WNBA legend Lauren Jackson is back playing professional basketball, joining the Albury Wodonga Bandits for the inaugural NBL1 East season in her native Australia.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 🐐😍

Australia's greatest ever basketballer Lauren Jackson (@laurenej15) is coming home to play for the @BorderBandits in the inaugural @NBL1East season! 🤩

Full details here: https://t.co/RAza8XY5Xt 🗞️ pic.twitter.com/vcnMUnn8kq

— NBL1 (@NBL1) February 1, 2022

The 40-year-old is a three-time WNBA MVP, four-time Olympian and five-time WNBL champion. A seven-time WNBA All-Star, she was a member of the Seattle Storm’s first WNBA championship team in 2004 and also their second in 2010 after being drafted No. 1 overall by the team in 2001. Her jersey number (15) has since been retired by the Storm.

Throughout her WNBA career, Jackson averaged 18.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 assists through 31.9 minutes per game across 317 games in the regular season. In 31 postseason games, she averaged 17.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

She last played in 2016 with the Canberra Capitals of the WNBL and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

With the Bandits, she will play in the stadium that bears her name, the Lauren Jackson Sports Center.

“We’re just over the moon that Lauren’s playing for her hometown and her home club,” said Bandits president Luke Smith. “It’s huge for the Albury Wodonga Bandits and for the Albury Wodonga community.

“I think it’s going to be a really big year and we’re really looking forward to her playing in a stadium named after herself and in front of her friends, family and her two boys. Our young players are going to have a massive opportunity to play and train with arguably the world’s best-ever female basketball player. It’s huge for them, it’s huge for every kid and it’s huge for every basketball player in Albury Wodonga.”

Friday's Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball debut was an unequivocal success for TV partner TNT Sports, as the new offseason 3x3 league's opening lineup became the most-watched women's basketball games in the broadcast network's history.

The doubleheader logged viewership averages of 313,000 and 311,000, respectively, with the first game peaking at 364,000.

Notably, these numbers do not include viewers on Max, where every Unrivaled game is available to stream live under the league's six-year, $100 million media deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

In 2022, WNBA games averaged 372,000 viewers across Disney networks, with the league later surpassing 500,000 across ABC, ESPN, and CBS in 2023 before reaching a 1.19 million average on ESPN in 2024.

Unlike the well-established WNBA, which is on the cusp of entering its 29th year, Unrivaled is a new-look product in its first-ever season. With that in mind, Unrivaled's initial numbers are promising, particularly for a league that's prioritizing long-term wins over instant gratification.

"I think we put ourselves in a great position to be successful right away, but it’s a marathon,"  league president Alex Bazzell told The Athletic before Unrivaled’s launch. "We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate."

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One piece of the Unrivaled fan engagement puzzle

Viewership is just one way the league is measuring fan engagement, with Unrivaled also turning an eye toward social media metrics.

"[Viewership is] not fully indicative of what is the overall fan interest because there’s so many ways to consume leagues and teams and highlights," noted Bazzell.

It's one reason that partnering with WBD was so appealing to the new league. The media giant's already robust sports social media channels are elevating Unrivaled content across platforms to an established, sports-hungry audience.

To that end, Unrivaled’s opening weekend content garnered 31 million views across WBD’s social channels and fueled a 59% viewership boost of the media giant's women's sports-specific TikTok account.

In the biggest upset of the 2025 Australian Open so far, 19-seed Madison Keys defeated world No. 2 Iga Świątek in a back-and-forth three-set semifinal early Thursday morning.

Entering as the tournament's only athlete to win every set, five-time Grand Slam champion Świątek conceded more games to Keys than in her previous five Australian Open matches combined.

Keys's speedy serve and heavy forehand paired with a Świątek double-fault pushed the match to a tie-break decider, with the US star ultimately winning 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).

"It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one," Keys said post-match. "I'm happy it was me."

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Keys's victory is just the latest chapter in a 2025 Australian Open run that's seen her beat three Top 10 contenders in Świątek, No. 6 Elena Rybakina, and No. 10 Danielle Collins. Those victories earned the 29-year-old her own Top 10 spot in next Monday’s WTA rankings.

With Thursday's win, Keys booked her second-ever Grand Slam championship match, returning to the sport's top stage for the first time since the 2017 US Open.

