In the 20 days leading up to the 20th annual WNBA Draft, WNBA.com and @WNBA are highlighting the first 19 No. 1 overall picks and their place in league history. Our 20-day countdown continues with Lauren Jackson, the first selection in the 2001 WNBA Draft.

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With the first pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft, the Seattle Storm selected forward/center Lauren Jackson, a 19-year-old standout from Australia.

The 6-foot-5 forward/center was an immediate centerpiece of the young franchise, making her first of seven All-Star appearances as a rookie. With the arrival of point guard Sue Bird in 2002, the Storm became a perennial playoff team and went on to win championships in both 2004 and 2010.

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In addition to the team success, Jackson collected plenty of individual honors throughout her WNBA career. She is one of three players (joining Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes) to be named WNBA Most Valuable Player three times. In 2007, she was named league MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and won her third scoring title and her first rebounding title, joining Chamique Holdsclaw as the only player to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding in the same season. She was also named to the league’s All-Decade Team in 2006 and among the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All-Time team in 2011.

Jackson was named to the All-WNBA First Team five times and the Second Team once and was named the Finals MVP for Seattle’s second championship in 2010. She currently ranks sixth on the WNBA all-time scoring list (6,007 points), eighth in rebounding (2,447) and third in blocks (586). She also ranks 11th in 3-pointers made (436) as she was one of the best stretch fours in WNBA history.

Along with her WNBA accolades, Jackson has also been a member of the Australian National team since the age of 16 and has won three silver medals (2000, 2004, 2008) and one bronze medal (2012) in the Olympics. Jackson, who has experienced a myriad of injuries that have kept her out of the last three WNBA seasons, hopes to play in her fifth Olympics in Rio, but her status remains in doubt due to injury.