0311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trumph | CODE Sports Basketball Why Lauren Jackson couldn't just walk away from basketball, with n Jackso after her unforg he etball icon tells Linda Pearce [ indacPearce @ tminread November? 2022. 12.400" Lauren Jackson remembers little beyond the bottle of bubbly her mum, Maree, brought to the Opals’ hotel to. celebrate the World Cup bronze medal. She does, however, recall a thought that entered her mind earlier on that unforgettable October afternoon, hitps:/lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketballiwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust walk-away sror-basketballwith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-iumphin... 1/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports It was the idea that she might just slip straight back into retirement. Which would mean abandoning her planned WNBL return ‘That was Saturday. By the time Jackson awoke in Sydney on the Monday, she was ready to get her battered 41 year-old body back on the court. Australia’s greatest-ever player confirmed as much ina don't-worry-Iil-be-right text message to relieved Southside Flyers head coach — and Opals assistant ~ Cheryl Chambers. But it had been tempting. Very. For, aside from a truly golden send-off, what better way to go out? Jackson's young sons, Harry and Lenny, had seen their famous mum an the podium after watching her remarkable 30-point, seven-rebound finale to her sixth World Cup, 24 years after the first. Jackson had lost 30kg en route to her Opals comeback, starting modestly with an NBL1 stint in her hometown. ‘She had ignored those who said she was Kidding herself, even though nothing more than getting fit enough to suit up for the local Albury Wodonga Bandits had been part of the original plan. Lure: Brad Newman .cksomis basketball comeback started wit So, given how beautifully that Opals comeback worked out, and despite the fact the Flyers’ deal had preceded her international selection, Jackson considered simply heading home to the NSW-Victorian border, to where the hitps:lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketballiwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust walk-away srom-basketballvith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-rumphin.... 2/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports happiest six years of her life — those spent as a working mum rather than a professional athlete ~ had been paused. “Oh, | was pretty close, | reckon. There was an element of, ‘Oh my God, | don't think | can do this. | don't think | can keep going,” she admits, acknowledging the Flyers’ understandable nerves over a potential backflip in the emotional World Cup aftermath. “| think everybody thought that Id pull the pin at that point. But | made a commitment and, if| can, 'm gonna follow through with it.” ‘The caveat is that Jackson's body could fail her at any time, given the state of her right knee, her extensive medical history, generally, from hip to Achilles to back, and the foot and other niggles that are still being managed carefully Indeed, asked to elaborate on exactly why she is back here, more than two decades after her debut last century asa teenage prodigy with the AIS, even Jackson struggles to explain “| don't know,” she laughs. " think it's more I'm back just because its just been a journey, it's been a ride and | just haventt broken yet, probably! "This is one of those times where it could be a what-if situation, What if | never did it? What if |wasn't courageous enough to do it, or whatever? Like, 'm going to do it. | got here, | trained, Im here, 'm gonna make the most of it. “Good, bad or ugly. | really don't care. Ive already created my legacy. I've got nothing to prove. The people know that whenever | get on the court 'm gonna give everything I've got.” But even with a body that she jokes keeps asking, Why are you doing this to me”, Jackson repeatedly insists that playing isn't the hard part. "it's the figuring out how the off-court stuff is gonna work. hitps:lwwn-codasports. com aulbasketballwhy lauren ackson-couldntust walk-away sror-basketball-vith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-rumphin.... 3/17oait1/2022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports Ee Jackson’ time atthe top stretches more than two decades. Six days before the round one tip-off against Adelaide at the State Basketball Centre, family plans have just been hastily rejigged, for the emotional toll has already become too great. The original idea was that five-year-old Harry and Lenny, three, would remain based largely with their grandparents in Albury, so that Harry could finish the school year before the move south for an extended summer stint. That changed after Lenny returned to Melbourne with his mum last weekend. The next day, straight after this interview, Jackson headed back up the Hume to Euroa — a regular meeting point around halfway to home — to collect Harry. ery time I leave, the kids are hysterical, and it's getting worse,” she says, before getting slightly and quietly emotional herselt. “I's hard. It's just too hard to keep leaving them and only seeing them once a week or whatever. So, yeah, they'll be here with me from now on, pretty much, ‘ven (on Sunday) driving back here and after everything with Harry in the afternoon, its too traumatising, being away from them, and they are everything to me. It’s not gonna work for me without the kids, so need’em here. They are gonna be here.” hitps:lwwn-codosports.com aulbasketballwhy lauren jackson-couldntust wak-away ror basketball-vith-wnbl-return-tc-follow-opals-umphin.... 