Retiring on top – with Jo Leedham-Warner – Ep. 109

For episode 109 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we do a special with British basketball legend Jo Leedham-Warner, who has announced her retirement from playing professional basketball.

An 11-year career that reads like a fairytale, Leedham-Warner is coming off an undefeated season in the WBBL where she was named MVP after returning to play following giving birth.

A London 2012 Olympian, EuroCup champion, WNBA draft pick and the NCAA Division 2 all-time leading scorer to name a few, Jo will go down as one of the all-time greats out of the UK and in this hour episode we look at her decision to retire and her final season in the WBBL.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
02:46 Making the decision to retire and how she feels about it
05:20 Having had a month to reflect on it since the end of the season
06:46 How important it was to have done a season after becoming a mother
07:52 How difficult it was playing after being a mother
10:53 How the club managed having a player with a newborn
13:33 The first practices of the season after time off to give birth
16:47 How important it was for Jo to finish her career on top
18:53 Has Mark or the club tried to persuade her to come back
20:06 Not collecting the MVP trophy before the WBBL Final
21:30 Jo’s mentality and where it comes from
25:52 The shock win over her former club Bourges
29:15 Frustration with the wider British public/media and own club not caring about what her and the team were doing
33:50 The amount of media that British basketball misses out on from not having a dedicated PR person
36:18 The WBBL not bringing Jo out for the final post-game presser at the WBBL Playoff Final
37:33 What she would do as the CEO of the WBBL
39:59 Deciding on whether to go back to school next to study psychology
43:45 Whether she would want to be involved with British basketball from a federation or club standpoint
45:36 How many conversations she had with the federations while being back in the UK to capitalise on her presence
51:35 What her career highlight is
53:19 Favourite coach
54:32 How she wants to be looked back on as a player
55:05 Advice for the next generation

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