LOS ANGELES -- Lisa Leslie will miss the WNBA season because
the three-time league MVP is pregnant with her first child.
The 35-year-old Leslie is due in June, when the season will
already be underway.
"I will be cheering my teammates on," she said Thursday, when
it was announced Lakers owner Jerry Buss had sold the team to
season-ticket holders Kathy Goodman and Carla Christofferson.
Leslie, who married pilot Michael Lockwood in 2005, said the
couple doesn't yet know the baby's sex.
"I've been working out," she said. "I haven't been sick."
Leslie, a three-time Olympic gold medalist as a U.S. national
team stalwart, plans to return in 2008.
"I want to play in the Olympics," she said.
She led the Sparks to championships in 2001 and 2002 -- the same
season she became the first WNBA player to dunk in a game. The
Sparks' court at Staples Center is named for her.