4/17‘ositti2022, 23:51 ‘Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WINBL retum and Opals rumph | CODE Sports ‘Jackson with her two young sons, Harry and Len The other part of the juggle is the three-and-a-half days per week Jackson works as Head of Women in Basketball for Basketball Australia, whose base — not coincidentally — doubles as the Flyers’ Wantirna South HO. Both are supportive workplaces. None of this would be possible, otherwise. The more introverted Harry is old enough to understand that his mum isa pretty good basketballer, famous even, and to comprehend a fair bit of what's going on. “Harry gets it. | reckon about a year ago he started saying, That's Lauren Jackson, that’s my mum’. And Id be like, ‘Please don't ever do that again. Ever. Don't ever say that again’. Especially in Albury.” Jackson says, shaking her head, modestly. “But it reminds me of what I was like with my mum, because my mum (former Opals star Maree Bennie) was in the Australian team. “Harry wants to be around the courts. He loves being around the team and he wants to meet these girls so bad. | go to the gym at seven o'clock every morning, and he'll call and he'll be like ‘Mum, show me what weights youre lifting, what are you doing?’ He wants to be a part of it. He loves Aussie hoops. “Lenny’s probably a little bit too youna. He's only three, and he's gonna be very bia. Harry'll be my heiaht (195cm), | hitps:lwwn.codesports.com aulbasketbalwhy-iauren-ackson-couldn-just walk-away Srom-basketballvith-wnbl-retur-to-fallow-opals-riumphin.... 5/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports reckon. Yeah, this bloke is gonna be a monster! "He doesn't get it yet, but he knows basketball's important to mum. Clearly, a large part of what motivates Jackson is to be a visible example to her sons, just as she’s a role model to so many of her Flyers’ teammates. “She's a really proud mum and really connected and wants the boys to see a strong woman and see that a mum can do all these things,” says Chambers. Jackson's sons are starting to realise their mum is abig deal Current Flyer Abby Bishop, mother of nine-year-old Zala and Jackson's former Canberra Capitals and Seattle Storm championship-winning teammate, says she can only imagine how difficult the separation has been. “it’s a huge sacrifice, especially at this stage of her life. Now obviously things have changed and they're gonna both be here with us,” says Bishop. “We love Loz, and we can't wait for the boys to be around, too.” Bishop was far from alone in her disbelief upon learning that Jackson was back training again and monitoring whether her body could cope with a lower-level domestic return. Not surprised by the outcome, though, citing the "pure determination’ of a remarkable athlete. “Obviously it's amazing for the Southside Flyers but it's just huge for the whole league, especially after that momentum from the World Cup. Huge crowds, really successful campaign for the Opals — unbelievable to have her back in the WNBL, and especially on our team.” hitps:lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketbaliwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust wak-away-srom-basketballwith-wnblreture-tc-follow-opals-rumphin... 6/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports Arriving for the last half hour of Flyers’ training before this interview, there's no sign of an active Jackson during half-court work. It takes a moment to spot her on the massage table, with plenty of work going into her tight calves and sore feet. This is the way most sessions finish: early. Before the full-court scrimmage, and with treatment for the last 40-50 minutes. On this day, wincing occasionally, discussing various ailments in sometimes-colourful terms while still calling out in appreciation or encouragement for a good pass or a long three. World Cup related? I think just because I'm old and my body just hasn't been used to the loading and stuff,” she says. “So I think it’s more | have not played in eight years.” Coach Chambers says maximising Jackson's impact at the Flyers is dependent on load management, the banged up forward/centre having been forced into that first retirement back in early 2016. “When it started happening and people were saying, ‘Lauren Jackson's making a comeback,’ you're thinking, ‘Can she? How do you do that at 41 after having two babies and all those surgeries and whatever?” "But | guess if anyone's gonna do it, Lauren Jackson's gonna do it. It’s just a unique, beautiful story.” hitps:/lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketballwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust wakaway rom basketball-with-wnbl-reture-te-follow-opals-iumphin.... 7/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports Southside Flyers cot [CS sr “When I retired, that was it. | was done. People were like, ‘Oh, imagine if you didn't have your injury, imagine if you'd fought through and played through and | was like, 'No way, there's no way! "Because the last six years have been the best six years of my life. 