Basketball Australia (BA) is thrilled to congratulate Australian Basketball Hall of Famer and sporting icon Lauren Jackson AO on her induction into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
Jackson, who is also BA’s Head of Women in Basketball, was inducted as an Athlete Member for her contribution to the sport of basketball and deservedly joins Australia’s finest ever sports stars in the country’s revered Sport Australia Hall of Fame. This prestigious accolade joins an endless list of honours Jackson has received for her significant contribution, influence and excellence within the Australian basketball community. In 2011, the Albury Sport Stadium was renamed “The Lauren Jackson Sports Centre,” and in 2015 Jackson was awarded the Order of Australia for distinguished services to basketball as an athlete at national and international level, as a mentor for women in sport, and as a supporter of a range of cultural and social welfare groups. In 2018, she won the International Olympic Committee’s Women in Sport award for Oceania and Jackson will also be inducted into America’s Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, as an International Player. Lauren Jackson is widely regarded as one of the all-time greatest females of Australian basketball. A four-time Olympian, having won three silver and one bronze medal, whose success also carried into World Championships where she led Australia to gold in 2006 after successive bronze medals in 2002 and 1998. In the USA she was a key figure in the WNBA where she played for Seattle after being the number one draft pick in the WNBA for 2001. She went on to win two championships, three MVP’s and is a seven-time WNBA All Star. Jackson is also a five-time WNBL champion, four-time WNBL MVP and Grand Final MVP winner and a five-time WNBL All-Star. Jackson also played successful stints within the Russian, Spanish, Korean and Chinese competitions. In 2015, the Albury raised star was considered to be Australia’s greatest female basketballer, for both her individual accomplishments and the success of the teams she had played in and captained and had often been described as the best in the world. Since hanging up her playing jersey, Jackson has continued to be influential within the sport in her role as BA Head of Women in Basketball, helping raise the bar for the next generation of female basketballers.
