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BOB'S BONUS: Our Seattle-based (and therefore Storm-friendly) US correspondent BOB CRAVEN dropped us a piece from "The Seattle Times" by Chris Kudialis which appeared last week during the height of the Olympics in Paris about our GOAT, Lauren Jackson and which we reprint here.

Still playing at 43, Storm legend Lauren Jackson an inspiration to fellow Olympians

By 
Chris Kudialis
Special to The Seattle Times

PARIS — The hugs for Seattle Storm legend Lauren Jackson came one after another, as did the
compliments.

“You’re the GOAT,” said Storm star and U.S. guard Jewell Loyd, wrapping an arm around
Jackson.

“My inspiration,” said fellow American Brittany Griner, embracing the former Storm star with a
five-second bear hug. “I’m just trying to be like you.”

“You’re the reason the WNBA is what it is,” added Sabrina Ionescu, patting Jackson on the back
as she walked by.

A media session with the 43-year-old Jackson, playing for Australia at what’s almost certainly
her last Olympic Games, usually goes something like that. But after Jackson’s Aussies fell 85-
64 to the dominant U.S. women Friday, the outpouring of support and respect from her
opponents felt like another Hall of Fame induction ceremony for a player who’s already
enshrined in all of them.

When her admirers from the other team slowly made their way back to the locker room, Jackson
stood pensively in a bright yellow warm up shirt, her yellow “Opals” jersey with number 25 in
green visible underneath it.

Jackson, like the rest of her teammates, realized they ran into a juggernaut just minutes into Friday’s one-sided matchup against their longtime rivals.

Jackson and the Aussies still have a chance to medal, as they’ll play Belgium for bronze at 2:30
a.m. Pacific time Sunday.

She admits a bronze medal in her Olympic send-off would mean everything.

“It’s a dream come true just to be back here,” she said. “I’m appreciating every minute. The
Americans are a special team, and just to fight hard against them is a good sign for us.”

Jackson has hardly been the player she was the last time she stepped on the Olympic floor, at
London 2012. She’s averaging two points, one rebound and a steal per game in Paris, having
played in just three of Australia’s five contests. That’s compared with 18.4 points, 7.1 boards,
1.4 assists and 1.1 steals over 32 minutes per game across her first four Olympics.

Her time on the floor in the first half Friday — after back-to-back DNPs against France and
Serbia — almost felt like a sign of respect from Opals coach Sandy Bordello. Jackson showed,
at this point in her career, she lacks the strength and speed needed to score against the likes of
the world’s best forwards in A’ja Wilson and former Storm MVP Breanna Stewart.

Yet, Jackson is still a favorite among her younger Australia teammates, some of whom remain in awe of her.

“She’s a legend,” said current Storm center Ezi Magbegor, who’s following in her idol’s footsteps
playing for both the Storm and the Australian national team. “Just her being here, you can feel
the difference. There’s a reverence for her that lifts us and just motivates us to give everything
we have.”

It’s a perfect illustration of why Jackson is in France this month, on an Olympic roster for the first
time in 12 years. She’s the first to admit she’s a step slower than during her “first career,” where
she won two WNBA titles with the Storm and earned three league MVPs from 2001 to 2012.

Jackson’s “second career,” which started less than three years ago at the age of 40, has her
leading her Aussie teammates by example, and building a culture for the next group of Opal
stars.

Jackson earned medals in each of her first four Olympics with Australia, and hopes to leave
Paris with a fifth. In the two Olympics she missed — Rio and Tokyo — the Opals failed to reach
the podium.

“I knew that I was going to be sitting on the bench a lot, and that my role is giving confidence
and mentoring and being there when I get an opportunity to get out there and be physical,”
Jackson said. “I feel like I’m doing what’s asked of me, and I’m fine with that.”

Jackson’s coach Sandy Brondello added that her impact in Paris has gone far beyond the hardwood.

“I think the respect for Lauren transcends the actual on-court game,” Brondello said. “She makes
everyone in our program better from the way she handles herself to the way she approaches
games and prepares.”

Never say never?

Jackson’s 27-year career with the Australian national team dates all the way back before her first Olympics, the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney — where she won a silver medal after losing to, guess who, the United States. She’s “at peace” with her role in Paris and “content” with a career résumé that easily ranks her among the best women’s basketball players of all-time.

Jackson claims these Olympics are the end of her second career.

But will she be back as a player?

It’s a fair question, given her love for the game and history of retiring only to return to the
hardwood. A series of major knee and Achilles injuries forced her to call it quits for the first time
in early 2016, at age 35.

She came back in 2022 to play professionally in Australia, but retired again after tearing her Achilles in February 2023.

She healed, and unretired, in time to help the Opals qualify for the Paris Olympics back in
February, then retired again. When Australia announced its Olympic roster last month, though,
Jackson’s name was on it.

“I was just going day by day with the training and it just sort of happened organically,” she said.

“I wanted the girls to succeed, and I wanted to be a part of a winning team. And we are a
winning team.”

She insists this is it. Jackson gave birth to two sons shortly after retiring for the first time, and
said she wants to spend more time with them as they grow up.

Until then, she’s just enjoying the ride. And pitching in where she can.