Brady, Federer, Williams and ‘Loz’: How Lauren Jackson joined this exclusive list

NFL superstar and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady finally called it quits – for the last time – aged 45. Tennis legend Roger Federer was 41 when he announced his time was up, although he had not played a tournament by that point for more than a year. Serena Williams was 41 with 23 grand slam trophies in her keeping when she confirmed she was stepping away from a sport she had pursued since the age of two.

Essendon great Dustin Fletcher was 40 when he retired in 2015. Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired at age 42 in 1989, and a man who has joined him on the Mount Rushmore of basketball greats, LeBron James, is playing some of the best basketball of his decorated career at 39. In cricket, England’s Jimmy Anderson has just become the first seam bowler to take 700 Test wickets. He’ll be 42 in July and is in no hurry to retire.

Opals great Lauren Jackson is still going strong and has been instrumental in the Southside Flyers’ run to the WNBL grand final.Credit: Getty Images

To watch 42-year-old Lauren Jackson pour in game-high points (38), rebounds (11) and two assists in 33 minutes last Wednesday to lead the Southside Flyers into the Women’s National Basketball League grand final series not only reprised memories of her 30-point, seven-rebound effort that led the Opals to victory in the 2022 World Cup bronze-medal play-off, but proved that Father Time can be tamed – albeit temporarily.

She backed this up with a team-high 21 points and six rebounds in the game one loss to the Perth Lynx on Sunday. Jackson’s Flyers now head to Perth, hoping to keep the best-of-three series alive on Thursday night.

The meticulous work Jackson and the Flyers staff, including coach Cheryl Chambers have done, ensuring the 196-centimetre forward is physically fine at the most important time of the season, is there to see.

“It’s been a season, a lesson of persistence, patience, and process, really. When I came into training camp, I hadn’t done any one-on-one or five-on-five or anything like that because I was coming off my ruptured Achilles and broken foot,” Jackson told this masthead.

“I was hellbent on playing as many minutes as I could to try and get myself back into game-shape. And Cheryl was like, no. She was trying to protect me right from day dot. I just found it really hard initially to get my flow because I was being held back; held back for my own good.

“Getting my timing and confidence and everything post last year, those injuries definitely took a mental toll on me. Like I said, it’s just been a process. I have been able to get my timing back, I have been able to do more shooting now, and been able to work on things that are more my game. I guess, the back half of the season, I have just gotten better and better.”

Brady was famously meticulous about his diet, while Federer embraced routine, discipline and life on the road, once having his team learn Mandarin in his Shanghai hotel suite.

Jackson returned this season more physically streamlined. Her ruptured Achilles, coming in last season’s showcase game at John Cain Arena, meant she missed the Flyers run to the 2022-23 grand final series, where they lost to the Townsville Fire.

Unlike other sporting greats, “LJ, “Loz” or the “GOAT”, as she is known, says she doesn’t have any quirks. Rather, her two young boys, Harry, 7, and Lenny, 5, keep her busy.

“No, I have two children, my life basically revolves around those two,” Jackson said.

Straight after last week’s semi-final win in Melbourne, Jackson’s attention turned straight to her children.Credit: Getty Images

Leg massages are important, but she said a recent lift on training restrictions had been pivotal.

“For me, it’s just being able to get out and shoot, and I am able to do that at the moment, whereas before I couldn’t,” Jackson said.

“They were monitoring everything I did, so my body has just got back to a point physically. I lift a lot, a lot of weights, just to stay as strong as I can.”

Jackson watched her legendary former Seattle teammate, and great friend Sue Bird play 20 seasons in the WNBA, retiring only last year aged 41, but she has no finishing date in mind for her own career – yet.

“It was funny. After we lost to Melbourne (in game one of the semi-final series), I remember thinking to myself: ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we lost and that was it for me, after I had started playing well again’. But we won, thank God,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s array of moves, including knockdown threes, and her patented fade from the low block reinforced why she is arguably Australia’s greatest basketball product. And that’s a gold-plated list which includes Andrew Gaze, Luc Longley, Andrew Bogut, Penny Taylor, Ben Simmons, Patty Mills and Josh Giddey.

Jackson has done it all, although an Olympic gold medal (there have been silver medals, and gold at the 2006 world championships) is unfinished business. There have been two WNBA championships and five WNBL championships, with a sixth WNBL title now a distinct possibility.

Chambers said the plan was always to have a fit and healthy Jackson for the play-offs.

“We are going to try and look after her body. We have slowly loaded. It was always about this end of the season, not the start of the season,” she said.

Jackson is also destined for selection in the Opals squad for the Paris Olympics – which would be her fifth Games, and 12 years after her last.

Basketball Australia will allow her to travel with her two boys, giving her the peace of mind she craves. The squad will be announced later this month.

If the Flyers can win game two of the WNBL finals series in Perth on Thursday night (9.30pm AEDT), the deciding third game will be played at the Melbourne Sports Centre on Sunday at a time that is yet to be confirmed.

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