A stunning career-best performance by Ezi Magbegor has returned the Opals to the Olympic podium for the first time in 12 years.
The 24-year-old forward, a WNBA star with Seattle Storm, drained 30 points, 12-of-17 from the field, was a monster on the defensive end with 13 rebounds plus three blocks, three assists and two steals leading Australia to a thrilling 85-81 win over Belgium in a bronze-medal epic in Paris.
The medal is Australia's sixth, and third bronze, and a triumphant moment for the program after disastrous quarterfinal exits in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The Opals produced some of their best basketball of the tournament when it mattered most just 13 days after an opening-game defeat to Nigeria, one of the darkest days in the history of the national women's team.
Australia dusted itself off to beat Canada and upset the host nation to get out of the pool stage, and an impressive quarterfinal win over Serbia followed before being outclassed by the USA on Saturday morning.
But Australia bounced back strongly, looked after the ball, with just 11 turnovers their least of the tournament, ran in transition and displayed a steely resolve with an answer to every Belgium run.
This was a victory to behold for a team with so many storylines. A four-time Olympian and triple Olympic medallist as a player, Sandy Brondello is now an Olympic medal-winning coach. There was Magbegor rising when her team needed it most, captain Tess Madgen displayed absolute mental grit to push through chronic injuries to lead her country and make big shots when it mattered most, on one leg, Steph Talbot fought through the tournament then produced a game-saving block to stop a potential Antonia Delaere three to tie the game in the dying seconds, the young guns Jade Melbourne and Isobel Borlase showed the future is already here, and of course Australia's greatest ever basketballer Lauren Jackson now owns five Olympic medals from as many Games appearances.
Big Ezi energy
For so long she's threatened to take international games by the scruff of the neck and on the Opals biggest stage in France Ezi Magbegor delivered. A solid contributor who at times found herself in foul trouble during the tournament, Magbegor signalled her intentions early by getting to the basket and showing welcome aggression. She had 14 points at half time and when she took a breather during the third term, Belgium went on a 6-0 run. Magbegor was subbed back in and immediately made a lay up to again assert herself on a gripping contest. At just 24, Magbegor now has an Olympic bronze medal and two Games under her belt, as well as two World Cup medals, and really has only scratched the surface of her dazzling potential. With further growth in the WNBA, she could well be an absolute global superstar come Los Angeles in 2028.
A familiar foe
Much of the talk coming into the final day of the tournament was around Australia curbing the influence of superstar Emma Meesseman. The heart and soul of the Belgium side dragged her country into the finals with an all-time performance against Japan in the final pool game and loomed as the match winner once again. With 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, she made her mark but it was veteran guard Julie Vanloo, who once played professionally in Australia, who proved the danger woman and potential breaker of Aussie hearts. A one-time import with the Townsville Fire, Vanloo lit up in the third quarter causing all sorts of headaches for the Opals. The 31-year-old, in her debut WNBA season at Washington with Opal Jade Melbourne, finished with 26 points, brought her team mates into the game highlighted by a game-high 11 assists and did all in her power to give Belgium the best chance of victory and a medal in just its second Olympics.
Greatness
Career 2.0 began for Lauren Jackson in 2022 with a home FIBA World Cup in Sydney which the then 41-year-old leading Australia to the podium via 30 points in the bronze medal game. Two WNBL seasons, and a championship in 2023-24, would follow and then a fairytale Olympics, 12 years since her last in London and 24 since her first in Sydney. Jackson played limited minutes during the tournament, and didn't hit the court against France, Serbia or Belgium. There were no heroics from the greatest basketballer this country has ever produced but as Jackson told ESPN after the quarterfinal, and as her smile indicated from the bench, she was happy to play her role for the team, whatever it might be. Her wealth of knowledge, winning experience, leadership, team-first ethos and pure passion for the Opals has helped restore a program broken following Liz Cambage's era and exit. Jackson's on-court efforts for Australia between 1997 and 2015, as one of the world's best, are immeasurable, but her influence over the past two years will play just as big a part in an incredible legacy that will last forever.