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SEATTLE -- Lauren Jackson would have loved nothing more than a chance to don her Seattle Storm uniform and play one more time in front of the teams vocal fans.If I could, I would. But actually, I dont have a knee anymore, she said with a smile at the end of a media roundtable session with longtime teammate Sue Bird. Itd be almost impossible.Instead, the Australian superstar and four-time Olympian settled for being honored and cheered loudly by those fans in KeyArena on Friday night as the team formally retired her uniform after an 80-51 rout of the Washington Mystics.Jacksons No. 15 jersey, the first number retired in the teams 16-year history, was unveiled in the arenas rafters, next to the two banners signifying the WNBA championships she helped win in 2004 and 2010.It was then that the reality -- and finality -- of stepping away from the game hit home with the 35-year-old Jackson.I think the closure in itself is a sad thing. But at least I got to come back, said Jackson, who hadnt been in Seattle since playing her final game in the 2012 WNBA playoffs against Minnesota. It doesnt feel like it has been four years. I wasnt sure I was going to get to get back here. But having the opportunity to come back and retire here is probably the most important thing Ive ever done.Jackson was introduced as a ceremonial sixth starter before the game, and threw several of her basketball shoes into the stands at halftime.I didnt realize how much I missed (Seattle) until I got back in, Jackson said. I did grow up here. I was a little teenager when I got here.Although she didnt play in the WNBA after 2012, Jackson did continue playing overseas. But having dealt with ankle, shin, and back injuries at various points of her career, Jackson announced in a tweet on March 30 that she was calling it quits.The 6-foot-6 Jackson was 19 when she came to Seattle with the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2001 after the Storm went just 6-26 as an expansion team in 2000. During her 12-year career, she scored a team-leading 6,007 points, a total that ranks No. 7 on the WNBAs career list. She also ranks No. 3 in the league for career blocked shots (586) and No. 9 in rebounds (2,447).Jackson was a three-time MVP and was the named to the WNBAs All-Decade team in 2006 as one of the leagues top 10 players. Along with four Olympics for the Australian national team (three silver medals and one bronze), she played in three World Championships, helping the Opals win gold in 2006.Terry McLaurin Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Wes Martin Redskins Jersey . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Womens-Alex-Smith-Inverted-Jersey/ . Those lessons were more than enough to overwhelm the Utah Jazz. Lou Williams scored 25 points and the Hawks continued their offensive upswing as they rolled to an easy 118-85 victory over the Jazz on Friday night, winning their third straight and for the fourth time in five games. Charley Taylor Youth Jersey . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Terry McLaurin Redskins Jersey .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.Lets hope that someday, when we think of Jose Fernandez, we can remember the smile, we can remember the charisma, we can remember the special joy he brought to every day he ever spent on a baseball field.But right now, its just too hard to get beyond the sadness. How do we even put that sadness into words as we try to process the incomprehensible news of the passing of one of baseballs shining stars, at the far-too-young age of 24?We will always have Fernandezs remarkable numbers to remind us of what he had already accomplished in a career that would last a mere 76 trips to a big league mound. But how do we measure what it is weve lost, what the Miami Marlins have lost, what the sport of baseball has lost?Where was this man heading in life? Where was he heading in baseball? Its like asking, How high is the sky? Because for Jose Fernandez, life had no limits. Every day, he looked at the world and thought, Why not? Ask anyone who ever spent five minutes around him. They would be the first to tell you there were four words in the dictionary he could never accept:That. Cant. Be. Done.So of course he made it out of Cuba, no matter how many attempts it took. Of course he jumped straight from the Florida State League to the big leagues at 20 years old. Of course he made it back from Tommy John surgery in just 13 months and looked as if hed never missed a start. Of course he would make 42 starts at home in his career and lose only two of them.This was the essence of Jose Fernandez. He approached every day thinking only of what he could do, what he would do. His world was filled only with possibilities. So on this day, the cloud above us is darkened by all those painful thoughts of what might have been. And its going to take a very long time to stop asking ourselves that question: What might he have been had he lived the rich, full life he deserved?He could have been Pedro Martinez. He was that talented. He was that unique. He was that irrepressible. He had that much natural pitching genius inside of him.Four years into his career, he had an ERA+ of 150 -- which is incredible. If youre not familiar with that stat, it compares each pitcher to the other pitchers of his time, and the average pitcher is graded at 100. So that tells you how much better Fernandez was than anyone around him.But maybe this will tell you more: Among right-handed pitchers whose careers began sincee World War II, do you know how many had a better ERA+ through 70 starts or more? That would be none.dddddddddddd. Zero. Behind Fernandez youll find the likes of Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver and Roger Clemens. Fernandez was off to a greater career start than all of them. Wow.But with this man, the what might have been scenarios shouldnt merely be confined to what he could have accomplished on a pitchers mound. This was a guy who was going to make a mark on the planet.People were drawn to him. People who spanned every spectrum of American life. His teammates. His coaches. The Latino community of South Florida. Kids. And when he pitched, when Jose Day arrived in Miami, there was nothing like it. Nothing.In the 2014 and 15 seasons, his starts in Miami drew an average of 26,938 ticket buyers. When anyone else pitched, the average attendance was 21,113. That difference computes to 27.6 percent more customers roaring through the turnstiles when Fernandez pitched than for any other game.?He would bounce around the field on those days with the joy of a kid ripping open his birthday presents. His chance to take that baseball and work his magic couldnt come soon enough. And that exuberance rubbed off on everyone who laid eyes on him.Hes unique, his first manager, Mike Redmond,?once told me. Hes not the kind of guy where you come in and hes sitting at his locker with his game face on and you cant talk to him. I mean, hes hitting in the cage, hes bunting in the cage, hes in my office, hes sitting on the couch, hes talking to me about a couple of hitters. Then hes out, and hes back in. Hes joking with the guys. Hes all over the place.So hes unique. I never played with a guy like that, man. And thats how he is every day. ... Just that day that he gets the ball, he cant wait. He just really loves to pitch.There is nothing sadder, in life or in sports, than unfulfilled potential. So to have the life of this man -- with this sort of talent, this much possibility, this sense of joy, this unending love of living every day -- be cut short so soon, it is even harder to comprehend than it is to accept.Maybe someday, well be able to focus again on that talent and that joy. But right now, this just feels like one of the saddest sports stories of our lifetimes. ' ' '