SEATTLE — On April 20, 2001 the Seattle Storm selected Lauren Jackson with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft and the franchise began an immediate uphill climb to be being a league powerhouse.
The ascension didn’t take long. With Jackson and Sue Bird, who the Storm selected with the No. 1 overall pick a year later, Seattle won its first championship in Jackson’s fourth season.
In 12 WNBA seasons, all with Seattle, Jackson was named league MVP three times (2003, 2007 and 2010) and won two WNBA championships (2004 and 2010). She ranks seventh in league history in scoring (6,007 points), ninth in rebounds (2,447) and third in blocks (586) and she is Seattle’s all-time leader in all three of those categories.
A native of Australia, Jackson is the first and only MVP in league history to be born outside of the United States.
After battling injuries for the better part of the past five years, Jackson announced her retirement from professional basketball in March. On Friday, Storm fans got an opportunity to say a proper goodbye to the all-time great.
The 35-year-old, who is widely considered to be one of greatest players in the history of women’s basketball, returned to Seattle for the first time since 2012 and had her jersey retired following the Storm’s 80-51 victory over Washington.
She is the first player in Storm history to have her jersey retired.
Jackson was honored throughout the game with various video tributes, Storm players took the floor for warm-ups wearing Jackson’s No. 15 on their shooting shirts and she was introduced to a standing ovation prior to the game after the Storm starters were announced.
At halftime, Jackson tossed autographed sneakers and t-shirts to the sellout crowd of 9,686 that supported her for more than a decade.
Jackson and Bird are often mentioned as a duo and eventually became one of the greatest duos in league history. It isn’t often you hear one’s name without the other and that sits just fine with Bird and Jackson.
“I love it,” Bird said. “It’s only right because so much of what we did here was together. We really complemented each other. We have been together since day one. The attributes that we both possess as basketball players, it just fits. I love that my career is tied to hers. I have no other way to describe it. It’s only right that it would happen like that.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Jackson added. “It’s a team sport. It’s so great when you actually have somebody when you can say, ‘I played my entire career with this person.’ And we were able to achieve what we did together. It’s awesome. It’s so weird to be able to share so much history and so much success with one person. People don’t even do that in marriages sometimes. We’re lucky.”
When Bird was selected by the Storm in 2002 she didn’t know much about her new teammate.
“Well, Google wasn’t really a thing, so I didn’t know much about her,” Bird said. “I watched the 2000 Olympics just like everyone else, so I saw this 19-year-old kid go toe-to-toe with the U.S. team. I had heard about her and seen her play in the Olympics and then one other time, but that was it.”
Though the two might have been unfamiliar with each other, their on-court connection happened seemingly overnight.
“On the court, we clicked pretty much instantly,” Jackson said. “And then once we started getting that connection on the court, we began getting that connection off the court — but it took a while to actually go to a bar.”
“We both have a shyness that we possess,” Bird added. “So the off the court (relationship) took that first season, but then by the next season we were hanging out all the time.”
Those are the memories that Bird cherishes the most.
“Luckily because we played so long here together — we have a lot to choose from,” she said. “Obviously on court, the easy answer is winning championships, but I think some of the best memories we have are the nights we went out after games, or the long road trips when flights get delayed and you have to make it fun, but as far as on the court and the city of Seattle, the city watched us grow up since we were 21 and our relationship continued to grow as the years went on.”
A new era of Storm basketball began in 2015 when the Storm selected Notre Dame’s Jewell Loyd with the first pick in the draft. In 2016, the Storm once again had the No. 1 pick and selected Connecticut’s Breanna Stewart. The last time the Storm had back-to-back No. 1’s they selected Jackson and Bird and it resulted in two championships. Storm fans hope Loyd and Stewart can lead the team to similar results in the years to come.
“Obviously having back-to-back number one picks sounds a little familiar, but one can only hope that we did enough here to leave a good legacy and leave the team in good hands,” Bird said. “And I hope they exceed the things we accomplished.”
As for Jackson’s individual legacy, she’ll leave that up to others.
“I don’t really know,” Jackson said. “I’m so humbled by everything that’s happening. It also was so long ago that it doesn’t seem real. I had a look at a few memories last night online, it’s hard. It’s emotional. I guess I don’t know what my legacy will be.
“That’s up to you guys.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