've got my children, I've got my job, Ive got my life together, Im a much more well-rounded human than | ever was as an athlete. And I've been home with them. “So, no, there was never any consideration that Id ever play again, and when this started, this journey, | never imagined it could get me back to this point, ever. Had the World Cup not eventuated, the plan was to graduate from NBL! to the Flyers via what needed to be the “perfect deal’ in terms of facilitating all her professional and personal needs, Perfect, in the end, was what it was. “Alot of people were, Well, what about Canberra,” says the Capitals’ four-time title winner. “And | was like, ‘Well, Im ina different phase of my life, and | have a job in Melbourne so it actually makes sense for me to be inthe place where | can train, | can go straight to work, | can do my meetings’. “Im not a professional athlete any more. I'ma single mum who's working, who also plays basketball. So that's the difference now, and while my body holds out | want to try and make the most of it. It's not gonna last forever, and IIljust enjoy it while | can.” Why is @laurenej15 back in the #WNBL? This is why! 87° 8¥" pic.twitter.com/NgroXOzRP1 — CODE Basketball (@codebballau) November 2, 2022 Flyers general manager and 1980 world championship team member Tracey Browning was among a group of former Opals who attended the FIBA Women's World Cup and, on day two, tried to buy some Jackson singlets bearing the No.25. All sold out. That prompted some urgent re-stocking and, eventually, a stadium packed with boys and girls wearing the name of a champion whose prime years they were too young to know. Not so surprising, though, when you think about it. At least not for Browning. “She's the bloody GOAT, isn't she? Everybody loves her. It was just one of those normal things that people were gonna buy a Lauren Jackson shirt. The 10-year-old and the 12-year-olds now are the second generation of kids that she's inspired. It’s just awesome.” Browning and friends were all in tears after the bronze playoff, for it meant so much that Jackson was given a belated international send-off, on her terms, after all she had achieved and endured. “To be able to see her shine hitps:lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketballwhy lauren ackson-couldnt ust walkaway ror basketballvith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-rumphin... 8/17oait1/2022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports like that in her last ever game for the Opals, that’s up there as one of the best sporting moments I've ever witnessed.” with the triple Olympic silver medallist, London 2012 flag And also right at the top of Jackson's highlights bearer and 2006 world champion describing it as one of the best moments of her career. nceriGetty Imag ‘Jackson has achieved almost everything basketball has to offer Pi People say, Where does this stand?’ And with the journey and with my kids there and who | am as a person now makes it so much better than I've ever experienced in my career.,” she says. “So, yeah, its unreal.” Yet for all the people who said NBL1 was as far as the all-time great would get, there was no desire to disprove the doubters, on the basis that an Opals return was never the point of something that started in the gym, and will continue there, regardless, “because it’s made my body and my knee a million times better” Still, when she looks in the mirror, Jackson does not see a normal right leg. Just one that is nothing like her left - which she jokes is waiting to say “nah’, and finally give out, one last time. So | don't look like an athlete any more, and | don't feel like it either,” Jackson says. "Because | can't do what everybody else can do. Playing, that’s the easy part. Its the training... |am doing the training, but | can't do what | used to be able to do.” hitps:lwwn-codasports. com aulbasketballwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust wak-away sror-basketballvith-wnbl-reture-tc-fllow-opals-rumphin.... 9/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports She is not frustrated by that, however, just grateful for every moment she can still get. Nor is there a legacy to tarnish; just one on which to build, "At the World Cup | was playing two or three or four minutes a game. | don't really care. For me, I've already proved everything I needed to prove, and | think my legacy's probably evolved after that, "So, nuh, 'm not worried about that at all, 've already proven who | am and what | am to the sport.” Jacksons right leghas received Browning says the club already refers to Jackson's impact as “The LW Effect”. Memberships are up, as is interest, with confidence there will be a flow-on bums-on-seats benefit, too. A recent, unadvertised, practice match in Dandenong drew full stands that it's hoped will be replicated around the nation, Chambers’ said the club's thinking has been that if Jackson can play nine international games in 11 days in Sydney, then she can manage, usually, one each week for her club. "She's not a 29-year-old Lu’, her physical capabilities arentt as good, but she's strong, she's really strong,” says the coach. "You sawit in that bronze medal game, that was ‘Lu!’ of old. hitps:/lwwn-codesports.com aulbasketballiwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust wakaway-sror-basketballwith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-iumphi.... 10/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports "So | think in essence there's a lot of the old ‘Luin her but it would disrespectful to that old ‘Lu’ to say it would be exactly the same. She can still shoot the crap out of the ball. A three-point shot, if she's open and feet set, it’s pretty much going in, and those things are what have made her a unique player.” Chambers says while there is no threat to her legacy, the “brave” comeback is not something many others sharing her realm of greatness would have attempted, given there's more to potentially lose than to win, ‘Jackson was pivotal tothe Opals’ bronze medal win. Picture: Wiliam W ‘She knows that she's coming back as a 4l-year-old and she's not going to be around forever, so | think she's just, trying to soak it up.” she says. “She's a beautiful human, she loves basketball, she’s just a competitor, and wants to do well.” There will be some trial and error around how best to use her high-profile recruit, Chambers admits, but after the post-World Cup “offload” has come the ‘reload’ for a player the coach promises will bea prime mover, she won't be just sitting on the bench, that’s for sure” Whether this is a one-off WNBL encore, which is likely, or there is more to come, we shall see. Jackson is in the middle of explaining her reluctance to declare this to be the last dance, definitively — given she had started out this year expecting to go no further than Albury, and look what's happened since — when an art wielding Lenny dashes past to present his latest masterpiece to a suitably-enthused Sara Blicavs. hitps:lwwn-codesports.com aulbasketballiwhy lauren ackson-couldnt ust walkaway srom-basketballvith-wnblreture-tc-follow-opals-rumphi.... 