Five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson set to join Australia's WNBL in advisory role

Five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson set to join Australia’s WNBL in advisory role

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Australia’s Lauren Jackson shoots over Canada’s Natalie Achonwa during the bronze medal game at the women’s Basketball World Cup in Sydney on Oct. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

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Former Seattle Storm player Lauren Jackson becomes emotional while speaking about her former teammate Sue Bird during a jersey retirement ceremony for Bird following a WNBA basketball game between the Seattle Storm and the Washington Mystics, June 11, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

SYDNEY (AP) — Five-time Olympian Lauren Jackson is taking her basketball experience off the court to become a “special advisor” in Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League.

A three-time most valuable player with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and seven-time WNBL champion in Australia, the 43-year-old Jackson will take up the part-time position with the league’s new owners. The NBL Group and Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate will officially take over the eight-team league on April 2.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of this next chapter for the WNBL,” Jackson, who retired after last year’s Paris Olympics, said in a statement. “This league has been at the heart of my journey in basketball. Now I have the chance to help create an exciting future where our talented players thrive in a professional environment worthy of their skill and passion.”

WNBL chief executive Jennie Sager said having Jackson as an advisor was a “no-brainer.”

“She’s a trailblazer . . . and someone who knows what it takes to build success,” Sager said. “Her deep connection to the league, her experience as a player and her vision for its future will be instrumental in helping us raise the bar and deliver a bigger, bolder WNBL.”

Jackson will continue to work with Basketball Australia as the head of women in basketball.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)