Lisa Leslie, the face of women’s basketball for nearly two decades, will be calling it a career at the end of the 2009 WNBA season.

The veteran L.A. Sparks center made the announcement in May.

She has been with the Sparks since the WNBA opened play in 1997 and will finish her career as the franchise and league’s career leader in points and rebounds. Leslie has 6,010 points and 3,170 rebounds, averages of 17.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

A three-time league MVP and two-time finals MVP, as well as four-time Olympic gold medalist, Leslie, 36, is the WNBA’s most decorated player. She has also been All-WNBA first team eight times and twice the league’s defensive player of the year.

“I’m really excited about the next chapter of my life,” she said. “I’ve been on an amazing jorney that isn’t over yet, and feel blessed to have been able to play the sport that I love.

“My goal has been to bring people together and bring smiles to their faces. I’ve had the opportunity to do that. I’m happy to have the opportunity and platform to be a role model to boys and girls and I hope to continue to be a role model in the future.”

“No one player has been as dominant in all aspects of women’s basksetball for as long as Lisa Leslie,” Sparks co-owner Kathy Goodman said. “”She has achieved just about everything there is to achieve in the sport.”

A Southern California native, Leslie had a brilliant prep career at Morningside High School, followed that by earning All-American honors at USC.

She averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game during a career in which she led the Trojans to an 89-31 record.