157 Facts About Lauren Jackson

Lauren Elizabeth Jackson was born on 11 May 1981 and is an Australian professional basketball player.

The daughter of two national basketball team players, Jackson was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in 1997, when she was 16.

Lauren Jackson joined the Canberra Capitals for the 1999 season when she turned 18 and played with the team off and on until 2006, winning four more WNBL championships.

From 2010 to 2016, Lauren Jackson played with the Canberra Capitals, which she did during the Women's National Basketball Association offseason during the time she continued WNBA play.

Lauren Jackson made the Australian under-20 team when she was only 14 years old and was first called up to the Australian Women's National Basketball Team when she was 16 years old.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics teams and captain of the 2008 Summer Olympics team, winning three silver medals.

Lauren Jackson was part of the Australian team that won the bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the Australian Senior Women's Team that won a silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women in China, co-captain of the team that won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and captain of the team that won a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil.

In 2001, Lauren Jackson entered the Women's National Basketball Association draft and was selected by the Seattle Storm, which viewed Lauren Jackson as a franchise player.

Lauren Jackson won two WNBA titles with the Storm, in 2004 and 2010, the latter earning Jackson the WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

Lauren Jackson played club basketball in Europe with WBC Spartak Moscow in Russia and Ros Casares Valencia in Spain.

Lauren Jackson played in the Women's Korean Basketball League, where she was named the league's Most Valuable Player and set a league record scoring 56 points, and in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association.

Lauren Jackson announced her retirement from basketball on 31 March 2016, citing a persistent knee injury as the reason for her decision.

Besides her basketball career, Lauren Jackson is in the process of attaining her university degree at the Macquarie University, majoring in gender studies.

Lauren Jackson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

In 2021, Lauren Jackson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Lauren Jackson came out of retirement in April 2022, to play for the Albury Wodonga Bandits in NBL1 East.

Bennie played in two World Championships, and for the women's basketball team at Louisiana State in the late 1980s, wearing the number 15, the number Lauren Jackson wears in her mother's honour.

Lauren Jackson's parents continued to play basketball locally on the social level when Lauren and her brother were young, and her family had a basketball court in their backyard when Jackson was growing up.

Lauren Jackson grew up in Albury, where she attended Murray High School.

Lauren Jackson earned her Higher School Certificate in Canberra while she was training with the Australian Institute of Sport.

Lauren Jackson studied for a psychology degree at Lomonosov Moscow State University and continued via correspondence from America.

Lauren Jackson's coursework was centred in cultural studies and included topics like women's rights and racism.

Lauren Jackson was involved in athletics at school and played tennis, which she gave up because competitions conflicted with her ability to play basketball.

Lauren Jackson is the most famous basketball player in Australia, a position she reached by 2003.

Lauren Jackson was recognised as one of the world's best basketball players by the time she was 21.

Lauren Jackson has been described as Australia's best female player to ever step on a basketball court, and the best female basketball player in the world.

Lauren Jackson plays two positions, forward and centre, and has the ability to make jump shots and spinning bank shots.

Lauren Jackson started playing basketball at the Albury Sports Centre when she was four years old.

Lauren Jackson first played competitive basketball as a six-year-old she played on a local under-10 side.

Lauren Jackson's team made it to the Grand Final one year, and she played in the match despite having hurt her knee.

When she was 14 years old, Lauren Jackson led her New South Wales side to a national championship gold.

Lauren Jackson was described as a basketball prodigy by the time she was seventeen years old.

Lauren Jackson has played with Robyn Maher, Michelle Timms and Shelley Gorman, whom she admired during her youth.

Lauren Jackson had a rivalry with American basketball player Lisa Leslie.

The rivalry intensified in 2000 at the Olympics in the gold medal match when Lauren Jackson purposely pulled off Leslie's hair extension while both were trying to grab a rebound.

The rivalry continued when Lauren Jackson transitioned to the WNBA and her Seattle Storm team played Leslie's Los Angeles Sparks, who at the time were the best team in the league.

Leslie and Lauren Jackson have played together as team members in the WNBA's All-Star game.

In 2007, Lauren Jackson played in the Women's Korean Basketball League and was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Lauren Jackson played for Samsung Bichumi in Seoul, South Korea.

Lauren Jackson claimed this allowed her to play drama free basketball.

Lauren Jackson competed in the league's all star game and was declared the Most Valuable Player of the match.

Lauren Jackson played two games a week with the league.

Lauren Jackson first signed with a European side at the end of the 2005 WNBA season, and went to Russia on a lucrative contract.

Lauren Jackson's teammates included other international basketball Olympians: Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Tina Thompson.

Lauren Jackson scored 35 points in a EuroLeague Women 2008 in an 11 April 2008 game against UMMC Ekaterinburg while playing for Spartak.

Later on, Lauren Jackson played for Spartak in the EuroLeague Women finals in Brno, which her team won.

Lauren Jackson finished the 2008 season with an average of 23.6 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game.

In 2009, Lauren Jackson had an option of extending her contract with Spartak for two more years.

