Basketball 2022: FIBA Women’s World Cup news and updates; Lauren Jackson frightens rivals
Regarded as the best Australian basketballer of all time, Lauren Jackson’s comeback hasn’t gone unnoticed, with the world wary of her likely influence at the FIBA Women’s World Cup.
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From Albury to America, highlights of Lauren Jackson’s comeback have gone global with the USA wary of the 41-year-old superstar ahead of this week’s FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Clips of Jackson dominating for home club Albury Wodonga in the NBL1 East conference went viral on social media over the past few months and have caught the eye of the world basketball powerhouse including squad member Kahleah Copper.
The 28-year-old Chicago Sky guard was drafted to the WNBA in 2016, the year Jackson retired.
“Wow. I mean I could never have imagined this, growing up watching the WNBA and seeing Lauren dominate and win championships,” she said.
“I saw her comeback, some things on Twitter and social media.
“I’ve never seen her play live. This is special and to be in Australia for my first time is definitely lit.”
The awe extends to Copper’s national teammate Jewell Loyd who is carving out a great career at Seattle where Jackson was an icon and had her famous No. 15 singlet retired.
Loyd currently plays with Aussies Ezi Magbegor and Steph Talbot at the Storm and was a crucial part of their 2020 WNBA championship with Magbegor and Sami Whitcomb.
“Her comeback is unbelievable. I was able to get to know Lauren a little bit, she came to Seattle (recently) and we hung out and talking with her was mind blowing,” she said.
JUST ðŸ THINGS.@laurenej15's insane comeback continued today, dropping 32 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to help the Albury Bandits advance to tomorrow's @NBL1 East Grand Final.
— The NBL (@NBL) August 27, 2022
Catch the legend going for another 🆠at 1:30pm AEST live on @kayosportspic.twitter.com/WzeTXRH9hw
“Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and I were like ‘we’re sitting in a room with Lauren Jackson!’ Yeah, we have Sue Bird over here but that’s Lauren Jackson right there.
“Lauren loves the game so much, her IQ, her passion has never wavered
“I’m excited to see it, I’m excited to watch and be part of it.
“We’re part of history, this is unbelievable.”
USA is set to name its team on Tuesday, 48 hours out from its opening game, because of a surprise twist in the best-of-five WNBA Finals after Connecticut Sun bounced back from two early defeats on Friday to force its series with Las Vegas Aces to a fourth game.
Aces trio Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and freshly crowned league MVP A’ja Wilson are among USA squad members competing for the championship.
A squad of 12 players arrived in Australia last week, headlined by 2018 World Cup MVP Stewart, and have been training and participating in Test Events over the past few days.
The USA have won their past 22 World Cup games dating back to 2010 and will be led in Sydney by new coach Cheryl Reeve.
Reeve said there’d been uncertainty among preparations.
“All those who are candidates to make the final roster, everyone knows what lies ahead and we think it’s really important that they focus on what they’re doing and trying to accomplish and that’s a championship.
“When that’s over and the confetti falls, we’ll be in touch and get them up to speed.”
USA tip off the tournament on Thursday against Belgium with the Opals launching their campaign that night against France.
Secret weapon in Aussie GOAT’s ‘terrifying’ comeback
The final buzzer sounded when Lauren Jackson turned to an Opals teammate and it just came gushing out: “This is so much f--king fun!”
Australia’s greatest basketballer, in limited minutes, scored an equal game-high 12 points in the Opals’ 81-51 practice match win over Puerto Rico last week.
In real terms, the result counts for nothing before the Opals’ FIBA World Cup opener against France in Sydney on Thursday.
“I finished the game and I remember looking at someone and I just said, “this is so much f--king fun, this is so fun!” she told News Corp.
“And that’s what’s always sustained me in my basketball career, I just love the game.
“It doesn’t matter what place I’m in physically, emotionally or mentally, when I get to go out there and play, I’m free. It’s just so much fun.
“I love being competitive, I love firing up. I love all that stuff.”
One onlooker who saw Jackson in action against Puerto Rico said the moment the Opals legend stepped on the court the game changed.
“They (Puerto Rico) were terrified of Lauren,” the onlooker said.
Put that down to her size, presence, intimidation, natural scoring ability in the paint and from long range, and one massive reputation.
Jackson’s transformation from six years in retirement to rebuilding her battered body to become the Opals X-factor started back in May with her hometown Albury Wodonga in NBL1 where she would win a championship and MVP.
In her remarkable five-month journey she had a secret weapon in her tight support team – close friend, former Seattle Storm teammate and one of the greatest players of all time in Sue Bird.
Bird, 42 next month, who retired last week from Seattle Storm, has been a great support for Jackson with voice memos, texts and phone calls at all hours of the day and night over the past six months.
“A lot of self-doubt crept in, especially when the Opals came up and I was going into camp and Sue was a constant source of support,” Jackson said.
“She’s my age, she knows where I’ve come from and she’s still playing herself. She’s that logical human who has an answer for everything. That’s had a huge impact on me and really resonated.
“All those conversations impacted me. She would check in on how I went in games, see how my body was feeling and if my groin was hurting or my knee was playing up it would be something simple like, ‘When you get to our age if you have a couple of days off that’s a good thing, sometimes that’s all you need’.
“And Sue was right, because the minute something flares up I immediately go to the worst-case scenario because of my injury history and how my career ended. There’s been a lot of trauma brought up throughout this comeback process for me and Sue has seen pretty much all of it throughout my career.
“Being able to have those conversations, being able to be emotional and vulnerable with her and having that confidant has been really, really instrumental.”
Jackson was an unstoppable force at her peak and while she is older and cannot do everything she once did, she believes she can play a role.
Her team-first ethos has already had a big influence on the Opals in camps and lead-up games.
“I’ve said to Sandy (Opals coach Sandy Brondello) and to everyone, I’ll do whatever is asked of me,” she said.
“I know I’m not who I was as an athlete any more, but I know I can contribute. I know I’ll play defence, I know I’ll bump people in the lanes and I know I’ll knock down the occasional three.
“Who knows how it will go, but the one thing I do know is I’ll go out there and give it my best.”
Jackson has represented her country with distinction and the honour is not lost on her every time she pulls on the colours of her nation.
She was captain of the Australian team that in 2006 won the country’s first senior basketball gold medal, at the World Cup in Brazil, and six years later carried the Australia flag at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
“I’m so proud of being Australian. I love our country, I love putting the green and gold on,” she said.
“For me there is no greater honour than representing Australia, so to be able to do it in a World Cup in my own state, let alone in my own country, it’s super special.”
Jackson will have a profound impact but what she has already achieved within her extraordinary comeback will be part of her legacy forever.
Her presence will lift her Opals teammates, intimidate the opposition, many of whom will have grown up idolising the Australian superstar, and inspire a new generation.
“I’ve only been back playing since May, it’s crazy. I’m still putting the pieces together,” she said.
“I can’t help but think the bubble has to burst at some point, so there’s this level of, ‘don’t get too swept up in it’, but then every now and then the emotion creeps through and I’m a little bit of a wreck.
“To do it at 41, when I’ve got two kids, my family is healthy. I can’t ask for much more.
“It’s a fairy tale and, for me, it is.”
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