Lauren Jacksons Journey To Making The Greatest Sporting Comeback In Australian Basketball

The GOAT of Australian Basketball.

Every time I hear that phrase, one particular athlete always springs to mind.

And considering she's just become the first Australian to win five medals across five games,

there's no better time to have her back on the pod.

It's been almost two years since we spoke to Lauren Jackson,

and during that time she was gearing up for an impressive fifth Basketball World Cup

and one of the greatest sporting comebacks in history.

It hasn't been an easy journey to get there, with a broken foot, torn Achilles,

two ruptured plantar fascias and a lot of sacrifices along the way.

But that comeback has become even more impressive,

because LJ is not only a five-time Olympian, but now also a five-time Olympic medalist.

My name's Sophie and I'm the producer here at the Female Athlete Project.

Chloe sat down with the GOAT just days before she hopped on the plane to Paris

and...

Full of hope for her last Olympics.

And now she returns to Oz with another bronze medal around her neck.

This series is presented by Nike.

Championing athletes like LJ, listening to athletes' needs

and supporting them throughout all their journeys.

This chat was open and honest about what it takes to stay at the top of your game.

We hope you enjoy it.

Lauren Jackson, welcome to the Female Athlete Project for a second time.

Thank you.

Yes, it's great to be back here having a chat with you again.

It's been a while.

Yeah, it has been.

It's been a couple of years.

It's going to be really cool to have a chat.

And we discussed off air that we're going to go a little bit more this back end

for people who want to listen, go back and listen to the first episode

for more of your, I guess, your whole career story.

But I think it'd be really cool just to take a look at the last couple of years,

how incredible they've been.

I'm sure still many ups and downs in those last couple of years,

but how incredible they've been.

Can we go back to the 2022 World Cup on home soil?

Okay.

So I think last time I spoke to you was right before that.

I'd been selected to go and we were in a camp in Gold Coast

before we headed into the World Cup.

And, look, I'd probably played, I reckon,

about 14 games of basketball leading into the World Cup after, you know,

six years or seven years of really not doing anything.

And close to eight years, actually.

Because of my injury and stuff.

So, yeah, it would have been eight games from May till August.

14 games from May to August, I'm trying to think here.

And, you know, I'd been training, obviously, in the gym.

I'd been trying to get as strong as I could and stuff.

But still, I didn't have – I definitely wasn't near the player

that I've been in the past.

And, look, to be honest, everything that I did in the lead up to that was, like,

in my head.

My brain was just like, it's just one day.

Just go to the gym.

If it works, it works.

If it doesn't, it doesn't.

You've got no pressure on you.

So I really didn't anticipate for it to go as far as it did.

And there was – even in the back of my mind, it was like,

tomorrow I'll probably hurt something.

My knee will probably go – you know, something will hurt.

And I always sort of had a backup plan just because I was so negative about it.

Not negative, but I really – it was really a case of just,

let's get through today.

Like, don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow

because if you look too far ahead, you know, you'll do your head in.

Anyway, I somehow made it through to the World Cup.

And, like I said, I don't know how I did it.

I don't think I felt like I was that good of a player.

I think what I brought to that team was just a sense of toughness,

that leadership sort of aspect off the court.

But I think when I'm around,

the younger players and stuff, they feel like they have something more.

I don't know.

From what I've been told, it's more that competitiveness.

And I give people confidence.

And I think that's probably more what they wanted from me

and probably all that they expected that they were going to get,

to be honest.

I didn't play a lot of minutes during the rounds or whatever.

And then in the last game, we played against China in the semifinal.

I reckon I played about two or three.

I think I played about two or three minutes and we lost by one point.

And then that was, I think we got back to the hotel about 11 p.m.

And we had to turn around and play for a medal at one o'clock the next day.

So we weren't in bed till about one-ish.

And the girls were shattered, you know,

losing by one point to go into that gold medal match.

And I was shattered too.

And, yeah, we didn't sleep too much and had to get up

and get ready straight away for the game the next day against Canada.

And I don't know what happened.

I think I was just like, I'm not going through all of this

to not get a medal, you know.

And so I got minutes.

So she played me and I just, I don't know, something clicked.

And, yeah, I played well and we got the bronze medal

and it was really special.

So that's sort of, that's what happened.

That was the World Cup.

That game was exceptional.

How did it feel?

I think you kind of touched on this feeling of going in

and feeling quite negative because you hadn't had the prep

that you would have usually had.

