Lauren Jackson weighing up playing options for next basketball season

Speaking at the Bush Summit at The Cube Wodonga today, the 42-year-old admitted there's the possibility we could see her playing in either the NBL1 or CBL competitions next season, with links to both the Bandits and Albury Basketball Association.

"I think it comes down to the people and we have so many great people involved in basketball in this area," Jackson said.

"Sam McDonald, I don't know if he's going to be coaching (the Bandits), but if he is coaching, yeah I want to play for him, I'll sign tomorrow.

"He's invested so much time in my comeback. If it wasn't for him playing one on one with me at six o'clock in the morning, he also got me back out on court initially too.

"It would be giving back to him as well and the work he's put in for nothing into my comeback.

"If I don't play NBL1, I can still play locally here for Albury. The coach is the development officer for Albury Basketball, so I'd love to play for her too.

"There's opportunities."

The Bandits are yet to name a women's coach for the 2024 NBL1 season, following the recent departure of the club's first women's championship coach, Matt Paps.

After joining the Southside Flyers in her comeback, Jackson admitted WNBL is also something for her to weigh up.

"I'd like to, but it's going to be really hard to keep training like this for another six months," she said.

"I think physically I will be fine, I really worked hard so that my body is in a place where I can play again, so I'm not so much worried about that, I'm more worried about my kids and it has to be right, it has to be perfect for me.

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"I know that playing for Albury-Wodonga will be easy because I'm home, I can have my kids who can travel on the weekend and it's no problem. It's a big commitment to move to Melbourne."

Having experienced what it feels like to don green and gold with the Opals, Jackson said she's "thankful" for what the Matildas have done for women's sport.

"They've had such a successful campaign and they still have an opportunity to create history. They have created history, and I'm just so proud and grateful that we've been able to watch them here in Australia and New Zealand," Jackson said.

"It's incredible, just the sheer numbers, the viewership of seven million consecutively, it's been amazing.

"I just hope that this type of momentum continues and it's not just a one month thing, it's something that continues into the future and creates more pathways and funding opportunities for women's sport, because people love it.

"That's been the issue, and now people can't say that people don't watch women's sport.

"It's a really exciting time and what comes out out of it, the legacy that it leaves behind, is still to be determined, but it's been an incredible time."

Jackson can draw parallels between basketball and soccer as global sports.

"In terms of population and how many athletes we've got playing at that level who are incredible, we do really well," Jackson said.

"If they medal, it's going to be bigger than anything.

"It should be celebrated like a gold. It's so hard to win medals in anything, Olympics and World Cups. But when you're talking about the two biggest sports in the world, it's pretty remarkable to think about what they've done."

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