Australia’s greatest basketballer Lauren Jackson has revealed she will seriously consider emerging from retirement to play at the Paris Olympics, provided Basketball Australia delivers financial and practical support to allow her to travel with her two young children., having dealt with “horrible” anxiety before and during the Olympic qualifiers in Brazil at being separated from her two “angels”, Harry, 7, and Lenny, 5.
“It’s on Basketball Australia. I have said to them I can’t even consider it unless I have support for my kids. I can’t do it without them, and I am a single mum. It’s too hard for me to leave them with my parents all the time. And I can’t do it, either,” Jackson said.“It breaks my heart every time I leave them. I am not a crier, but people have seen me very emotional these last few months because I have had to leave them. I probably need them more than they need me, but I can’t keep doing that.
“It was horrible. The day I dropped them off – we had played Perth right before I left – I dropped them off in Albury the day before, and I didn’t stop crying for 48 hours,” Jackson said. Jackson said Flyers owner, multimillionaire businessman Gerry Ryan, had been “remarkable” in helping her and her family, even allowing the player dubbed the GOAT to skip a late December game in Perth – and potential flight delays – to ensure she was at home with her children for Christmas., talking about it , it is a real barrier for women. When they are the main caregiver for the kids and stuff, if you can’t have your children with you, it’s hard, you can’t get it done,” Jackson said.