And I think sometimes it's, there's probably parallels

with elite athletes where things might not go right

in the lead up to a tournament.

They might have little niggles and things,

but yours was an entirely different situation altogether

where you hadn't played for so many years.

How did it feel being out there being like,

it's such a huge occasion and I don't necessarily feel

like I'm at my best?

Oh, look.

I just, I had to rely really heavily on, you know,

like Trish Fallon was there, some of my old teammates,

Sandy Brondello is one of my old teammates as well

and she was a head coach.

And I think just having those friendships and being able

to have those conversations with them and them knowing me

so well as well really, really helped, you know,

because obviously the young girls, I say the younger girls,

but all the girls on that squad were, you know,

the eldest is 10 years younger than me.

So it's not so.

It's not like, you know, there's not an age,

like there's a big age gap there.

And I mean, even in the squad now for the Olympics,

the youngest could be like my daughter.

You know, I could have quite easily been married

and had a child by the age of, you know,

so there is a really big age gap there and I think I would have felt

quite isolated if I didn't have those pre-existing relationships

and I couldn't sort of lean on the people that knew me,

as well as what they did.

So I was really, really lucky in that sense.

But also the girls took me under their wing a bit, you know,

to be honest.

They really did.

And I sort of thought about how I would feel in that situation

if I was, you know, 30 years old and someone who was in her 40s,

came out of retirement, got onto the squad and was playing

at a World Cup.

You know, I'm probably, I'd be the first to admit I probably

wouldn't have been that welcoming.

But the girls were.

And they were incredible.

They really were right from day dot.

And that's something that I think will warm my heart

for the rest of my life, like the fact that kindness

and that really sort of set the scene for me.

And, yeah, they're so special.

And, like, to this day, you know, I'm just so grateful and thankful.

That bronze medal match was an iconic moment.

What do you think it is for you?

Like was it just like that muscle memory?

Like it just.

It's a career, a lifetime of basketball that came back to you

or is it the big pressure moments?

I really don't know.

I just know that I got an opportunity and I went for it, you know,

and I think, yeah, it was a highly emotional day

because we were still sort of feeling the effects

of the night before.

When we left the hotel, some of the ex-Opals, like the older Opals,

my mum's generation, had organised like a sort of guard of honour out

of the hotel.

So as we were leaving, my kids were there as well.

They ran up to me when I came downstairs and that, like,

I started crying immediately when I saw them.

But it was really emotional before the game and even in the locker room,

the tension was just so thick that, like,

you could have cut the air with a knife.

And, I mean, even thinking back to it, I'm getting a little bit teary

because, yeah, it was a lot.

So I think, yeah, I just wanted to do well for Sandy.

And I wanted to try and give back as much as I could.

And, you know, there wasn't a lot in my tank at that point too.

You know, and this is funny, but by that point,

I think in April that year, right before I'd started my first game

with Aubrey, I ruptured my plantar fascia in my left foot.

I completely ruptured it.

And at that point, not knowing about the injury or whatever,

I thought I was done.

Like the pain was that bad that I was like, shit,

I haven't even, like, I haven't even played a game yet.

And I've just, I'm done.

I'm finished.

I'm done.

I'm done.

I'm done.

You know, on the phone to my surgeon and some other people,

and they're like, look, it'll take three or four weeks

and you'll be able to run again.

You'll be fine.

And I was like, four weeks?

That's like, that's a quarter of a season.

Is this even worth it?

And I, you know what, in the back of my mind, I was like, you know what?

Bugger it.

I'm going to go.

We had a bye the second week, so there was a chance I could get back

for the third game, which was a road trip up north.

And so I was like, okay, day by day.

After two or three days, I didn't need crutches anymore

and it got better progressively.

But my,

my feet since that day, like, were killing me.

But, and I've had so many problems since then.

So what the story is that, yeah, and then I rolled my ankle

at the end of May, my other ankle.

So my feet were shocking.

And then by the time we got into the World Cup,

because of the load and everything, how it just ramped up super quick,

my body was just like, what the hell is going on here?

By the end of the World Cup, I was having local anesthetic in my feet

before games because they just, like, my plantar fascia

on the other foot was split all the way down the middle.

It didn't go the other way.

It went, like, down the middle of the tendon.

So that was just, the pain was excruciating.

And so that, that was where I was at.

So by the end of that World Cup, I think even just getting needles

in my feet, like, was just.

