On the front page of the New York Times: Lisa Leslie, the Face of the W.N.B.A., Prepares for Life After Basketball

When Lisa Leslie was growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Compton, she had an idea that she was destined to be special. She kept signing “Lisa Leslie” on paper all around her family’s house from the time she was 7.

“My mom would always ask me, Why am I signing my name everywhere?” said Leslie, who was 6 feet tall in sixth grade. “I said, ‘Because I want to give out autographs.’ I just told her I was going to be famous.”

Leslie reached 6-5 and stopped growing, but her talent did not. And she indeed became famous.