Kelsey Griffin’s basketball career was over.
Not due to an injury or age, the two factors that are the cause of most retirements. Griffin had mentally checked herself out, overwhelmed with the demands of professional basketball – ones that often yield little reward.
“I really hated it,” she told The WNBL Show.
“I didn’t really like Europe much, I played in Israel, I wasn’t enjoying the WNBA, so I thought I’ll just play one more year.”
That was six years ago. The Alaska native was done with the sport that had defined her to that point, up until her mid-20’s.
After playing in three different countries, and reaching the highest level in the WNBA, there were no more carrots in Griffin’s face for her to chase basketball.
She had reached the peak, didn’t enjoy the climate, and decided to begin her climb back down to a regular lifestyle.
Instead, Griffin’s basketball relapse turned into a basketball addiction once she hit Australian shores and got advice from an old friend.
“A lot of people probably don’t know this, but that was what I’d hoped at the time, to be my last year playing professional basketball,” she said.
“Chelsea Aubry, who I played with at college, was the other import out here. She sold it to me as a vacation, which I think is what a lot of imports think.
“Then to come out here and realise that this league is actually one of the best in the world and you get knocked around a bit.
“I actually thrived in it because I had such awesome teammates and I was like, wow, I had no idea basketball could be at this standard with this great of people and be paid for it.
“I well and truly found my home when I came to Australia in that first season.
“It hooked me.”
Griffin had rediscovered her initial love for the sport, and has now called the Bendigo Spirit home for six years – the longest stint she has ever spent with a single club in her career.
Her on-court impact was immediate. Joining the Spirit midseason due to WNBA contract legalities, Griffin had to adapt quickly. Not just to a new set of teammates and basketball philosophies, but also to a new country, city and way of life.
It’s an environment that swallows many, uncertainty which swells into discomfort, which eventually leads to a move back home.
However, instead of succumbing to the pressures of vulnerability, Griffin thrived in the opportunities of a fresh landscape.
It was a blank canvas, which allowed her to remodel her basketball journey – something she achieved on and off the court.
Griffin’s resume is glowing. A dual WNBL champion, winning MVP honours in both those Grand Final series in 2013 and 2014, along with two WNBL All-Star Five berths and 2015 Defensive Player of the Year accolades, underlines the influence she has exerted with Bendigo.
Consistency has also been a theme of her WNBL tenure, with Griffin averaging 15.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game across five campaigns. Not included in the box score is her relentless defensive intensity.
Griffin already had on-court achievements, though. Her basketball talent, emphasised by the Minnesota Lynx selecting her with the third overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft (she was then traded on draft night to the Connecticut Sun), had never been the reason behind her sudden want to depart the game.
What captured her heart and mind in the humble local Victorian town was the chance to utilise her profile to assist those that show her support while she’s playing.
“I’ve truly loved being able to give back here in Bendigo,” Griffin said.
“Being involved in the community stuff, going to schools for visits. It has given so much more meaning to everything and I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve loved playing in the WNBL.
“It’s not just playing for a paycheck or the next season, you really get to build relationships and you feel apart of the community.
“It gives everything so much more purpose.”
Honing her craft in the domestic competition, and then finding love in her partner Erin, meant Griffin settled in Bendigo. It also pushed her to officially relocate to the nation that forced her life to take a positive detour.
Obtaining Australian citizenship in 2015 not only put a stamp on where she now calls home, but it enabled Griffin to enter the Opals system.
The 6’2” forward never thought she would represent the green and gold. In fact, the door for Griffin to potentially play for Australian opened when she was in one of her darkest alleyways.
“The Opals was just a whole other thing that I never intended to happen,” she said.
“My hamstring was at a point where I was like, I don’t think I can play anymore if it hurts this much. I wasn’t able to sit after games. I went and got the surgery done, and I said, I guess we will see where we go from here.
“It was in-between the Spirit season, so I was really trying to figure it out on my own.
“Then I got the call from the AIS for the opportunity to go up there. It was amazing and that’s what really kick started it all.
“Having that support, I felt like playing as hard as I could when I did get selected was just holding up my end of the deal for everything they did for me to get me back on court.”
Since making the Australian squad, Griffin appeared in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. Not only did she merely make the team, but she starred – something that’s became common practice for her on-court pursuits.
Even though the Opals suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss to Japan in the gold medal game, Griffin became the first Australian to be recognised as the tournament’s MVP.
Once again, though, her decorated basketball CV is just part of the story.
“One of the reasons it means so much to me to represent Australia is because it’s actually something I fought for,” Griffin said.
“I had to file all the paperwork, take the tests and I had to do all these things. It was a real conscious decision to want to join this country and be Australian, and everything that it meant to be Australian.
“That’s why when I do hear the anthem, I take that time to really let it sink in that I do get to play for this country.
“That moment reminds me, wow, I’m living my dream. I get to play in this country and for these fans, and it’s a great opportunity that not a lot of people get.
“Then, to be able to be apart of the incredible history that it is to be an Opal was really humbling.
“To have people like Trish Fallon, Gaylene McKay, Sandy Brondello, and everyone who has played and to get to play for them and work with them is hard to put into words what that means.
“To be so accepted and welcomed as part of the group is another reason why I love this country so much.”
Griffin hasn’t been able to contribute to the Spirit’s endavours this season, a nasty hip injury abruptly ending her 2017/18 campaign at just six games.
Despite the complex nature of the ailment, as Griffin herself explained “I had over a third of my labrum torn and the ligament that held my pelvis and femur together was almost 50 percent torn as well,” she is grateful it didn’t expand into something worse.
“I was having a lot of hamstring and back pain, and thought it was a bit peculiar because I just came off an awesome rehab up at the AIS from my left hamstring,” she said.
“I thought it was strange my right hamstring was giving me so much trouble. They found out my hip was super unstable and he [the surgeon] is hopeful for my recovery.
“I’m really happy I got it done when I did, or else it could have been a hip dislocation.”
She was originally diagnosed to spend six months on the sidelines, but Griffin is aiming to accelerate the process and return by the end of January. Even if she reaches that timeframe, it still won’t allow her to suit up for the Spirit again this season.
Coach Simon Pritchard’s team has felt the full effect of Griffin’s absence, as they have won just three games from 12. In a condensed WNBL season, losses are magnified as the gap between the bottom and playoff teams is enhanced when regulated to factor in matches remaining.
At the moment, Bendigo’s three victories are four behind Adelaide Lightning, who occupy the final playoff spot. Interestingly, Melbourne Boomers have an extra win over the Lightning, but are a spot below them and also have played two more games then the rest of the league.
With the Spirit having nine games remaining, their playoff lives aren’t completely dead but are highly improbable. Too much has to go right in a season where not much has.
The situation has meant Griffin has had to adjust her role from on-court star to off-court leader, something she has embraced and a challenge she has welcomed.
However, the Nebraska Cornhuskers product doesn’t want the story to be about her, lauding the mentality of her teammates instead.
“The team moral is as high as you can ask for a team that’s going out there and battling undermanned,” Griffin said.
“We are frustrated. I’d be doing a disservice to our group’s competitive nature to say we aren’t frustrated.
“As far as staying positive, I couldn’t be more proud of the group to handle the adversity as well as they have.”
Did you miss Kelsey Griffin’s chat on The WNBL Show with Megan Hustwaite and Rebecca Cole? Take a listen in the player below!