Lauren Jackson left the team in early January 2011 because of an injury, returning to Australia for her recovery.

Lauren Jackson played for the Ros Casares Valencia, Spain, in 2011 and 2012.

Lauren Jackson played in the power forward position with the team.

Lauren Jackson ranked 17th in the league for three-point field foals made per game at 1.4.

Lauren Jackson missed the game against Galatasaray MP, playing zero minutes.

Lauren Jackson was averaging 20 minutes, 8.0 points, and 2.9 rebounds a game as of 10 February 2012.

Opposition players knew they could get at Lauren Jackson by giving her sneaky fouls and nettling her back with some trash talk.

Lauren Jackson has played 9,958 minutes in the league and ranks 16th all time in this category.

Lauren Jackson ranked fifth all time in the league with 4,456 field goal attempts.

Lauren Jackson attempted 1219 three-point field goals in her career, ranking 10th on the league's all time leaderboard.

Lauren Jackson was ranked second all time in the league for turnover percentage with 9.4.

Lauren Jackson's parents stayed with her in Seattle for the first month she played in the WNBA in 2001.

Lauren Jackson ranked eighth in the league with 406 field goal attempts.

Lauren Jackson attempted 129 three-point field goals this season, ranking 8th in the league.

Lauren Jackson ranked seventh in the league in this category for the season, and was a WNBA All Star.

Lauren Jackson was a WNBA All Star again in 2002, and played in the All Star Game.

Lauren Jackson was the team's captain, the youngest in the WNBA at the time.

In 2002, Carrie Graf, who had been an assistant coach on the Australian national team from when Lauren Jackson for played for it, changed coaching positions in the WNBA from Phoenix to Seattle specifically to make Lauren Jackson feel more comfortable playing for the team.

Lauren Jackson was estimated to have earned $200,000 to play for the Storm in 2002.

Lauren Jackson's mother spent two weeks in Seattle with Jackson during this season.

Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird first played together this season and would continue to play together for the Storm into the 2010 season.

Lauren Jackson ranked second in the league with 462 field goal attempts, and made 186 field goals, ranking 6th in the league in this category.

Lauren Jackson ranked fourth in the league in this category this season.

Lauren Jackson was ranked first in the league for turnover percentage with 8.6.

Lauren Jackson was a WNBA All Star again in 2003, and was named to the 2003 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson was named the league's MVP, and was one of the top five women in the league for average number of rebounds per games and blocks per game.

Lauren Jackson called Tom Maher and her Seattle Storm coach Anne Donovan after winning the award, and cried for an hour after learning she won.

Lauren Jackson was the first non-American to be named the league's MVP and the youngest player to earn this honour.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league for field goals, with 254, for total points with 698, for field goal attempts with 526, and for win shares with 9.2, and offensive win shares with 6.7.

Lauren Jackson was again named to the 2004 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson played in 31 games, averaging 34.5 minutes per game.

Lauren Jackson made 220 field goals and ranked second in the league in this category.

Lauren Jackson ranked fourth in the league with 460 field goal attempts.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league for total points with 634, and for points per game with 20.52 points on average, and had a player efficiency of 28.0, second in the league in this category.

Lauren Jackson was a WNBA All Star again in 2005, and was named to the 2005 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson averaged 17.6 points per game, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Lauren Jackson ranked third in the league for her 34 total games, and for her 206 field goals.

Lauren Jackson ranked fifth in the league for total minutes played with 1,176, and for field goal attempts, with 450.

Lauren Jackson attempted 118 three-point field goals this season, ranking eighth in the league, and was ranked first for total defensive rebounds with 217.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league in this category this season.

Lauren Jackson was still with the Seattle Storm in 2006, coached by Anne Donovan.

Lauren Jackson was a WNBA All Star again in 2006, and was named to the 2006 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson made 193 field goals and ranked seventh in the league.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league in the offensive rating category with 135.3.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league for offensive win shares with 7.4.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league for win shares with 8.8.

Lauren Jackson was a WNBA All Star for the sixth time in 2007.

Lauren Jackson was named to the 2007 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson averaged 23.8 points per game, the most points she had averaged per game for a season in the WNBA.

Lauren Jackson averaged 22.4 points, 2.16 blocks, and 9.3 rebounds per game at the time of the All-Star Break, leading the league in points and blocks, and was second for rebounds.

Lauren Jackson made 258 field goals, ranking second in the league in this category.

Lauren Jackson ranked third in the league with 497 field goal attempts.

Lauren Jackson ranked first in the league in defensive rebounds, with 220, for total rebounds, with 300, and for total average number of rebounds per game, with 9.7.

Lauren Jackson had a player efficiency rating of 35.0, ranking first in the league in this category this season.

In 2009, Lauren Jackson became a WNBA All Star for the seventh time and was named to the 2009 All-WNBA First Team.

Lauren Jackson played in 26 games, in which she averaged 32.3 minutes per game.

Lauren Jackson played for the WNBA All-Stars at the Stars at the Sun game in 2010, and her Seattle Storm team won the WNBA Championship.