So, again.

Again, traumatic that you just are waiting for it to be over.

And there was a part of me, you know, by the end of the World Cup too,

it was like, this is it.

Like, I really, I don't even want to play WNBL.

I can't handle the pain anymore, the, you know, the pressure and all of that.

So, you know, that's sort of where Nike, I guess,

have been so supportive of me over the last, I don't know,

how many years, two or three years.

Because I go on to play WNBL after the season.

My feet are still pretty bad.

Not terrible, not as bad as they were at the World Cup,

but they were still really sore.

And then in December, we were playing over in Perth.

And just after, I reckon I had about 20 points to the half.

And after half time, I did something, someone trotted my foot and I went

to step and I broke my foot.

I broke the top of my foot.

And I played through it thinking, because, but I was so used to the pain in there that it didn't sort of register until after the World Cup.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

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Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I said to my coach, I actually think I have a broken foot.

Like the pain is so bad.

And she looked at me and she was like, yeah.

Okay.

Next day, we fly back to Melbourne.

And I said to, I called her again.

I'm like, Shez, I think I've broken my foot.

Like, it's really painful.

I couldn't walk at the airport.

I mean, I could walk.

I was limping.

But like, anyway, we had to play the next day.

And I went into warmup, got a bit of local to see if, like, I could

settle it.

I couldn't settle the pain down.

It was so generalized.

Like, I didn't even know where it was hurting.

The whole, my whole foot was just completely just killing me.

So I go and get an MRI and it was right before Christmas.

So there was no radiologist report, but the doctor looks at it and they go,

no, it's just arthritis.

You'll be fine.

Here's some cortisone.

Go and do what you do.

And I'm like, okay.

And the cortisone settled it down enough that I could play, but it wasn't

like after games.

I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't walk.

I wasn't training between games.

So my teammates are like, you've got arthritis and you can't train.

You can't like, you're in all this pain.

And so I guess about after three or four weeks, I went back to the doctor

and I was just like, look, this, I don't know what to tell you,

but this is the most painful thing I've ever had in my life.

And I've had to play through it.

The cortisone's wearing off.

And they're like, oh, we'll just go and do another test.

And so I do an X-ray and they're like, oh, it's a Liz Frank fracture

and you've ruptured ligaments around your Liz Frank.

And I was like, so I've been playing.

I've been playing thinking I've had arthritis all of this time

with a Liz Frank fracture in my foot.

So by this time, I've been favouring my other foot so much

that my Achilles has blown up, like it's playing up on the other foot.

And, look, in my mind, this is the irrational in me.

It was like, right, I've been playing for three weeks on a broken foot.

There was a big game coming up that they were trying

to sell out John Kane Arena.

And it was for me and everything like that, which was a really special game.

I thought it'd look really bad if I'd been playing on a broken foot

and I stopped now just because I know about it.

You know, I thought that if I'd been playing, obviously,

I could keep playing.

And nobody sort of said, think about it.

It's probably not a great idea at your age.

Get to this John Kane game and within 10 seconds of the game,

my Achilles ruptures on the other foot.

It's gone.

So that was the...

That was the end of that.

And that's the start of my journey with my feet.

Like, anyway, so go and have a double surgery.

I'm in a wheelchair for, you know, however long,

six to eight weeks or something, thinking that it was all over,

you know, that I would never play again,

that I couldn't possibly come back from that.

But I'd made a commitment, too, to my kids.

I was sort of like, I want to get back on my feet

so that I can play with them.

It took a real toll on my kids as well.

Like, they were really upset.

And I just, I sort of made the commitment

that I'll just do the rehab, you know.

And by May, I was running or jogging again in the gym.

And so I just kept going.

I just kept jogging a little bit more.

I took the time where I needed it.

I, you know, went over to America and spent some time

with Sue Bird during her retirement stuff.

I had a real, a real chill six months or so.

And whilst also training in the background,

and being with the kids, and just being a mum.

Anyway, by, I reckon by August, I get a call from Southside.

Do you want to play?

And I was kind of like, oh, I don't know if I can or not.

It's only been sort of six months.

And then they said to go and see the surgeon

and see what he said.

And he said, look, by November, you should be able to play a game.

And then by November, I played.

Okay.

My confidence was completely shot in my feet.

But moral of the story is, is that Nike,

I've been on the phone to Brett probably every week

or on WhatsApp every week since then, since November,

saying I need like shoes that fit me properly,

that actually work for my feet, that don't hurt me.

