Australian basketball legend Lauren Jackson announces shock retirement as Opals qualify for Olympics
- Jackson announced she would not attend Paris 2024
- She may be Australia’s best basketball player ever
- Jackson helped Opals qualify for the Olympics with victory
Opals legend Lauren Jackson has confirmed she will not feature at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after Australia qualified for the Games with an 85-52 lead over Germany.
The 42-year-old officially announced her retirement from international basketball after Saturday’s (Sunday AEDT) victory in Belem, Brazil – almost 18 months after she made a stunning comeback at the 2022 World Cup.
“I’m done with it… I love Brazil, Brazil has been very good to me,” said Jackson, who was part of the Opals’ victorious 2006 World Cup campaign in Brazil.
‘How fitting that I can end my national career with Australia in Brazil. It’s very special.’
Arguably Australia’s greatest ever basketball star, Jackson initially retired from the Opals in 2016 before returning to fitness to join Sandy Brondello at the 2022 home World Cup.
Lauren Jackson revealed in a post-match interview that she will not be attending Paris 2024
The Aussie Opals defeated Germany 85-52 to qualify for their 10th Olympic Games
She was mainly limited to guest appearances at the tournament, before dominating Canada with 30 points in the victorious bronze medal match.
Jackson had been adamant at the time that she would not play for the Opals again, but after recovering from an Achilles injury she was selected in a 20-player squad for the crucial Brazil qualifiers.
Jackson came on midway through the opening term against Germany on Saturday and made an immediate impact, providing a blistering assist for Ezi Magbegor and then knocking down a three-pointer.
Her seven-point opener from the bench helped the Opals seize control.
Jackson was part of the only Australian Opals team to win a World Cup in 2006.
She has won four Olympic medals, including silver at three consecutive Games, starting with Sydney in 2000, when she competed as a teenager.
All 12 Opals got on the scoreboard against Germany, led by captain Tess Madgen’s 15 points, including 13 without a miss in her side’s impressive first half.
Bec Allen added 10 points, as did 19-year-old Isobel Borlase in an impressive debut in green and gold.
Jackson came in midway through the opening term and had an immediate impact
Jackson has won four Olympic medals, including silver at three consecutive Games, starting with Sydney in 2000, when she competed as a teenager
Germany suffered a blow ahead of the match due to the injury-related absence of the Sabally sisters, their two best players.
Two-time WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally suffered a separated left shoulder against Serbia, while her power forward brother Nyara, who plays for Opals coach Brondello in New York Liberty, was out with a knee injury.
“The biggest thing about the Sabally sisters being away was not to be complacent because that can happen,” Brondello said.
‘Our first half wasn’t perfect, but we were locked in.
‘We knew if we won tonight we would qualify for Paris.
“Glad we got that over with.”
The depleted Germans missed their first nine attempts en route to shooting 26 percent as Australia took an 8-0 lead.
Borlase came on for her first international minutes with two minutes and 28 seconds left in the second term and grabbed a corner trey with her opening shot and scored seven quick points, an excellent combination in transition with Madgen, who made three three-pointers in the first half buried. without a miss.
The third-placed Australian defense fell fractionally in a 21-21 third term, before both teams’ offenses sputtered in a messy fourth quarter – but by then the Opals’ job was done.
Australia’s final match in the Olympic qualifying tournament is against world number 10 Serbia on Sunday (Monday AEDT).