Opals legend Lauren Jackson has made history as the first Australian player to be inducted into the prestigious Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
The seven-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player was announced among 16 iconic names in the class of 2021, and joins Lindsay Gaze (2015 inductee as a coach) as the only Aussies to earn the honour. <\/p>\n
"I am extremely honoured and humbled," Jackson said in a statement to Basketball Australia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
"To be recognised alongside such esteemed members of the basketball fraternity in the Class of 2021 is mind-blowing, and then the prospect of being inducted into the prestigious Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with legends and pioneers of our sport is just surreal.<\/p>\n
"Growing up I could only have dreamt of having the career that I have had, and I am thankful every day for the experiences and opportunities that basketball has given me.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/Hoophall\/status\/1393954728372064256<\/a><\/p>\n "I'm just a girl from country NSW who worked hard to be the best I could be and if that inspires others to follow in my footsteps and chase their own goals and aspirations, then that's the most enriching Award I can receive.<\/p>\n "To everyone who has played a role in my life and basketball career to date, all I can say is 'thank you' from the bottom of my heart; this Hall of Fame honour is as much yours as it is mine."<\/p>\n Jackson and the Hall of Fame class of 2021 will be enshrined in Massachusetts in an official event on September 11 later this year.<\/p>\n "Lauren is Australia's greatest ever basketballer and a true pioneer of women's sport," Basketball Australia interim Chairman John Carey said.<\/p>\n "No other Australian basketballer has achieved the level of success that Lauren has, and her pending induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame is a reflection of her incredible accomplishments.<\/p>\n "The significance of this recognition cannot be understated, it's a landmark day for Australian sport, and it's only fitting that Lauren is set to become the first Australian athlete to be inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame."<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/laurenej15\/status\/1394063556870475776<\/a><\/p>\n Lauren Jackson's impressive basketball resume<\/strong><\/p>\n – Seven-time WNBA All-Star (2001-2003, 2005-2007, 2009)<\/p>\n – Three-time WNBA MVP (2003, 2007, 2010)<\/p>\n – Two-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm (2004, 2010)<\/p>\n – WNBA Finals MVP (2010)<\/p>\n – WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in rebounding (2007)<\/p>\n – WNBA Scoring Champion (2003, 2004, 2007)<\/p>\n – WNBA's All-Decade Team (2006)<\/p>\n – Top 20 Players in the WNBA's 20-year history in 2016<\/p>\n – Five-time WNBL All-Star (1999-2004)<\/p>\n – Four-time WNBL MVP (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004)<\/p>\n – Four-time WNBL Grand Final MVP (2002, 2003, 2006, 2010)<\/p>\n – Three-time Olympic silver medalist (2000, 2004, 2008)<\/p>\n – No. 15 jersey retired by Seattle Storm<\/p>\n – Australian Basketball Hall of Fame (2019)<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/WNBA\/status\/1393960989624868867<\/a><\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Opals legend Lauren Jackson has made history as the first Australian player to be inducted into the prestigious Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71982,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71980\/revisions\/71982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n