Because my feet have been, they've taken the biggest toll.

Like when I tell you I've got no toenails,

I have no toenails left.

I have no toenails left.

Like it's the pain in my feet from the surgeries, from the Achilles,

from just not doing anything for eight years,

has two ruptured plantar fascias.

Like just everything has gone wrong in my feet the last,

which it's out of my, like I've never had a problem

with my feet before in my life.

So shoe wet shoes, getting the right basketball shoes

has been like this.

Oh, man, they've been so supportive in that.

And I, like I,

I'm eternally grateful because poor Nike, but thank God I've got people

that actually care about the shoes that I wear on court

and that they work for me because it's taken this long to find them

and I found the right ones and they've gotten me to this point,

which is, you know, incredible.

So thank you very much for that.

That's love right there, let me tell you.

That is, it's very important.

It's so interesting hearing your story talking about that

because I think like I remember last time when you reflected

on the first part of your,

this like it was like you were constantly battling

through just pushing your body.

And I think from an outsider's perspective,

seeing the last couple of years,

I remember that moment with your Achilles

and just felt heartbroken for you.

But just that idea, like have you found it a little bit traumatic

in a sense like that feeling again of pushing your body

to that limit and pushing through those injuries?

That was probably the most traumatic thing I've been through.

I reckon not the Achilles.

It was the broken foot because I,

honestly, in my mind, believed that it was just arthritis.

And in my head, I had to wrap my head around the fact,

well, if this is just arthritis, this is a pain that you're going

to have to live with if you want to play.

So I was just trying to make it through to the end of the season.

And that in itself was so hard because when I tell you after games,

I could not go to sleep.

Like I couldn't sleep.

It was killing me.

And, I mean, I was on so many anti-inflammatories.

I was on painkillers too because it just, like it was killing me.

But I wanted to get through to the end.

And I made a commitment and I couldn't stop saying that I had arthritis.

Like that's not how it's going to end for me.

So when I found out that it was actually like a really significant break

in my foot, I was so mad.

I was so mad at myself.

I was so mad at the world.

Probably more so at myself.

But I, again, like not trusting myself to like to make them go back.

Yeah.

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Yeah.

It's funny because when the doctors went back and looked

at the original MRI, it was there.

But because it was over Christmas, they were backed up.

Nobody read the radiologist's report.

So that in itself was like, and I don't, look, I don't blame them.

Like I said, I should have trusted myself and pushed it.

But I didn't because you think that, you know, people wouldn't miss that.

But, again, it's that for me, I'm at the age where I should know

my body well enough, right?

So I think the trauma around.

I'm playing on it, having to get up, like the embarrassment of not being able to train

because I've got arthritis.

Like I think that was, that was brutal, you know?

And then, yeah.

And then, of course, my Achilles went.

That wasn't the hard, like that wasn't the hard part for me.

It was the actual, the three or six weeks it was before they, before that went, you know?

Before we go into where your body's at now and how you're feeling, I'd love to take a

step back and look at some of the work you do off court and take a look at She Hoops.

Can you tell us a bit about it?

Well, She Hoops originally was, it was thought of during COVID.

So it was a way to connect with people during COVID when we couldn't really travel,

when we couldn't sort of gather.

It was about, it was a platform about connecting grassroots with the elite.

So during that time, it was easier for us all to jump on Zooms and, you know,

talk women in basketball, talk administration, coaching,

officiating, all of that sort of stuff.

I was really, really lucky.

Because Basketball Australia supported it.

Obviously they wanted the platform as well.

And that sort of became like my role was the head of women in basketball.

At that point in time, it's She Hoops.

It is still She Hoops trying to build this brand and what it is.

But we found, I guess the last two years or so, well, it's really only been going two years,

which is fantastic.

So it's still a baby.

So the first year.

We did all right.

But a lot of the stuff was online and we didn't really actually get out into communities.

And since then, we've been able to get out and run like face-to-face camps and scholarship

programs and things like that.

But it's, yeah, since it's really grown, it's becoming a bit of a movement in women in basketball.

And what I've really been proud of is that the athletes have really embraced it.

Like they want to be a part of it.

And it's something that they want to push and support.

And I think that for me has been probably,

one of the most special parts.

It's something that, yeah, I really am proud of and I like to see the potential in.

But the growth that we've already had is significant.

