A once in a century athlete: Lauren Jackson's journey from Albury to basketball pioneer

It's September 24, 1993. Jackson was just a fresh-faced 12-year-old from Albury when she wrote a poem about her Olympic dream of playing basketball in Sydney.

Seven years later she led the Opals to their first gold medal match, setting up one of the most decorated careers in the history of women's sport.

Jackson, now 38, is a four-time Olympian, a world champion, WNBL winner, WNBA most valuable player and the world's best basketballer at her peak.

Off the court, Jackson became one of the first Australians to show women could become full-time professional athletes in team sports.

She plyed her trade for 12 months of the year, commanding contracts worth more than $1 million as she conquered competitions in Australia, the United States, Europe and Asia.

Certainly, Jackson was a pioneer for women to be paid to play their chosen sport. But former Opals and Canberra Capitals coach Carrie Graf says she transformed the way female athletes are viewed by her sheer basketball brilliance.

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"She was a once in a century athlete. She was the Don Bradman of women's basketball, one of those iconic players that had talent people had never seen before," Graf said.

"Talent in terms of her being six-foot-five and being able to move the way she did; to run and jump like she was five-foot-10, shoot the three-pointer and block shots. She was graceful and athletic, but she played basketball like anyone, man or woman.

"She trailblazed in terms of that, she took what people viewed as what female athletes can do or are to another level."

Jackson earned about $40,000 USD when she was the No.1 Draft pick for the 2001 WNBA season, splitting her time between the Seattle Storm and Canberra Capitals.

She went on to supplement her salary with stints in Russia, South Korea, Spain and China, but the relentless schedule took its toll on her body.

A knee injury ended Jackson's career prematurely in 2016, on the eve of what would have been her fifth appearance at the Olympic Games.

Despite being a pioneer of women's basketball and the greatest player at her prime, Jackson views her story as one that ultimately mirrors the challenges all female athletes face.

"I think my story actually tells the story of the life of a professional female athlete and the challenges we face, which are very, very different to the challenges men face in sport," Jackson told The Canberra Times in 2018.

"We play year round, our bodies suffer because we don't have time to rehab. You put your life and family on hold and then at the end, you pick up the pieces when you retire. I think people need to hear that before they judge female athletes."

More sportswomen are now being paid to be professional, competitions are getting increased television exposure and their talent is being recognised.

But there is still a massive pay disparity between male and female athletes.

The best players in the WNBA in the United States earn roughly $110,000 per year and still travel around the world to play in different competitions during the off-season. In comparison, the best men in the NBA can earn more than $40 million per season.

Jackson signed a landmark deal constructed by third-party sponsors when she returned to Canberra, and was offered almost $1 million to play three WNBL seasons between 2012 and 2016.

"Our ability as a city and as a basketball club to contract an athlete on a million-dollar contract, that's trailblazing ahead of its time," Graf said.

"That was iconic and representative of Canberra leading the way in the support of women's sport.

"There were, and are, many things iconic about her, but I think her sheer basketball brilliance and athletic talent was a separator."

ESPN The Magazine ranked Jackson 13^th in The Dominant 20 in 2018, a list of the most dominant sports figures of the 21^st century.

She'll be inducted into the WNBA's Hall of Fame next year, becoming the second Australian behind Michele Timms.