Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981 in Albury, New South Wales) is an Australian professional basketball player. She is often called LJ or Loz. Beginning her professional career at the AIS, in the WNBL before moving on to the Canberra Capitals, taking a break in 2006 and returning for the 09/10 season. She is a forward/centre with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA, the Australian national team The Opals. She has won national championships in the U.S., Australia, and Russia, and a world championship as well. She is widely considered to be the best Australian female basketball player of all time and one of the best players in the world.
Jackson posed nude in an Australian magazine, Black+White, that featured Olympic athletes who were set to compete in Athens in the 2004 Summer Olympics. The expensively printed magazine/book has been produced for the last three Olympic Games and, by the 2004 edition, was considered relatively uncontroversial in Australia with its "artistic" approach to nude photography and its equal coverage of male and female athletes. Jackson also posed for the 2005 edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Jackson is a fan of the Wests Tigers rugby league club with her grandfather being a former player for the Western Suburbs Magpies.
Jackson works for domestic violence charities and helping children from Australia's outback get involved in sport.
Jackson is studying for a psychology degree at Lomonosov Moscow State University and will continue via correspondence from America. She wishes to work in social work after her basketball career.
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