And yeah, we've been supported, obviously, by the federal government through the legacy

funding from the World Cup, which has been great.

And we've had definitely a lot of support just from the basketball community, which is fantastic.

Initially as well, Nike was super supportive.

The idea in that first year was really pushing it, which was great.

Helped us out with some gear and was brilliant.

So we've had great success, I would say.

But we're still growing.

We've just actually launched a fellowship over to Seattle Storm.

So we're partnering with Seattle Storm to have a female administrator go over there

and work with them to try and see how social change impacts commercial.

Ability to sell commercially, women's sport.

And I guess just to really understand the inner workings of an organization like that.

It's amazing to see what the WNBA have done, you know, in terms of where they're going

and the equity between men and women.

There's growth.

It's happening.

It's significant.

And it's awesome.

And it's great that we get to have administrators over there learning from the best, you know.

That gender equity piece is something that,

if you are really passionate about, what does it mean to have, I guess,

an avenue to kind of funnel that energy into with something like She Hoops?

Having an avenue to push She Hoops through Basketball Australia is incredible.

And I guess their commitment to lifting the opportunities and the resources

and giving girls and women a space to exist in the sport is incredible.

I think that there is still.

There's still a long way to go.

And it's still a grind.

You know, people talk about equity and equality.

People are still not investing in it.

And this is grassroots right through to the elite.

It's not just kids programs.

It's not just for teenage girls or volunteers and administrators and coaches and officials.

It's for everyone.

So a lot of the programs that we run sort of cover all the cohorts.

And we're trying to bring everyone together.

Finding support, like true support for that is hard.

You know, and it is, like I said, it's still, it's a grind.

Like it's the same with any women's sport.

You've got to work every single day.

Every single day you're pushing it and you're trying to get that support

and you're trying to, I guess, sell the story.

But unless people are coming for the ride, unless they see the vision,

like straight up, like it's a spinning wheel, like at the moment, you know.

So I'm glad that I get to be the one pushing it, you know,

and begging organizations for support.

It's humbling, but I'm glad I get to do it.

You've been, you've shared your story a lot about your journey with your two boys.

You've obviously battled your own body in your comeback,

but also you've had to battle raising kids and dealing with traveling and going overseas.

And you've also battled this challenge of when you might say one tiny quote

and then suddenly it's in every news platform making your decision for you.

What has that process been like for you?

Over the last period of time?

Oh, look, it's been, it's been such a mind game.

I think when you combine like me talking to you about my injuries

and then the support I get from my personal sponsors

and then my family and my friends and then my teammates, you know,

and the teams that I play with, it's such a minefield.

And then I work for Basketball Australia as well.

So I've sort of, I've got to consider all of these different things.

Obviously for me, it came down to myself.

My family, it was, it's been a really tough journey for me.

Since I came back from my foot surgeries, my feet surgeries, I look,

I reckon I came back about eight months.

It took me a good year to get my confidence back, to get my timing back to,

oh gosh, it was just so hard.

And I think a lot of people had written me off by Christmas time.

Whereas the people that knew me,

the people that knew my body and what I'd been through and everything were like,

you're not going to be yourself until after Christmas.

So everyone was saying to me,

don't even think about averaging a double double until Christmas

because you're not even 10 months post-surgery yet.

You had a massive surgery.

And in my head, I think the confidence piece,

like I've never had to really battle that.

I've never had challenges with that.

And because I was coming from a place too, where I wasn't that good anymore.

Like I'm an older,

I can't jump as high,

I can't run as fast.

And, and my body was really,

really saw that first year in 2022 as well.

So leading up to it,

I just didn't give myself the opportunity to get in the best possible shape I could be in.

Cause I never thought I was going to get back there.

That was the point.

Like I was just doing it for fun.

So it wasn't, it was crazy.

So, um, like I think by Christmas I'd sort of started playing better,

but I said to my parents at Christmas time,

I'm going to, I'm, I'm going to call it a day.

I'm going to retire.

Like as soon as I start playing better,

cause I could feel it happening too.

There was a, there was a game here.

I, you know, scored 10 points and I was like running better,

moving better.

I was rebounding better.

I might not have been scoring,

but I could feel my body going,

ah, you're getting back.

Like you can.

So, um, I said, you know,

as soon as I start playing better,

I'm going to call it a day.

So January, I started playing better.

I was probably averaging like 15 to some points in January.

Okay.

Okay.

Um, and I,

I had sort of a breakout game against Sydney.

