One wouldn't blame Lauren Jackson if she carried herself with some level of entitlement.
She was officially announced in the Australian Opals team for Paris 2024, which will be her fifth Olympic Games and 12 years since her last; and, for someone so credentialed, the aura around her was extremely humbled and deferential.
When reminded of her age, she respectfully, sarcastically bit back: "I am 43."
Jackson -- widely regarded as the greatest basketball player Australia has ever produced -- left her resumé at the door and embraced a different role entering training camp. She's long been the star of the women's national team, to the point where, historically, auditioning for a spot was effectively redundant; she was going to make every squad she put her hand up for.
Not this time. With no certainty she'd even be selected, the work that needed to be put in had to be more rigorous and deliberate, so it's no surprise that you could feel the catharsis when a "relieved" Jackson spoke at the Australian Olympic Committee's official announcement of the team.
"The last time I was doing this, I was a star, so I didn't even have to worry about being selected," Jackson said.
"It's been a very different experience for me because I'm not anymore. I'm a role player. So, for me, I had to work, more than anything, just to make sure I got selected and to put my best foot forward. It's very different to be in this situation but, again, I'm so proud of myself that I actually committed to the process, I worked hard... the girls have just been so remarkable through this whole journey. They've made it worth it, and so special, and I'm just so proud to be here with them.
The Opals went through a tough training camp over the past week, as well as two dominant wins over China in a pair of exhibition games in Melbourne. The team faced the unique task of a selection camp without its most prominent pieces -- seven WNBA players, currently in action in the U.S. couldn't attend, and were named to the final Olympic team -- so those in Melbourne were effectively competing for five available spots.
"The last week and half have probably been the hardest, pressure wise, that I've had as a professional athlete," Jackson said.
"Just in terms of knowing it was such an important selection camp, the girls knowing people were gonna get cut, and I really felt that.
"The girls that came into camp really put their best foot forward, and gave everything to be on this team. I just feel really honoured and so grateful that I get an opportunity to stand here today. The preparation doesn't change for me; the next week is exactly the same, and then the next two or three weeks. I've just got to keep working. I feel a little bit of relief, but very grateful and humbled to be here."
Jackson's career rivals -- and probably exceeds -- any Australian sporting export in the country's history. She was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft, and went on to win two WNBA Championships, three MVPs, a Finals MVP; it's a career that puts her among the sport's greats. She did it on home soil, too, winning seven WNBL Championships -- including the 2024 title with the Southside Flyers -- four WNBL MVPs, and four WNBL Finals MVPs.
Jackson -- a native of Albury -- put her career to bed ahead of the 2016 Olympics due to a degenerative knee injury, but remarkably came out of retirement just a few years later, at the age of 40, returning to playing at a high level in the WNBL, as well as for the Opals at the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup.
Jackson dropped 30 points and seven rebounds in a bronze medal clinching performance at that event in Sydney, and subsequently retired again. Basketball Australia's agreement to help support her two young children in Europe -- both will travel to Paris, Jackson says -- pushed her out of retirement once again -- she even overcame a recent Achilles rupture and Lisfranc fracture -- and back in contention to join the Opals.
As a member of the national team, Jackson has led from the front, guiding the team to four Olympic silver medals, one bronze, and, most famously, a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women. The veteran big has confidence the Opals can achieve a significant level of success this time around, too.
"Anything's possible, right?" Jackson said.
"I think the way we're playing as a team unit, and the way the girls in the WNBA are playing basketball right now, anything's possible. We've got a great team, we go 12 deep; anything's possible. We don't wanna walk away with anything less than a medal, and we're going for the gold, for sure."
On the Opals for Paris, Jackson was joined by Cayla George, Marianna Tolo, Tess Madgen, Rebecca Allen, Ezi Magbegor, Alanna Smith, Steph Talbot, Kristy Wallace, Sami Whitcomb, Jade Melbourne, and Isobel Borlase.
Jackson acknowledged the leadership of the team's captain, Madgen, for helping turn the program around after a a dramatic Tokyo 2021 campaign that featured an alleged physical altercation from Liz Cambage in a warmup game.
That shift in culture, as well as the talent of the WNBA players on the side, give Jackson a high level of confidence that the Opals have a healthy foundation going into Paris.
"There's a real effort to ensure everybody has a voice, and everyone is heard," Jackson said.
"I've never been in a group that cares so much about everybody else. I think that's the work that you put in. It's like any relationship; you actually have to do the work... it's paying off, because you can see the way we play together. Even the group of 12 we had against China. People could see how well we were gelling and working together. That's a testament to all the stuff we were doing behind the scenes."