One last challenge awaits Keys

To claim her career's first Grand Slam trophy, however, Keys will have to defeat reigning champion and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who comfortably downed Spain's No. 11 Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday in pursuit of a third-straight Australian Open title.

In their five previous meetings, Keys has only beaten Sabalenka once, topping her in Berlin in 2021.

Sabalenka won their most recent bout in the 2023 US Open semifinals. However, that three-set slog was similar to Keys's gritty victory over Świątek and, if she can maintain the composure and energy she displayed on Thursday, the US star's momentum could fuel her to similarly stun Sabalenka.

How to watch the 2025 Australian Open final

Saturday's Australian Open final between Keys and Sabalenka will take the court at 3:30 AM ET, with live coverage on ESPN.

The Phoenix Mercury could be entering a new era, with unrestricted free agent Brittney Griner and 20-year WNBA veteran Diana Taurasi both feeding the rumor mill with departure buzz.

The legends have played their entire WNBA careers for Phoenix, sharing the court for more than a decade after joining the Mercury as overall No. 1 picks out of the WNBA Draft in 2004 (Taurasi) and 2013 (Griner).

Griner is actively exploring the free agency market, taking meetings with multiple teams this week while showing off her 3x3 skills with offseason league Unrivaled.

On the other hand, Taurasi is rumored to be retiring. However, neither the WNBA's all-time scoring leader nor the Mercury have confirmed any moves.

Last season, Phoenix anticipated the three-time league champ fulfilling a threat to quietly retire and avoid a farewell. Subsequently, the team honored Taurasi with an emotional "If This Is It" curtain call at the end of the 2024 season.

The 11-time All-Star's most recent statement about retirement came shortly after exiting in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs. That's when Taurasi voiced her indecision.

"I have not taken it lightly. I think about it every day," Taurasi told The Associated Press. "I’m still in deep thought about it. I want to make the right decision, you know, and I’m just taking my time a little bit."

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WNBA free agency negotiation window opens

As for Griner and other WNBA free agents, potential teams are currently courting these top athletes, as the league’s negotiation period officially opened on Tuesday.

No deal can be signed before February 1st. Meantime, many top free agents are capitalizing on what Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart calls the offseason league's "one-stop shop" recruiting ground.

"You're able to talk to other players directly," Satou Sabally said from Unrivaled's Miami campus. "You can figure out what do they have, what type of resources, how important is their team to the owners?"

Regardless of where they go, expect most free agents to ink one-year deals, as this year's CBA negotiations will likely increase 2026 salaries — making athletes hungry to level up again in next year's free agency market.

Just Women's Sports alongside Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup champion Kelley O'Hara are proud to announce the debut of Sports Are Fun!, a new studio show premiering February 4th.

Presented by Intuit TurboTax, Sports Are Fun! features O'Hara and co-host Greydy Diaz discussing anything and everything from the world of women's sports with help from a rotating cast of co-hosts and guests. Production runs through 2025.

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Everything you love about women's sports — with a little extra fun

"This is a show that will remind fans why they fell in love with sports," O'Hara said ahead of the show's launch. "That means tapping into all the stories, big or small, that get the group chat going. You'll feel like you’re there with us, talking about your favorite games, teams, and athletes."

O'Hara retired from professional soccer in 2024 after a legendary career that included winning two World Cups, an Olympic gold medal, and two NWSL Championships. She also helped secure equal pay for the US women's national soccer team. 

"The next step in the evolution of women’s sports is building out a media ecosystem that can keep fans connected around-the-clock," said Just Women's Sports founder and CEO Haley Rosen. "This show closes the gap when it comes to innovative, personality-driven coverage, and we're thrilled to be partnering with Intuit TurboTax as they make a splash in the women’s sports space."

O'Hara takes to the screen in her post-retirement era

O'Hara and JWS have worked extensively together over the years. They first launching the Just Women's Podcast with Kelley O’Hara back in 2020. Later shows included The Players Pod, 2024 Paris Olympics favorite The Gold Standard, Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie, as well as digital hits Kelley on the Street and 1v1 with Kelley O'Hara. 

Sports Are Fun! is by no means O’Hara's first foray into media. But it does mark the official beginning of her second career as a full-time on-air personality and content creator. 

The first episode of Sports Are Fun! will debut February 4th, 2025. Catch every episode via Just Women’s Sports' YouTube page, as well as across all audio podcast platforms.