Lauren Jackson unretires again, joins Australia for Olympic basketball qualifying
Hall of Fame basketball player Lauren Jackson is unretiring from the national team for a second time to play for Australia in Olympic qualifying.
Jackson, a 42-year-old with four Olympic medals, was named to the 12-woman roster for next month's tournament in Brazil. The top three teams out of Brazil, Australia, Germany and Serbia will qualify for the Paris Games.
In 2022, Jackson came out of a six-year retirement to play the FIBA World Cup, which Australia hosted, and scored 30 points off the bench in the bronze-medal game in what was thought to be her finale with the Opals.
Jackson continued to play the last two seasons in Australia's domestic league and in December was named to a 20-player pool from which the Olympic qualifying team would be chosen, pending her fitness.
Jackson won Olympic silver or bronze medals with Australia in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. She was the No. 1 WNBA Draft pick in 2001 and won three MVPs with the Seattle Storm.
The last time Jackson played in the Olympics and in the WNBA was in 2012.
Jackson can become the oldest basketball player in Olympic history this summer, according to Olympedia.org.
