The mane event: Jackson-Leslie already a hairy rivalry
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Lately Storm forward Lauren Jackson has been letting her red hair hang free.
Tonight she might want to pull it back in a ponytail. Or better yet, cut it off before Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie does.
Rash? Well then you don't remember the Sydney Games. This she said-she said story ends with a matted 9-inch black ponytail on the Olympic court, looking like a dead rat, according to Australian guard Michele Timms. The victims were Jackson, stunned with fear in her eyes for the first time during the gold-medal game, and a badly scalped Leslie, who snapped, "You can have the ponytail, I'll take the gold," as they tried to play out the final five minutes.
The U.S. toppled Australia 76-54. But the epic Jackson-Leslie battle continues.
Leslie leads the undefeated Sparks (6-0) against the Storm (4-3) at KeyArena tonight. And talk is more about mane-to-mane defenses than man-to-man.
"I can only expect it (retaliation)," Jackson said after practice yesterday. "The accident ... I never intended it. It was made into this big deal, and all the girls (on the Australian team) were happy because we were getting killed by 20 but here was this funny thing that happened."
Leslie doesn't remember it being funny. In fact she doesn't think it was an accident, but she didn't want to elaborate on the issue.
"It's over now," she said with an exasperated look. "And it's not a big deal."
Teammate DeLisha Milton, who also played on the U.S. Olympic team, had a different take, however.
"It's having a reverse effect because now people will probably come to the game to see what's going to happen in this so-called Lisa-Lauren controversy," Milton said. "But it wasn't an accident. How are you going to be all up in somebody's hair, trying to get a rebound? I thought it was very immature of her to do that, and, you know, things have a way of coming back around."
The Jackson-Leslie rivalry keeps evolving. The clash started in the early 1990s when Jackson was just 16, and it heightened April 20 when Seattle selected Jackson with the top pick in the draft. Jackson, 20, is pinned as the immature pup who should give in to Leslie, the 28-year-old veteran.
Give in? Sorry, that's not part of Jackson's vocabulary. She elbowed Leslie, who's 6 feet 5, in practice games and World Championships as a teenager, talked smack before anyone was hyping Jackson as an elite world player and scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Leslie in the Olympics.
Not the typical way to treat an idol, which is what Jackson calls Leslie.
"Watching her play against Lisa Leslie gives me chills," Storm Coach Lin Dunn said. "She (Jackson) doesn't back down."
Jackson, who will be guarding Milton, hopes to calm herself today, however. She said matchups with Leslie tend to become one-on-one, and that's not going to help the Storm. Especially since Jackson, despite leading all rookies in scoring, has struggled to get acclimated to the league.
Plus the Storm, which beat the Sparks 69-59 in overtime last June, already has a rivalry with Los Angeles. It doesn't need to be Jackson vs. Leslie.
"This is just one more thing to throw in there," Jackson said.
Hibbert returns
Guard Katrina Hibbert was back in a Storm jersey yesterday as a practice player. Seattle waived her June 5 after Hibbert started the season on injured reserve. Hibbert, a native Australian, played little last season - starting in six games and averaging 2.7 points.
Practice players aren't paid or provided housing. "This time she's all on her own," Dunn said.
Notes
• Forward Kamila Vodichkova missed practice yesterday because she hadn't completed her physical and was therefore not cleared to play in the league. Dunn said Vodichkova was handling that with a doctor and will be able to play tonight.
• Allocated center Alessandra Santos de Oliveira participated in the full-contact practice. She looked awkward, still recovering from a sprained left knee. She has been with the team for two weeks after missing training camp while playing overseas, but Dunn said she's going to continue to wait for the 6-foot-7 center to be completely healthy before trying to play her.
Jayda Evans can be reached at 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com.