Lauren Jackson has never been fitter.
And that's one hell of a statement about Australia's greatest ever basketballer who turns 43 next birthday and has overcome shocking injuries in recent months to resume 2.0 of her storied career.
After leading the Opals to a bronze medal at last year's FIBA Asia Cup in Sydney, Jackson suited up in the WNBL for the Southside Flyers, broke her foot in December, but would play on. In February, during a tribute game, she ruptured her Achilles tendon.
It appeared her fairytale comeback would end cruelly, like the first phase of her career. Underestimate a GOAT at your peril.
Jackson describes the rehab she has completed through 2023 as one of her proudest achievements.
Her physique and fitness caught the eye of former national teammate and Opals captain Jenna O'Hea who noted on an ESPN NBL broadcast last month that she hadn't seen Jackson in such great shape since the Athens Olympics. Those Games were nearly 20 years ago.
"I'm definitely fitter than I was in Athens, in terms of what I put into my body and the training I'm doing off the court," Jackson told ESPN this week.
"All the training I did back then was on court, I was in the WNBA and training all the time, now I'm on exercise bikes and everything is modified. In terms of the way I'm looking after my body now, absolutely (I am fitter). If I looked after my body back then the way I do now, it's scary to think about what I could have achieved
"But in saying that I probably wouldn't have my children and I wouldn't change anything because as a youngster you need to enjoy the ride. I wouldn't be here now if I hadn't have lived the life I had so I don't regret anything.
"I feel very fit, I definitely just need the game time now. I really, really hurt myself very badly last year with the Lisfranc fracture and then the Achilles, they were two brutal injuries.
"The fact I've got back in eight months is incredible and I need to give myself the grace to get back on court now, that's the part in my head where I've got to relax, I've gone through the process and it's going to take me 2-3 games to get back.
"I've done the work."
Jackson is fit, settled and happy.
Last season, she made the relentless commute from Victoria to her home town of Albury. To play again, something had to give so with Southside's backing she relocated to Melbourne with her sons Harry and Lenny.
The Flyers are based at the State Basketball Centre which also houses Basketball Australia's offices, Jackson heading up Women in Basketball.
She's happiest and most content when with her children.
"The best part is I've got them with me. I pick them up from school every day, Lenny's coming on the road trip this week. I feel on top of the world."
A five-time WNBL champion, Jackson's titles have all been with Canberra teams.
First, as the young superstar in a team full of teenagers when the Australian Institute of Sport made history in 1998-99, then with the Canberra Capitals (2002, 2003, 2006, 2010) who built to become a powerhouse of Australian sport.
Jackson returns to the nation's capital on Wednesday night for ESPN's game of the round with the Caps hosting the Flyers.
It's a reunion of sorts with Jackson's championship coach Carrie Graf and teammate Lucille Baillie now leading the club's administration and her former point guard Kristin Veal head coach.
She's conquered around the globe but Canberra is where some of Jackson's happiest memories and greatest triumphs live.
"We became successful in Canberra during a period where women's sport wasn't successful. We were selling out those stadiums, we had so much support and everyone knew who we were in Canberra and that wasn't being done in women's sport at that time," she explains.
"It was a really special period in my life - the championships we won, the way the community really, really rallied, the sponsors, everybody was just so passionate about what we were doing and where we were going that it created a winning environment.
"We had an expectation when we stepped foot on the court - we knew we were going to win, we had swagger and we were tough. I was coached by Carrie Graf, she was a great coach and during that time there was no one better than her. She gave me a real kick start in my career with the time and effort she put into me when I was 18-19 years old and instilled a culture of work ethic and toughness.
"She was the epitome of toughness as a coach, you couldn't get away with shit, and that's because Tom Maher was one of her mentors."
Jackson wants a sixth championship, this time with the Flyers who in her absence reached last season's Grand Final series but fell to Townsville 2-0.
"There's nothing I want more than to be able to give Gerry (Flyers owner Gerry Ryan), Cheryl (coach Cheryl Chambers) and the people that support Southside a championship," she says.
"I'm not the player I used to be, by any means, but if I can stay healthy I know that I can contribute to helping our team get to a championship. I know how to lead, I know how to bring the best out of my teammates and I'm a great supporter of my teammates as well.
"Our team is very, very good and once we get into a bit of a flow, play our basketball and understand our roles I think we're going to have a really good crack."
Amongst the gruelling rehab, hectic pre-season and life with two busy boys, Jackson has taken time to reflect.
"The last two years have been the greatest two years of my life, not because of the achievements but for what my body has been able to do and what I've been able to prove to myself.
"Coming back was never about me wanting to be the best again or wanting to take back stuff I missed out on, it was literally about playing for Albury and I'm so excited to play NBL1 again next year. I wouldn't be here without the Southside Flyers and their commitment to my rehab which they did thinking I was never going to play again.
"I've just committed to a process, which I've never done in my life, and I'm proud of myself, really proud."