Have You Seen Her? Kara Lawson

Sacramento Monarchs guard Kara Lawson has a reputation as being one of the WNBA's smartest players, strutting her stuff regularly on ESPN as a college hoops studio analyst. Also known for her hard work, her hustle and her energy on the court, this former All-American at Tennessee and 2005 WNBA champion took her game to a new level in 2007, earning her first trip to the WNBA All-Star Game.

But what makes Lawson tick? Where does the get the never say die attitude for which she is best known? Take an inside look at what makes Lawson the WNBA star that she is.

Q. When did you start playing basketball?

A. "I started when I was three or four years old. I remember my dad teaching me how to dribble a basketball downstairs in our house. We had a linoleum floor down there and I started with a kickball because the basketball was too big for me and the kickball bounced higher. The kickball could bounce up to my head, so it was easier for me to dribble. It was a Wonder Woman kickball, actually. I liked Wonder Woman, and that's what I learned to play with. I remember going up to the park to shoot and I shot with that kickball because the basketball was too heavy being just three or four years old. I would be up there working on my right hand, working on my left hand. I can remember going out there in the snow and the kickball would freeze and it would not bounce that well. So, I started by playing at the park. My neighbor had a court in his driveway and we would play there, too."

Q. When did you start playing organized basketball?

A. "I started playing organized ball in third grade, when I was eight years old. We actually had to fudge about my age a couple times because the leagues were not eight years old, they were like 10 or 11 and my older sister was two years older than me and there was no way we could have been twins, she was way bigger than I was. I always had to get special jerseys because they never had one small enough for me. I was always playing up but playing up helped me to develop my game because you're playing against older kids and better competition. That really helped me develop faster than kids my own age."

Q. Did you have anyone in your life that was particularly inspirational in terms of sports?

A. "I had a couple of coaches that really caused me to look ahead and start thinking about goals and having dreams. I had a soccer coach who used to make us memorize quotes. He would talk about striving to be your best as a player. And if you wanted to go to college, playing any sport would take even more� and he was telling us this in about sixth, seventh grade. He would really get me thinking during practices.

"And, then, of course, Coach Summit� she enhanced a lot of the skills that I already had but really drummed into you the importance of having a great work ethic and of being the type of player that outworks people. That is something I took from her and brought with me to this league.

"I learned early on as a player that I was going to make my mark -- I was going to be successful -- only if I outworked others. I am not the tallest, I am not the fastest� and sometimes I am in practice and I look around and I'm like, 'Man, how am I here?' It is because I work hard and try to get better every year. The things that I can control are how fit I am, how hard I play and how mentally tough I am. I want to be the best, or one of the best, in this league at those things. That is a big part of my mentality, specifically in the offseason, to be the best at things that I can control."

Q. What is your motivation to train hard in the offseason?

A. "I love to work out, I love to train and I love to compete. I think probably what inspires me the most is I want to see how good I can be as a player. I think it is exciting for me to see how much I can improve each year, what I am going to look like as a player in five years if I keep working hard and I improve my skills, all that I will be able to do. That is what is exciting for me.

"From an individual standpoint, in the offseason you can work on yourself and work with your coaches on what you need to do to get better as a player. I love working on my game, I love working on my weaknesses, I love breaking stuff down with the coaches and trying to improve. To me, that is the fun part about being an athlete: working on your weaknesses and trying to turn them into strengths."

Q. How much of that comes from working in TV and analyzing the game from that perspective?

A. "Television has been a huge, huge eye-opener for me as a player. Of course, from a TV perspective I have learned a lot career wise. I have really become a better player because of what I have learned from doing television.

"You have the opportunity to sit in a Gregg Popovich shoot-around. Or you have the opportunity to have a conversation with Chauncey Billups about how he is going to defend Gilbert Arenas. Or with Rip Hamilton on what he does in the offseason to work on running off screens.

"I will be honest: A lot of times, I am asking questions for TV, but a lot of times I am asking questions because I want to know as a player. From player to player, how do you get yourself open? Or even just getting there early and watching certain guys go through their pregame routines and writing it down. That is something that I have really tried to incorporate into work: I ask myself when I am watching a game, how can I still get better as a player? Even though I do broadcasting, I wake up every day as a basketball player first. Broadcasting is just something I do on the side. Everything I do is first and foremost with the mindset of a basketball player."

Q. What is running through your mind before a big game?

A. "I think our roles are pretty clear cut on the team as far as what Coach Jenny expects from us and what our teammates all expect. We don't really have that one player who is going to take over a game, so there is not a lot of pressure that you have to put on yourself as an individual.

"Your job is to fit in with the team and when you are called upon to make plays, make them. But you don't have to make all the plays. You have to make "the play." You just have to make a few plays throughout the course of the game. So that is comforting to be in a system like that, where you don't think about before the game if I don't score 20 points or if I don't do this, this and this, my team might not win. You just come in with the mindset that you need to play hard. And then if you don't play hard, your team might not win. So that is a lot of fun to go in the gym every day and know that if you just work hard, you're doing your job."