Ackerman

Val Ackerman: Thank you so much for coming. Let me first of all introduce to my far right Kirk Rimsnider from the Buick division of General Motors. We're going to be hearing from Kirk in a couple of minutes, he's really got the fun part. I want to take the chance while Kirk is here to thank General Motors for the incredible support they've given the WNBA. They've been with us all five years now and I can tell you that we are very proud for the league to be associated with such a prestigious company, one that has very much advanced not only the WNBA and women's basketball, but women's sports in general. So thank you Buick and thank you General Motors.

I think everyone knows the woman to my right, Lisa Leslie. You're going to hear from her, too.

Let me make a couple of remarks just to get this going. When you think about the phrase Most Valuable Player of the sport of basketball, a whole lot of things come to mind.

NBA.comTV's report on Lisa Leslie winning MVP: 28.8+ | ISDN+

First of all, you imagine a player of incredible accomplishment on the basketball court, a player who is truly at the top of her game, a player who sort of does it all, whether it be scoring, whether it be rebounding or playing good defense. There's really no part of the game that an MVP doesn't excel at. You imagine a player who has great leadership capabilities. She's the one whose players on her team most look up to, she's the one whose opposing team and opposing coaches most fear, and most center their game preparations around.

You imagine a player who has great intensity and determination; a player who has a real singularity of focus and commitment to the game of basketball; a player who has confidence, who has poise and most of all, a player who has heart. You imagine in many cases a player who has experienced setbacks, defeat, but they come out even stronger because of all of that. And ultimately when you think about MVP, you think about a player who knows how to win, who wants to win, and ultimately who does win.

When you think WNBA MVP in the year 2001 you think of Lisa Leslie, what a career, what a player, what a year. I'm not going to sit up here and recite of all the accomplishments and the statistics that Lisa has racked up this year, we have the press release up for all of that and everybody can see it.

But what I do want to do is take a minute -- this is even more important -- I want to speak about Lisa's place in the history of our sport. I really believe that in 25 or 50 years, when people look back on the early years of the WNBA, they're going to talk about some of the highlights. They're going to talk about the 1996 Olympic Team that set all of this in motion, that really served as the launching pad for the WNBA. They're going to talk about the great national teams at the turn of the century -- whether it be in 1998 or 2000, 2002, maybe 2004 -- that reaffirmed how dominant the U.S. was in international women's basketball competition and how it advanced the sport of women's basketball. They are going to talk about the first great stars of the WNBA and the great teams that they played for. They are going to talk about the players who went the extra mile to become part of the Herculean task of bringing a new sports league into being and along the way forever changing the way people look at women's athletes and the way they look at women's sports in general. And during all of this talk you are going to see that Lisa Leslie's name is very, very prominently mentioned because she's been part of each and every one of those things.

And so to me today's award is not only an acknowledgment of a spectacular season for a spectacular players, but it is also a validation of the many contributions that Lisa has made over the past several years to the game of basketball and to our sport and what she really represents to women's team sports as a whole.

I can tell you it is an incredible honor to have her as a part of the WNBA and it is a very great pleasure for me now to present the 2001 WNBA Most Valuable Player Award presented by Buick Rendezvous to Lisa Leslie.

Leslie

Leslie: Wow, thank you Val and thank you Kirk, I really do appreciate this trophy. It is very heavy.

I can't start without saying thanks to my teammates of course. Without them, I mean Tamecka Dixon came to me early in the season and she said, "Lisa this is going to be your year and I am going to make sure I get you the ball as much as I can."

And Ukari Figgs would come to me and make sure how she could get me that pass every time we run our slice play. And Rhonda Mapp came to me and said, "Lisa, I want to help make you MVP and I am going to push you every day at practice."

And Mwadi [Mabika] always trying to make me block her shot and telling me I can't get to her shot.

My teammates have totally prepared me for this moment and every day we worked hard in practice in hopes of me being MVP. And I say that seriously, my teammates said I was going to be the MVP this year and we worked hard everyday to make sure that I could be at my best. I am very thankful to them and the organization here at the Sparks. It has just been first class having the opportunity to play here in the STAPLES Center and just represent Los Angeles to the best of our abilities.

It has been a great and a long road to win the MVP because I started with my trainer, Adam Freidman back in November and we wrote down a mission statement of what my goals were going to be for this year. To be MVP was at the top of my list -- the MVP of the All-Star Game and the MVP of the WNBA. I have some tough competition with Tina Thompson and Yolanda Griffith and Katie Smith, and there are so many great players in this league, but that was my goal. And I set it and I worked hard with Coach [Michael] Cooper every day four days a week, ballhandling, shooting, jump shots, playing defense full court, getting out onto the track and the weight room. I put in a lot of hard work. I always say to kids that if you write down your goals and set them you can accomplish them.

It was a lot of hard work and I am thankful for receiving this award knowing that I actually put in a lot of hard work and knowing that my teammates and supporting cast that I have, have really helped me to be in the position to receive this award. I am thankful to be the recipient. And obviously Cynthia Cooper has had a lot of MVP awards. And my goal is just to win a WNBA Championship. To set a goal to be the cream of the crop of all the great players of the league is a great honor. And Val, I am very thankful and also to Buick because you guys chose me for this award, and I worked really hard and I am thankful. Thank you.

Kirk Rimsnider: Lisa, now I get the fun part. I think it is only appropriate that we recognize you with this 2002 Buick Rendezvous. The chief designer of the vehicle is a woman, Liz Wetzel. And as Val said, Buick and our 3,000 Buick dealers have been one of the original sponsors of the WNBA since the very first tip-off. So Lisa, I congratulate you. I recognize being from the Los Angeles area your dedication and hard work to receive this award. And by the way, great blocked shot on Friday night, it was spectacular. So on behalf of Buick and on behalf of the local Southern California Buick dealers, it is my pleasure to present Lisa Leslie with the 2002 Buick Rendezvous.