No-action Jackson: Legend’s fifth medal comes the Ezi way as Opals claim bronze

Basketball is blizzarded in statistics, so one more won’t hurt. Of the 10,500 athletes in Paris for the Olympics, roughly 17 per cent were born after Lauren Jackson first suited up in the Games in 2000. They include two teammates with whom she shared a bronze medal on Sunday in a furiously fought out win over Belgium.

Jackson thus became the first Australian to win medals at five Olympics. The asterisk in that stat is that she missed two Olympics, one when injured, the other while retired and having children, and they are the only two Games in her time in which Australia did not win a medal.

Lauren Jackson wasn’t required on court against Belgium but was part of the Opals team that won the bronze medal.Credit: Eddie Jim

At least one Paris Olympian, a Chinese skateboarder, was born after Jackson retired for the first time.

Perhaps the only thing Australia’s greatest basketballer doesn’t do well is retire, but surely at 43 she is out of time-outs?

“I’ve been told that I have to say,” she said enigmatically, “that I’m just going to celebrate today.”

Jackson mark I was the world’s best basketballer for a while.

Jackson mark II has been as much a moral force as palpable.

In this tournament, she played just 20 minutes and scored six points. In the bronze-medal match, she sat on the bench throughout, her right leg wrapped not so much in a bandage as a casing, trying to make out that she was the one thing she can never be, just another player.

The Opals celebrate winning the bronze medal against Belgium.Credit: Getty Images

She’s a basketball treasure and so was handled with due care.

For her, this was the armchair ride she had given to so many others previously, complete with view.

“The last four Olympics, I’ve had to play minutes and minutes and minutes, and I don’t remember,” she said. “I don’t have memories of what it felt like to get a medal. They’re very vague.

“I’ve sat out this tournament and I’ve been able to watch every single minute of it, and that’s the difference for me right now, that I will remember this tournament and how special it is.”

The game was all sharp elbows and banging bodies, but there was a poetic element. Ezi Magbegor was one year old when Jackson first played at the Olympics. She’s sometimes called the next Lauren Jackson; a Bradmanesque curse.

This night, she played the game of her life, scoring a career-best 30 points, making 13 rebounds and generally inserting herself into the play at every crucial moment to tow the Opals over the line. FIBA rated her game the most efficient by any player, man or woman, in Olympic basketball history.

Ezi Magbegor dominated in Australia’s bronze medal win over Belgium.Credit: AP

It wasn’t just the what, but the how. Magbegor was an island of tranquillity in a sea of clashing passions.

Australian basketball needs a new face, and hers could launch 1000 championships.

“Wow,” said Jackson. “Ezi is so talented, and I’m glad she had this game and platform today to see just how incredible she is. People have seen that now. Everyone knows how good she can be.

“For Ez, it’s believing in herself. Tonight, she proved to herself that she can carry a team.”

On such matters, Jackson is a leading authority.

Magbegor was humble about it.

“I know it wasn’t the greatest tournament on an individual level,” she said. “It was the last game for a lot of our Opals, so being able to come out here and get a bronze for them means a lot.”

She might have pre-empted official announcements, but not by long. Five of this squad are 33 or older. All went to war for Australia one more time on Sunday and can look forward to peace.

When the Opals next take the court, they will have a different complexion.

Jackson, for one, sees only encouraging signs.

“I think the Opals now are on an upwards trajectory,” she said. “They know we’ve got this next generation of kids coming through that can absolutely lift.”

The grail, of course, is to put one over the Americans.

Ezi Magbegor did her best impression on a young Lauren Jackson in the bronze-medal game.Credit: Getty

“I do believe we will knock them off at some point,” she said.

We, but no longer her. She has another team on her hands now.

“It’s crazy to think that I’ve had two children and that they are here,” Jackson said. “When I had them, there was no thought I was ever going to set foot back on the basketball court again.

“It’s been special. (Older son) Lenny’s always like, ‘Mum, why aren’t you getting on the court?’. I said, ‘you’ll understand when you’re my age’.

Age in her case means era as much as years.

“I’m glad we were able to send her off in her last game in a big way,” said heir apparent Magbegor.

“Wherever she goes, she brings success. Her experience, whether she was on the floor or not, her vibe was felt throughout the team.”

As Australia and Belgium went at it hammer and tongs, Jackson metaphorically had one foot back over the fence. “The girls were remarkable,” she said. “I know it’s hard for the girls on court, but gee it was fun to watch.”

When victory at last was assured, seconds before the end, the bench players group-hugged, then at the buzzer widened it to include the five on court.

The immortal Lauren Jackson was just one of the girls. Often, she has made winning look easy. This one last time, it really was no sweat.

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