I think I had like 28 points in the game or whatever.

And I called my agent straight after it.

Um, even during the game,

I thought if I get to 20 points,

this is it.

This is the day I'm done.

So, yeah.

So that was during the game.

This is what I was thinking at halftime.

So after the game called my parents called my agent.

I was like, I'm done tomorrow.

You can send out a press statement saying I'm retiring officially from

the Australian team.

And this is my last season.

And anyway, um,

the next morning I'm driving home with a bottle of champagne,

the kids,

because I was dropping the kids off too.

They were going to start school back in Aubrey,

like the following week or something.

And that was always a plan.

They were going to be with me up until that point.

And Lenny was going to start his new school,

big school, um,

in Aubrey and,

and just get comfortable and everything.

So I I'm on the way home and my agent calls and he's like,

look, Sandy, Sandy is going to give you a call on.

And I said, okay, no problem.

I understand that.

So she calls and she's like, we want you to reconsider.

We'd love you to come to the qualifiers.

Um, and in my head, I was just like, what, why?

Like, there's no way that they were going to select me 10 days before that.

You know what I mean?

It was just like, anyway, so I got home and I told mom and dad and my mom was

like, the both of them looked at me and I think that was,

they were like, yeah, what do you want to do?

And I was like, well, what do I mean?

I don't know.

Um, and then look, dad was probably a bit more like, well,

think of the boys.

And mom was like, well, no, it's only two weeks.

You're not going to be with the boys anyway.

You're going to Brazil.

It's it's 10 days.

Like, that's it.

It's 10 days.

And then you can retire when you get back.

You can be done when you get out.

She was like, imagine what would happen if you didn't go and they didn't

qualify.

How would you feel then?

And I was like, yeah, you're right.

I'd feel.

I'd feel pretty bad.

Not that I would be, you know, not that it would rest on my shoulders.

It was true.

Like you would feel crappy if that would happen.

Um, and she said, you'd feel better if you went over there and you didn't

qualify, but you were with the team.

And I, you know, it's not true, but it is true.

I don't know.

Like, I don't know how you would feel, but I just, in my mind,

I was like, she's right.

I'm not going to be with the kids anyway for two weeks.

They're going to be at school in Aubrey.

I will miss my elders.

Son's birthday.

And I'll miss my youngest first day at school.

That were milestones.

That was really upsetting, but I decided, yes,

I had 24 hours to decide and I made the decision and I went, um,

but I was highly emotional.

I think I didn't have a lot of time to really process anything.

I, I was not myself, um, at all.

So when I left, I was really, really,

really upset that I've done this again, that I was leaving the kids again,

that I was going to play again.

Um, but in the same mind, mind, I was like, what an opportunity, like how it's,

it's like pull push, you know?

Um, and I got over there and again, I love the girls, the team,

the girls are gorgeous.

They're just such beautiful humans.

I love going to battle with them.

I love being out on the court with them.

I love supporting them.

I love being that teammate waving a towel, you know, that's, I love it.

So it was really hard, but, um, yeah, it was hard.

Um, and then I,

after one of the games I said in the media that, yep, I'm done now.

I'm good.

I can go home to my kids.

I'm done.

And yeah, that went viral.

Um, and then look, I didn't expect there to be such a big, you know,

push or whatever, but cause I hadn't spoken really to Sandy or anyone.

They, I mean, they knew that I was going to retire beforehand,

but I hadn't spoken about after.

So, um,

Yes, Sandy and, and, um, everybody sort of said to me, look, you know,

after the season, just take a little bit of time to decide if you want to try and go for the Olympics.

We'll support you, you know, your decision either way, but just take some time to yourself,

go with your kids, go be with your family.

Um, and yeah, so that's what I did.

I went and took that time through April and I kept training, which hopefully this is something

that continues long after I finish.

Because then I won't have, you know, I'll be really happy with myself if I do that.

But yeah, I just kept training through it, took it day by day and here I am again.

What do you think more can be done to support, uh, women athletes with kids?

Uh, look, I think my case is a very unique one because both my, like being a single mom,

um, is very, very difficult.

Um, and being a professional athlete.

And I think.

Um, it's, you know, my boys are pretty, they're pretty big.

So seven year old and a five year old, and they're, they're big boys.

They're smart.

Like they, they know what's going on.

Um, every, every single word I say, they like hold on to as well.

