Lauren Jackson’s unrivalled basketball career appears to have ended on a heart-breaking note after the Opals legend suffered a likely Achilles injury in her WNBL tribute match.
The round 13 encounter between the Southside Flyers and Sydney Flames was being played to honour Jackson who will retire at the end of the season and had drawn a WNBL-record 7,681 fans to John Cain Arena.
But Jackson’s farewell was just 62 seconds old when she and Flames forward Jocelyn Wolloughby clashed knees, causing Jackson’s to twist awkwardly. She hobbled up the tunnel, and later emerged on crutches. The team later confirmed it was an Achilles injury that ended her night.
In tears as she left the court, the 41-year-old Jackson returned to the bench early in the second quarter on crutches. Warmed by the WNBL record crowd and their reaction to a pre-game highlight reel of her epic career, Jackson put on a brave face.
It was a bitter twist to Jackson’s Flyers’ suffering a 68-67 upset loss to the Flames, after a brilliant 36-point performance from Sydney young gun Tiana Mangakahia. “I don’t feel great, but it is what it is,” an agitated Jackson told Channel Nine after the game. “I was on borrowed time anyway … it’s a bit ironic isn’t it.”
Speaking on court after the match, Jackson added: “This was absolutely incredible. To be a part of it was just magic, but it was a shame I couldn’t play more than 10 seconds. I’ll see what I’ve done … but the good news is that it’s not my broken foot, it’s the other [leg],” Jackson said post-match. “I think it’s my Achilles.”
Jackson returned from injury-forced basketball retirement last year to help the Opals to a bronze medal at the Fiba Women’s World Cup in Sydney. Sitting third, the Flyers still appear finals-bound in the WNBL with four games remaining.
Jackson’s injury isn’t related to the broken foot she has been playing with since December. Jackson told reporters before the game that she had been nursing her foot, having initially not sought treatment for the pain, believing it to be arthritic pain. She said she may not have played on it had she known earlier it was broken.
“It’s one of those things where I’m just going to see the season out, do what I can and then I’ll deal with it after,” she said. “At least knowing that it is broken now, I know that it will heal eventually. If I had have found out it was broken straight away I might not have played on it. At least I know I can play on it now, and I’m getting all the support I can get.”
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The former WNBA star described the moment when the Achilles injury occurred. “I felt something pop and I said to the referee, ‘I don’t think I can walk’,” Jackson said. “I don’t know whatever it is. I will go get scans and hopefully, this is just a stinger or something but I don’t know. I think we have the best team in the league, there’s no doubt about it, and I’ve just got to regroup and get back out there.”
Jackson is Australia’s greatest women’s basketballer. She made the national under-20 team when she was only 14 years old and was first called up to the Opals as a 16-year-old. Jackson went on to win silver medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics and was co-captain of Australia’s 2006 world champion team.