11/17sit1/2022, 2351 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL relum ané Opals trumph | CODE Sports, Returning to her reasoning after smiling in her son's direction, Jackson says any future commitments are dependent on both her body and her kids, for there is much to consider in this family affair that has now moved on past that precious World Cup bronze. "Straight after the game | texted my mum and | was like, ‘I don't know what the hell just happened.’ She was like ‘Nah, neither do we', Then they came back to the hotel and mum bought me a bottle of wine and its the last thing | remember.” The Jackson family has had plenty to celebrate across Lauren’ career. Champagne, actually, she clarifies. Enjoyed it, too. Lauren, in turn, has shouted Maree and dad Gary an end-of-season thank you trip to Hamilton Island, and for as much as they might “quite possibly’ be regretting their pledge to see this whole thing through, Jackson also knows her greatest supporters are quietly loving seeing their daughter fit and content and playing again. In front of her own children, this time. 'm getting back to a place where I'm really happy with my body again, and I'm on the court and my kids are seeing me play, and they're around the courts,” says Jackson. “That's stuff that they'll cherish for the rest of their lives.” Shortly afterwards, this morning in south-east Melbourne ends with Australia’s most decorated basketballer striding off to prepare for the drive to Euroa, one son on her hip and the other to collect. hitps:/lwwn-codosports.com aulbasketballiwhy lauren ackson-couldnt ust walk-away-srom-basketballvith-wnbl-reture-te-follow-opals-iumphi.... 12/170311112022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trump | CODE Sports With a sixth WNBL triumph also in her sights. Whatever else follows. Or doesn't. “rd love to win the championship with the Flyers, just for everything they're doing for me and the kids,” she adds, “Look, I'm fully committed to this team, and | can't wait to be on the court and playing with them. "When you're in something you're in it "And Im in it Afinallstin the 2021 Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist ofthe Year Award, Linda Pearce isa Melbourne-based s 1 and digital media, including 23 years at The Age. One of the frst women in Australia t swtter with more than ree decades experience across newspapers, ma cover VFLIAFL and cricket, she has won media awards across a range of sports - including internationally. asthe recipient of the ATP's 2015 Ron Bookman Media Excellence Award. A tennis specialist who has reported from over 80 major tournament ng 13 Wimbledons, Linda has aso covered two Olympic and two Commonwealth Games, plus multiple world championships in gymnastics and aquatics and five Netball World Cups. V eLindacrearce BH Linda Pearce oo More related stories hitps:lwwn-codasports.com aulbasketballwhy lauren jackson-couldnt ust walk-away-sror-basketballwith-wnblreture-te-follow-opals-rumphi.... 13/17ositt2022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WINBL retum and Opals rumph | CODE Sports 36ers add to Illawarra’s pain without Randall Iiawarra remsin glued tothe bottom of the NAL ladder with Adelaide adding merit to their championship cr at Wollengang’s WIN Entertainment Centre ential, levelling their season recora Bogut's big statement on LeBron over Jordan Aussie basketball legend Andrew Bogut has long been a Jordan-over-LeBron in the GOAT rankings advacate. It appears thats all changed. Read why in the Logue Down, hitps:lwwn-codesports.com aulbasketballwhy-laurenjackson-couldntust wakaway-sror-basketballvith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-iumphi.... 14/17ositt/2022, 23:51 ‘Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WINBL retum and Opals rumph | CODE Sports Nash gone, but Nets disaster continues Fromits poor start to Kyrie Irving the list of Brooklyn Nets problems is long, The fring of Steve Nash and likely hiring of Ime Udoks only adds to that lst writes GREG JOYCE, Naa Steve Nash was least of Brooklyn Nets’ problems Whatever is wrong withthe Nets, and there is plenty- disaster doesnt feel like an adequate rendering for this chronically chaotic outfit itis not principally the ding of Stove Nash, writes JASON GAY, hitps:lwwn-codesports.com aulbasketballwhy lauren jackson-couldntust wakaway ‘ror basketballvith-wnbl-reture-tc-follow-opals-riumphi.... 15/17oait1/2022, 23:51 Lauren Jackson on basketball comeback, WNBL return ané Opals trumph | CODE Sports NBA stock watch: Return of real Russell Westbrook Russell Wi whose stoc oki finally sifting the n ve, while the Clippers’ depend yon Kaw are rising and whose ate falling in the NBA NBA insiders have defending champs as rank outsiders ast season, the Golden State Warriors gat to shut up alt f ther critics. 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