EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Lauren Jackson on Time, Resilience & Comebacks

Name: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Lauren Jackson on Time, Resilience & Comebacks
Uploaded: 2026-07-20T03:10:36+00:00
Duration: 9 min 12 s
Channel: Man of Many

00:08Melbourne is a city that refuses to be one thing. An old world, new world, melting pot

00:13of cultures and styles, the Victorian capital has become a truly global destination. So it

00:17makes perfect sense that Swiss watch Baker Chisso is now falling at home. The iconic watch brand

00:22has just launched a new boutique on Collins Street in the heart of the CBD, joining the likes of

00:27London, New York, Paris and Osaka. The stunning showroom brings a decidedly international concept

00:33to the fold and who better to lead me through it than a global icon themselves. Seven WNBL

00:39championships, two WNBA championships and a string of MVPs across a multitude of continents. Lauren

00:44Jackson has conquered the globe, a 6'5 big post up and shoot threes. The towering Aussie was ahead of

00:50her time. Before Curry, before Caitlin Clark, even before LeBron James, there was LJ. Now the five-time

00:56Olympian, a Tissot friend of the brand, is back home on Aussie soil and she's helping us unpack a

01:01legacy of performance and innovation. Lauren, so good to see you. Good to see you. Yes.

01:08Now Lauren, you played in the US, in Russia, in China and Korea. It must be nice to be back

01:12here

01:13in Australia in a beautiful place like Melbourne. Absolutely. I mean, I've definitely been so lucky to

01:17play all over the world and experience different cultures and things like that. But for me, there's no

01:23place like home. So being back here in Melbourne, creating new memories, it means a lot. So I love

01:28this place. I really do. And Malvernians love their sport, whether it's footy or basketball or the

01:33Grand Prix. It's also a wonderful place where you won Commonwealth Games gold. Must have some pretty

01:37special memories attached to this place. Yeah, I do. I've won a few championships here in the WNBL.

01:43Yeah, obviously that gold medal at the Commonwealth Games was really special as well, playing at John Kane

01:47Arena. I've had some great memories here in Melbourne. Let's take it back to the start.

01:52You famously made your debut in the WNBL when you were just 16. Yep. How did you adapt to that

01:57transition from being a promising athlete to being an international star? Well, you know, once I left

02:03home when I was 15 to go to the Australian Institute of Sport and I think once I was in

02:07that environment,

02:08I was in it. Like it just took a life of its own and my career evolved from there. So

02:13obviously you're

02:14into the training every single day and you've got this routine and that's it's just the way that it

02:20happened. I never really had time to reflect on it. I just went with it and one foot in front

02:24of the

02:24other and that's how it went down. Obviously it wasn't all success straight from the start though.

02:30There were challenges, setbacks and injuries. What kept you motivated during those tough periods?

02:35Look, I think it's been different for different times throughout my career. I think the older I've

02:40gotten, the more I've sort of focused on upscaling off the court. So studying, I went to university,

02:45got my degree, didn't focus so much on the negative stuff. But I think the challenges that you face,

02:51they just set you up that resilience for the future and the things that you'll face down the track.

02:56When I was young, I really didn't think about retirement or anything like that. So I think,

03:01you know, as you get older, those are the sorts of things that you focus on a little bit more

03:04and

03:05you try and prepare yourself for what's going to happen after.

03:11TISO is all about making every second will count. Is there a specific memory from your career or a

03:16defining moment that it felt like time stood still? That's a good question. I think the journey has

03:22just been so incredible. And I think no matter where I'm playing, if it's in Olympic Games, on teams,

03:27in seasons, it's about the people and the relationships that you're building and how fun the journey is,

03:32because it goes so fast. It goes in a moment. Three or four or five months just flies by and

03:38all of a sudden you're about to walk into one of the biggest moments of your life. Career-wise,

03:43you've had some amazing milestones, but I want to go back to 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Tell me a bit

03:48about that experience playing in front of so many people in a home crowd being so young. Oh, that was

03:53crazy. I think at the time I didn't realise how big that moment was. So I just went in there

04:00as a

04:0019-year-old and played the way that I do, just free. I just took it as any other tournament

04:05or

04:05any other game that I was playing and I didn't really, yeah, I just didn't succumb to the pressure,

04:10you know. I just enjoyed every moment. It was just one year later that you did nominate for the

04:15WBA draft and went number one. As an Aussie going number one, that must have been such a wild

04:19experience to go to a foreign land and have so much pressure on you at that point. Totally wild. I

04:24remember flying over to New York for the draft with my mum. We were picked up in a limousine and

04:28they asked us

04:29what we wanted to eat and I said McDonald's. It was wild and like I said before, it's one of

04:33those

04:34things where once you're in it, you're in it. You don't have time to really reflect on it and it

04:38just

04:39goes like that. The whole thing went like that.