So, you know, when I was going through all this stuff, trying to figure out what to do,

I remember I said something to Harry and he called me a liar.

He said, mom, you're a liar.

You said you'd never go overseas again with the Australian team.

Lied to me.

Like you're choosing them over me again.

And that's.

My mom was there when he said that.

And I honestly, I had to like run out.

I, you know, I didn't want to cry in front of him, but it was just like, God, you know,

how do you handle that?

But I mean, even this morning, okay, here's a story for you.

I'm over at mom and dad's this morning.

I get a text message from Harry's coach saying, um, the boys have got to buy this Friday,

but we play the last game next Friday.

And Harry's like, yay.

And I said, no, darling, mommy's got to play against China.

We find out about the Olympic team that night.

He's like, no.

And I was like, what?

He's like, you don't even want to play in the Olympics.

And I looked at him and I was like, what do you, where do you think I'm training the way I am?

And he goes, you don't even want to do it.

I want to be here.

I want to be with my friends.

He's like, you've got to let me do it.

And I looked at him and I was like, are you kidding me right now?

There's just no awareness about how important it is.

And I think in that moment, I,

it kind of clicked and I was like, you know,

maybe I'm the silly one for like letting me be manipulated by a seven-year-old and a five-year-old.

It's me for sure.

So there you go.

It's, it's complicated though, right?

It's probably harder when they're older because they get it and can say things like they're not a little toddler.

Who's just like being strapped to you wherever you go.

Yeah.

He, well, that's the thing.

And I think he doesn't realize, you know,

many of it.

They don't, both of them don't.

I think, um, you know, they know that I've been to an Olympics before.

They know that I've, but they don't know, I guess the difference this time is the preparation and the work that I've had to put in to get here.

Like, it's just been like, if I had have trained like this when I was young, I, I hate to think of how good I would have been, you know, like I really would.

Um, it's kind of scary.

But yeah, I'm glad I, I guess to be, to be here right now, like in this, having this opportunity in front of me, even though I haven't been selected yet, it, it still is, um, it has been the most incredible journey in my life because I've proved to myself so much.

And I think that one day my boys are going to be like, well, she did that, you know, one day I think they'll do that.

I think that's pretty cool.

What have you proved to yourself?

That I can commit to a process that I can, that I can be consistent with training, that I can be healthy and, um, that I can do it.

Like, you know, I think for so long I had in my mind that, oh, well, I've got my kids now, you know, I've got my job.

It was just easy, like easy street.

And I don't get me wrong.

I love that.

And I cannot wait for it to go back to normal.

Um, but the fact that I've been able to do this, I wouldn't have been able to.

I wouldn't have been able to do it without my parents, obviously, and the support of the people, like the people that have been close to me in my little circle, which is Nike, which is my mom and dad, which is the organizations that have supported me through my career, Cignet, Jayco.

It's been incredible.

Like I've had great support, but, um, I couldn't have done it without them or my parents.

Like they've been incredible, but I guess the moral of the story is the consistency through the training.

Like even the rehab, the rehab last year.

It was just brutal.

And, um, I even, I had to do a three minute, there's this test that you do with basketball.

Um, and it's like a three minute test, but for me, like I, I beat my, my last time I did it by like six lengths of a court, which is, which means that I'm like getting so much fitter and so much stronger than what I've ever been.

And to me, that says a lot, you know, it says a lot.

And.

I wish I had just committed to it like this when I was a kid.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Isn't it interesting?

How does it feel like the headspace that you're in now?

You dropped 50 points in NBL one the other day to be preparing.

Let's let's say manifesting.

You've been selected in the Olympic team at the time of recording.

The team hasn't been picked, but how does it feel to be preparing for such a huge tournament to be going to the Olympics again and to be in such incredible form?

Um, it's, it's a head.

I'm still, um, I there's anxiety.

Absolutely.

I think the pressure has been real.

Um, I think that's been driving me probably more than anything is just the pressure of having to make a team.

And then, um, whereas, you know, when I was younger, I knew I was going to be on that squad.

I knew I was going to be on that team, no matter what.

Um, whereas now, like having to actually commit to something and commit to a process and, and then commit to the training to, to get myself as.

As good as I possibly could get myself, I guess, physically, um, and physically I'm there.

I think mentally I am, I overthink I'm overthinking the process and I need to get back to what I was talking about before.

Like each day, take each day as it comes, because if you look too far ahead, that's when you lose your mind.