Lauren Jackson was named to the 2010 All-WNBA First Team.

On 2 September 2010, Lauren Jackson was presented her third MVP Award at the Seattle Storm's Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Mercury.

Lauren Jackson attempted 156 three-point field goals this season, ranking eighth in the league.

Lauren Jackson had a player efficiency of 27.9, ranking first in the league in this category this season.

In 2011, Lauren Jackson had to deal with a number of injuries that kept her out for most of the season.

Lauren Jackson missed 20 games in a season that is 34 games long.

Lauren Jackson opted to sit out the early part of the 2012 season as she wanted to concentrate on making the national team and competing in the Olympics.

The Storm saw an early playoff exit in their series against the Minnesota Lynx, with Lauren Jackson attempting a buzzer beater in the third game but falling short.

Lauren Jackson's attentions turned to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

However, in November 2015, Lauren Jackson announced that her rehabilitation had suffered a setback that would keep her from practising until January 2016.

Lauren Jackson was offered a scholarship with the AIS in 1996, when she was just 15, but her parents said no to this, as it required her to move from Albury to Canberra.

Lauren Jackson joined the Canberra Capitals for the 1999 season when she turned 18, and played with the team off and on until 2006.

Lauren Jackson did, with 4,110 people showing up to the game and setting a regular season attendance record for the Fire.

Canberra lost the match, with Townsville figuring a way to contain Lauren Jackson, limiting her to 23 points, which was six below her average of 29 points per game so far in that the season.

Lauren Jackson played with the Capitals in the Women's World Cup 2003 where she averaged 30.6 points per game and 11.4 rebounds.

Lauren Jackson won the WNBL Grand Final as a member of the Capitals, and was named the Most Valuable Player in the Grand Finals match.

Lauren Jackson was signed for the Capitals' next two seasons, and expected to join the team in November 2014, after recovering from a hip surgery she went through in September.

Lauren Jackson helped Heilongjiang qualify to the playoffs with an average of 22 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, but a heel injury made Jackson lose the post-season.

Lauren Jackson made the Australian under-20 team when she was only 14 years old.

Lauren Jackson was first called up to the senior national team when she was 16 years old.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the 1997 Australian Junior Women's Team that won a silver medal at the World Championships in Brazil.

Lauren Jackson averaged 14.3 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the 1998 Australian Senior Women's Team that won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Germany.

Lauren Jackson was a key part of the team's success.

Lauren Jackson was coached in the tournament by Tom Maher.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the 2000 Summer Olympics team that won a silver medal.

Lauren Jackson averaged 15.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

Lauren Jackson led the team in points scored and total rebounds.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the Australian Senior Women's Team that won a silver medal in the World Championships in China in 2002.

Lauren Jackson averaged 23.1 points a game in the competition and was named to the All-Star team for the tournament.

Lauren Jackson competed in the 2003 World Championships and was named the International Basketball Federation's Most Valuable Player.

Lauren Jackson was a member of the Australian senior team that won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, where she averaged 22.9 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

Lauren Jackson played in the preliminary final against the Mozambique women's national basketball team, and the gold deal match against New Zealand.

Lauren Jackson was the captain of the Australian women's senior team that won a gold medal at the World Championships in Brazil in 2006 that beat Russia in the Gold Medal match.

Lauren Jackson averaged 13.4 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game.

Lauren Jackson missed the first training camp for the 2012 Summer Olympics squad in March, but was back by April to train with the team.

Lauren Jackson was one of the models for the 2012 Australian Olympic team uniforms, and chosen to carry the Australian Flag during the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The hamstring injury prevented Lauren Jackson from getting much play during the Olympic tournament, having only had significant court time in the matches against USA and the bronze medal play-off with Russia.

However, the delayed recovery of Lauren Jackson's knee led her to give up on the tournament to have her right hip operated on to fix a torn labrum in September 2014.

Lauren Jackson had gotten the tear while playing for Ros Casares Valencia in 2012 but went without surgery to not miss the then-upcoming Olympics.

In May 2016, Lauren Jackson joined the new ownership group of the Melbourne Boomers, being named the team's commercial operations executive.

Lauren Jackson served as a colour commentator for Channel Seven's broadcast of the Olympic tournament.

Lauren Jackson released an autobiography, My Story: A Life in Basketball and Beyond, in October 2018.

Australia went on to win the bronze medal, with Lauren Jackson recording 30 points and 7 rebounds in their victory over Canada.

Lauren Jackson had surgery on her left hip acetabular labrum in June 2011 in Vail, Colorado at the Richard Steadman Clinic.

Lauren Jackson partied a fair amount in her early 20s.

Lauren Jackson posed for the 2005 edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Lauren Jackson was named the Australian International Player of the year in 1999,2000 and 2002.

Lauren Jackson was the flag bearer for Australia at the Summer 2012 London Olympic Games.

Lauren Jackson was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, the same year in which she was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Lauren Jackson was an I naugural inductee to the University of Canberra Sport Walk of Fame in 2022.