick up my old hobby again. I called home and got a lot of my mom’s and my grandma’s recipes and cooked up a storm. Macaroni and cheese, cabbage, sweet potatoes, fried chicken, hot wings with different sauces, cake—these were some of the foods that I had always wanted to make, and now I was able to. The dish that I was most proud of making was gumbo, my husband’s favorite. In fact, I called Michael’s mom to get the recipe so that I could fix it just the way he liked it.
To keep ourselves entertained, we watched DVDs of a few television series. TV was good company for the Lockwoods in Russia. We always looked forward to movie night, and believe me when I tell you that it was the most television that either of us had watched in years.
Michael and I also set some business goals while we were abroad. We read a lot about real estate and commercial real estate, and we decided that we would like to buy property, things like apartment buildings and strip malls. Basically, we set goals regarding how much money we wanted to make in the next ten years. Our focus right now as a couple is to be diligent with God’s money, to replenish it, and to make it grow tenfold. Our “alone” time in Russia turned out to be very productive, and it provided a nice balance to the new style of basketball that I was learning.