11/09/2000
KERRY O'BRIEN: Thorpe, O'Neill, Freeman -- household names and Australia's brightest gold-medal prospects.
But after a torrid basketball clash this weekend between America and Australia, the name 'Lauren Jackson' has emerged as one to watch over the two weeks of Olympic competition.
The Americans may have beaten Australia's Opals but, at just 19, Jackson is being hailed as the best basketballer in the world.
Sean Murphy reports.
LAUREN JACKSON: When I was about two, I think I said to my aunty, I said, "I'm going to play at the Olympics one day," and that's when it all started.
SEAN MURPHY: Lauren Jackson's time has come.
This week, she'll realize her Olympic dream and the world will discover what basketball's best have known for years.
MICHELLE TIMMS, OPALS CAPTAIN: Jackson has the potential to just, you know, blow everyone out of the water.
She could be the Michael Jordan that women's basketball hasn't yet had.
ANDREW GAZE, BOOMERS CAPTAIN: What she's doing here domestically and also what she's done with the Australian team on the international scene is nothing short of phenomenal.
SEAN MURPHY: With rare speed, agility and skill for someone almost two metres tall, 19-year-old Lauren Jackson has become a dominant player on the world stage.
The girl from Albury-Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border was almost genetically preordained to play basketball at the highest level.
Her mother, Maree, was a champion who captained Australia and played in America.
Father Gary also played for Australia.
When did you first realise that she had something special?
MAREE JACKSON: Well, she went away on the first basketball trip when she was two weeks old, and from then on she's always loved the ball, loved playing with it, dribbling, whatever.
GARY JACKSON: I guess from the age of about six or seven, it was quite obvious that her hand-eye coordination was exceptional for a kid her age.
TV NEWSREADER: Lauren Jackson is the youngest player to be chosen in the Australian team.
SEAN MURPHY: Lauren Jackson first came to the attention of national selectors as a 14-year-old.
Within a year, her exceptional talent brought a move to Canberra's Institute of Sport, and a realization that her dreams would mean personal sacrifices.
LAUREN JACKSON: That was really hard actually.
I think for the first six months, or something, I cried every night because I missed my parents too much or I'd miss my old school -- just little things like that.
MAREE JACKSON: It was very hard.
I've had one day off in 10 years where I work and it was that Monday.
We dropped her off on the Sunday, and it was the Monday I had off!
It was very difficult.
GARY JACKSON: You should have been in the car with her on the way home after dropping her off!
SEAN MURPHY: At home in country NSW, the Jacksons are now content to follow their daughter's career from afar.
Younger brother Ross believes fame and fortune is unlikely to change his sister.
ROSS JACKSON: Last time I was here, she got home, she was laying on the lounge-room floor with a packet of chips in her hand watching the TV and there was nothing different.
Nothing changes very much.
SEAN MURPHY: Two years ago, Lauren Jackson gave notice of her potential with an outstanding performance to help Australia win the bronze medal at the World Basketball Championships in Berlin.
America's 'Slam' magazine then rated her the greatest player in history.
Coach Tom Maher believes it's a lot of pressure for a teenager.
TOM MAHER, OPALS COACH: I mean, the worst thing that we can ever get to is somebody thinking that they have to get 40 points or 40 rebounds just to have a reasonable game.
It's just unattainable.
Or even worse, the thought that, "Well, I'm a one-man team."
LAUREN JACKSON: I guess that's when my friends bring me back down to earth and they're like, I'm just a normal person, because I am, and I've got normal friends and I've got normal family and I'm just me, really.
I don't ever really think about that sort of stuff.
SEAN MURPHY: In Sydney this week, sportswear giant Nike is putting the finishing touches to a 30-storey high advertisement featuring Lauren Jackson.
According to her agent, Leo Karis, the Olympics should make her an international superstar.
LEO KARIS, MANAGER: Once she goes that next level, I think she'll be playing in the States and I think her marketability will be enormous.
I think if Lauren wants to play with the best in the world, she will have to move there.
SEAN MURPHY: Even before the Games begin, Lauren Jackson has had a taste of what to expect from the best the USA has to offer.
And the gold-medal favourite Americans are well aware of Australia's young star.
NELL FORTNER, USA COACH: She has an incredibly bright future and she's doing a tremendous amount for their team right now, which you don't see that a lot in the world for such a young player to do that.
SEAN MURPHY: Lauren Jackson admits she'd like to play in America eventually, but for now, her only goal is to help the Opals win an historic Olympic gold medal.What do you think it will take to win an Olympic gold medal?
LAUREN JACKSON: I think we just have to keep playing the way we are and getting better and improving and hopefully, our talent will take us there.
We've got a great team now and everything's going really well, so I think that if we just keep plodding along with what we're doing we've got a chance, we're up there.
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