And I am quite capable of losing my mind in any given moment.

So it's just about sort of reining my brain in and like, just trying to stay focused in the great thing about my life now.

It's when I have my children.

So as soon as I pick those kids up, it is not about me anymore.

It's not about training.

It is about those two and what they want at all times.

So it's, um, that has been a blessing in disguise.

No doubt.

Um, that, that that's really helped yet, but it's been hard.

Like it is hard.

The pressure is hard, which I've never had to really deal with before.

Like that pressure of making something.

Yep.

What is your favorite?

Failure, my favorite failure.

Um, look, I've failed at a lot of things, a lot of times, whether it's like having a bad game, you know, um, on Saturday night we had to play Hills and honestly, I failed.

I failed miserably.

I had a terrible day.

Um, and I was tired.

I think the training, like I am training a lot, like I'm conditioning every day and weights every day.

I'm on the court every day.

So I think by Saturday I was just tired.

My knee was sore.

I was like, I cannot, I just don't want to be here.

This is killing me.

The refs weren't calling anything my way.

And I just wasn't making any baskets.

And honestly, all I wanted to do was go to bed.

We'd been on a bus for seven hours to get to Sydney.

My child was sitting there on top of me.

There was no other seats on the bus.

It just felt like horrible.

My, my life just got horrible on Saturday.

So I had a terrible game.

We still won, but I, I still, for my.

Standards played terrible.

And then I decided not to play in the fourth quarter, which is no problem because our team was up by 30 points.

The girls have got to win without me anyway, cause I'm not playing anymore.

So it was fine.

Anyhow.

Yeah.

Felt like a complete failure.

Texted mom.

Don't know if I can do this bill.

Like, you know, maybe it's all going to come falling down, you know, and mom's like, stop it.

You're overthinking things again, like just relax.

And then yeah, Sunday.

Was.

Sunday was a different story, but it's, it's interesting.

It's, um, uh, every day I fail missing out on job opportunities, you know, like it happens to all of us.

You've just got to get back on the bus and keep going, you know, that's life.

It's you, you get some, you win some, you lose some, you know,

what does Paris look like for the Opals?

Oh, it's exciting.

I think the Opals.

Um, with the, the girls that we've got overseas in the WNBA at the moment, uh, uh, really mixing it with the best of them.

You know, as he's really coming into our own, she's probably going to be an all-star again this year.

She's just phenomenal.

I sent her a message and I truly believe this, but I honestly think she's going to be, um, one of, if not the best defender in the world.

Like I truly believe that just her athleticism and her dominance defensively is something that is just incredible.

And it's so important.

It's so fun to watch.

So I'm really excited about her, um, Rebecca Allen, great steps coming along the, the girls, Jade Melbourne, you know, they're all coming into their own.

So we've got like a great group of girls over there.

Um, and then, you know, back here, we've got experience, we've got leadership, we've got consistency, and then we've got the youth, the really young ones coming through.

So there's like a great mix.

Um, but on top of that, there's a great culture.

It's a great group of girls that are supportive, whether we win, lose or whatever.

I know that those girls are going to come together and be okay through it.

Um, so I feel like Paris is going to be a really, really good tournament for the girls.

Yeah.

I cannot wait to watch to finish us off.

Who has had the biggest impact on you as a person?

Oh, do I need to, do I even need to say this?

Um, my mother, I would say my mom is the one.

She's still the one that, um, probably the only person that can truly like calm me down and speak rationally to me.

And, um, she just knows me so well, you know what I mean?

And I guess for my mom too, I look at her and I want to be like her still to this day.

I want to have her kindness.

I want to have her strength.

Um, she's not at all vulnerable.

So I'm definitely not like her in that.

I've never once seen her be vulnerable.

She's a strong bugger.

Um, yeah, so I, but she's as kind as anything.

And I think that's something that I just absolutely admire in her.

Um, and yeah, she's, I mean, she was captain of the Opals once too.

So for me, I've, I've got my idol, my role model in my mom.

Absolutely.

I see her every day and fight with her every day and she'll still win.

She's amazing.

That is, that's really special.

Um, thank you so much for your time again today, Lauren.

And for you.

And for your candidness and your vulnerability, even though it's opposite to your mother.

Um, it's, it's really special to have the chance to chat to you again and hear more

about the last couple of years and crossing fingers and toes and everything that we'll,

we'll see you on the plane over to Paris.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

Thanks so much for listening.

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