Seattle Storm’s Aussie legend Lauren Jackson’s second act

Lauren Jackson, on the shortlist of the greatest women's basketball players in history, limped reluctantly into retirement six years ago. Her heart and mind were still willing, but her chronically ailing knees simply would not allow Jackson to play the game she had dominated for so long in Australia, Seattle and around the world.

As her longtime teammate and great friend, Sue Bird, said while choking back tears at the 2016 ceremony at KeyArena to retire Jackson's No. 15 Storm jersey:

"How things had to end hurts me. I know it hurts you."

But now Jackson is getting that rarest of occurrences -- a second act, providing her an unexpected but joyous opportunity to revive her career at age 40. Jackson, in fact, will turn 41 in two weeks, a birthday she will commemorate as a member of her hometown Albury-Wodonga Bandits in Australia's NBL1 league (who play their home games at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre).

So far, so great. In her first two games, playing back to back last weekend, the 6-foot-5 Jackson -- who lost over 30 pounds while training for her return -- showed signs of her old dominance. On Saturday, in a 78-61 win over the Central Coast Crusaders, Jackson scored 22 points in just 21 minutes, including five three-pointers. She also had five rebounds and a block. On Sunday, Jackson had 36 points and 15 rebounds in 19 minutes.

Megan Hustwaite, an Australian sports journalist who has covered much of Jackson's career and broke the story of her decision to come back, told me in a Zoom interview: "She's in terrific shape. She’s lost a lot of weight. She looks fantastic. And I think the really impressive thing with her comeback on the weekend was the ease in which she got up and down the court. She just moved so, so well, which given her injury history and her age, and that she hasn’t played since 2016, is pretty amazing."