The WNBA legend made the special announcement in honor of Small Business Hero Day. Leslie, alongside Intuit QuickBooks and Intuit Mailchimp, presented three mom-and-pop shops with financial support at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

"It actually gives me great pride to be able to tell your stories," she said during the event. "It really warms our heart and inspires us."

Leslie -- who said she is a small business owner herself -- compared running one to being a basketball player.

"You got to have an amazing team, you hope to have great teammates, you have to be able to show up and rely on each other to have a clear vision on where you want to go."

"It takes a lot of grit, hard work, tenacity and a lot of discipline in order for us to be successful. You also have to be very resilient to have an amazing business."

Perry's Joint, BJ's Nevada Barbeque and the Homeless Garden Project were told that they were finalists for Hero Day ... but Leslie dropped the surprise on them that they were actually the winners!!

They were selected from a large pool of submissions for their demonstration of courage, perseverance, and integrity while making an impact in their local communities of Pasadena, CA, Sparks, NV, and Santa Cruz, CA, respectively.

As you would expect, the winners were very grateful -- with of the Garden Project almost being moved to tears when the $20k hit her hands.

Congrats everyone!!!