Los Angeles Sparks Jersey worn by Lisa Leslie: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 1999 Lisa Leslie game worn WNBA Los Angeles Sparks jersey. The purple jersey has teal straps and a yellow trim. There is a black horizontal stripe (memorial band) on the proper left shoulder. The stripe starts on the yellow neckline and goes to the edge of the sleeve. There is a white [SPARKS] logo on the front, across the chest. The logo has a yellow outline and a white, yellow, and teal design coming out of the top of the [K]. There is a white number [9] with a yellow outline under the team’s name. A blue, white, and red WNBA logo is above the first letter [S] in [Sparks]. There are tags on the bottom of the jersey on the proper left side. The larger label is white, purple, teal, yellow, orange, and black. It reads [LOS ANGELES / SPARKS] and [DESIGNED & TAILORED BY / Champion / EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE / LOS ANGELES SPARKS / 1999]. There are four orange and white basketball illustrations, and there is a red, white, and blue WNBA logo. The second label is white with a red and blue Champion logo. The jersey is rounded at the bottom and goes up a bit higher on the two sides. The yellow side panels are mesh.

The back of the jersey is teal on the top and reads [LESLIE] in white. The center of the back of the jersey is purple with a white number “9” with a yellow outline. The jersey has a few loose threads at the edges.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1999
• Manufactured by: Champion, American, founded 1919
• Worn by: Lisa Deshaun Leslie, American, born 1972
• Subject of: Los Angeles Sparks, American, founded 1997
• Subject of: Women’s National Basketball Association, American, founded 1996
• Type: jerseys
• Type: sports uniforms
• Medium: synthetic fiber with cotton
• Dimensions: H x W: 32 × 17 in. (81.3 × 43.2 cm)
• Place depicted: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Basketball
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Sports
• Topic: U.S. History, 1969-2001
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2016.92.7
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Los Angeles Sparks Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.