04:44It's been an amazing career to watch for such a long time. I feel like one of the things that

04:49is fascinating to me is there was retirements and there was comebacks and I want to talk a little

04:54bit about one comeback more recently. Yeah. Stepping back onto the court after a few years away in 2022.

04:58Yeah. What led to that moment? In 2016, I had to call it quits. I had a half knee replacement

05:04on my

05:04knee and so I got back into, you know, work life. I had a couple of kids. I guess after

05:11a few years,

05:11I thought, no, it's time to sort of get back in the gym and try and lose a bit of

05:14weight. And

05:15that turned into the coach of the NBL 1 team in Aubrey saw me sort of shooting around one day

05:21and

05:21he was like, oh, would you think about playing NBL 1? And in the back of my mind, I was

05:25like,

05:26I would, but there's no way it'll ever happen. My knee won't hold up. And anyway, I thought,

05:31yeah, okay, I'll sign. They'll get more memberships. I started playing again and within,

05:36I think about eight games, I got a call from the national team coach just saying, would you like

05:40to get back into the Australian team? I, you know, I knew that I had to get as strong as

05:44I possibly

05:44could get to have that opportunity to play again. And then once I sort of got back to that level,

05:49then I was in with the chance. I did what I had to do to keep my body right. And

05:54yeah,

05:55it was pretty crazy. Resilience is such an important part of the process as being an athlete,

05:59but also with a brand like Tissot, it's something that they're known for.

06:03What does that value of resilience mean to you? Oh gosh, resilience is everything. I think

06:08for me personally, it's years and years and years of experience, of heartache, of triumph,

06:14of all of these things that make you who you are today. And I think looking back over the years

06:19in my career, you know, I made a lot of mistakes as a young person, as we all do. As

06:24you get older

06:25and as you have these experiences and you learn, you learn about yourself, you learn about the world.

06:30Resilience is, it's built from, from all that. It's built from the ups and downs.

06:35You've taken obviously a lot from that experience playing for so long and then retiring and coming back.

06:39When you think about legacy, we'll come and see your mind.

06:43Legacy, again, that's another interesting question. A lot of people have asked me about

06:47what I want my legacy to be. I think the work that I'm doing now off the court and the

06:51impact

06:52that I'm part of, you know, helping build and create in Australia is actually providing pathways

07:00for females in our sport, making it more accessible and creating visibility. I think that's the legacy

07:06I want to be remembered for. I think shoe basketball has given me so much in my life. I don't

07:11know who

07:11I would be without it. So for me, it's giving back to the sport and it's been such an incredible

07:15thing in my life. You know, it's everything.

07:21Now, as an athlete, I feel like you're always under pressure. There's always something driving

07:24you to succeed. And with that in mind, I thought I'd put you through another pressure test.

07:2830 seconds on the clock, rapid fire questions, no thinking, just answers.

07:32Yep. Are you ready to go? Do this.

07:34Alrighty, 30 seconds on the clock. Time starts now. Buzzer beater or game-winning block?

07:39Game-winning block.

07:41Sydney 2000 Olympics or Paris 2024 comeback?

07:45Paris 2024 because of my children.

07:47Pre-game superstition?

07:48I don't have any anymore because of my children. They're like the superstition.

07:52They've taken all that away.

07:54Favourite player of all time?

07:55Jordan.

07:56Best piece of advice you've received?

07:59Dream, believe, create, succeed.

08:01Most clutch moment in your career?

08:02I don't know. I've got no idea. I'm so bad with moments. I told you, it's the journey.

08:07It's the journey. Lauren, thanks so much for your time.

08:09We really appreciate it. One last question. There's one lesson that you've learned over

08:13your time playing sport. What is that?

08:15To really embrace each moment. I think that would be it. I think we're so stuck on focusing on what's

08:20going to happen next instead of really enjoying the moments that we're in and living them to the

08:25fullest. I think that's probably the one thing that, for me, I probably would have changed if I could.

08:30Make every second count?

08:31Make every second count. Absolutely.

08:37More than two decades after she first broke out, Lauren Jackson is living proof that legend status

08:42doesn't fade. Yeah, the game may have changed, but she remains one of Australia's most important

08:46cultural icons. And now we can add another to the list. With the opening of the Colton Street Boutique,

08:52Tissot is entering a bold new era. The Swiss watchmaker has built a reputation on reliable,

08:57hardworking timepieces that more than stand up to pressure. And like any great brand, Tissot knows

09:03that there's a time and place for everything. It just so happens that that time and place

09:07us is right here, right now.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Lauren Jackson on Time, Resilience & Comebacks

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