"I think I'm going to come back better."

So said Seattle Storm forward Lauren Jackson on Feb. 25, her second day back in Seattle preparing for the upcoming 2005 season. Jackson has good reason for her comment. After battling foot and shin problems throughout last season, she underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs from her right ankle, as well as the reconstruction of her lateral ankle ligament, after the Storm had brought home the WNBA Championship.

Jackson missed three games last year because of a mid-foot sprain related to her ankle injury. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

Not only will the surgery strengthen Jackson's ankle, but she was forced to finally have an off-season after shuttling between the WNBA and the WNBL since joining the Storm in 2001, while also finding time to play for the Australian Olympic team and spend a couple of weeks playing in Russia last spring.

How long has it been since Jackson had an extended break like she's taken this winter (or, her being in Australia, summer)?

"10 years," she said, "so I needed the break, obviously. I had a pretty tough year last year. I needed it, and I'm really glad I took it, because it would have changed my career if I'd have kept playing."

Jackson and the Storm have long known that the only thing she could do to help her shins, which have been problematic for several years, would be to get away from the basketball court. Because of her competitive nature and her desire to pack as much as possible into her career, however, Jackson never planned to take that time off.

"I've only got a short career," she told reporters last year when asked about the possibility of resting. "I'm going to make the most of it while I can."

The surgery gave her no choice but to spend the last three months away from basketball. Instead, in her words, she "kicked it" in Canberra, a much-needed decompression period after a difficult year-plus. A map and thumbtacks are needed to track Jackson's travels starting at the end of the 2003 WNBA season. As she recounts it, Jackson went from the U.S. to Australia to Russia for the FIBA Women's World Cup to Australia back to Russia to play for UMMC-Ekaterinburg in the Russian league finals to the U.S. to play for the Storm to Greece for the Olympics to the U.S. for a day to Australia to be with her dying grandmother back to the U.S. for the exhilarating stretch run of the Storm's championship season.

Even for a 23-year-old somewhat used to the schedule, it was all a bit much.

"I can't imagine anything living up to the last few months of last season," Jackson said. "I'm actually really thankful I didn't go back and play, because I would have never given it my all. At the end of the season, I was so dead tired, emotionally drained. I could not have played straight after it. I'm ready to start playing now."

Jackson got back on the court recently for the first time, beginning a new phase of her rehabilitation program. She's on track to be ready for the start of the Storm's training camp (and says she's feeling no pain, not even in her shins), but the injury was one of the factors in her decision to stay in Seattle until then and not play in Russia this year.

"I'm going to stay here until the season," said Jackson. "Obviously, here in Seattle I get the best care and they're going to monitor my training and comeback."

As much as she enjoyed being away from the court, and, surprisingly, reported no frustration during that time, Jackson is also ready to rediscover her love of basketball.

"I think I've done myself in the head," she said. "I've spent way too much time thinking about myself and what I've been doing over the last six to eight years, playing basketball. I've had too much time to reflect, so I need to get back on the court."

When the rest of the Storm joins Jackson in Seattle for training camp at the end of April, it will be a different squad than the one that won the WNBA title. Two of Jackson's closest friends, guard Tully Bevilaqua and forward Sheri Sam, have left the Storm as free agents for Indiana and Charlotte, respectively. Jackson expressed disappointment at their departures, but was excited to learn that the Storm was close to a deal with fellow Aussie Jessica Bibby.

"She's one of my friends from Australia, a former teammate," said Jackson. "We played in juniors together. She plays for Dandenong now - they just won the championship. Left-hander, very quick, quickest left hand I think I've ever seen."

As exciting as all that is, you know what the reporters gathered to speak with Jackson wanted to know about first: Her appearance in last month's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

"I really loved them," said Jackson of the shots taken of her. "I thought they were great."