Had no idea that he was such a big influence on her game growing up. Pretty interesting stuff about halfway down through this article.
They followed Alexander Ovechkin and grew to love his game.
The Washington Capitals drafted Ovechkin with the No. 1 pick in 2004. The Russian's goals became highlights on "SportsCenter" and on local TV in a city that was more than 50% Black until 2011. He sat courtside at Georgetown men's basketball games when John Thompson coached and was active with the Fort Dupont Cannons, the continent's oldest youth hockey program for players of color. He even was featured in an Easterns Motors commercial and sang the jingle, "Easterns Motors, your job your credit." The NHL's all-time leading goal scorer became visible to Black audiences far beyond Washington, D.C.
"We taped our sticks the same as Ovechkin," [her brother] Bobby says. "We would try to mimic a lot of his stuff in a game. I couldn't do that, but Laila was able to do it. She would go through her legs."