A frustrated Lauren Jackson has declared she wants to "go out on my terms", refusing to let another injury setback prematurely end her career as she faces up to five months on the sideline.
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Australia's most decorated female basketballer has been ruled out of the Canberra Capitals' bid to make the WNBL finals and will have her sixth operation in 12 months to repair damage to her knee.
The damage was so bad it threatened to force her into retirement, with surgeons considering injecting stem cells into Jackson's knee to aid her recovery after playing just six games in more than a year.
Jackson conceded she didn't know if she would ever be back to her best after more than a decade being regarded as the world's best female player before being struck down by a three-year injury curse.
But determined to fight back, Jackson desperately wants to win Olympic Games gold and is driven by her ambition to "give back to Canberra" after injuries ruined two years of a three-season contract with the club.
"I feel a bit sick about it, I want to be there for the girls. I want to play and I know that I can come back from this if I do it right," Jackson said.
"I knew this was coming, it's been a hard year. I've only played six games but I've struggled through all of those six games. I want to go out on my own terms.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to be back to my best again. But some of the girls I've played with have won MVP's when they were 35 years old. I am confident I can come back, be good and have an impact."
Scans on Tuesday showed a hole in the cartilage in the back of her knee, which is also causing bone bruising.
"You hear words like 'career-ending' or 'irreparable' ... people talk about 'do you want to be able to walk when you're 40? The Capitals knew what I was going through to play. The writing was on the wall for a little while," Jackson said.
"The last year I was trying to rush back instead of letting myself heal. I've been in this bad cycle of rushing back and then getting re-injured.
"I couldn't keep going, it's so swollen ... there was no other option. I can't even jog. They wouldn't inject it with a local anesthetic because I was just doing more damage and it would put my career in jeopardy more."
Jackson played through pain to help the Capitals get their season back on track, with the team winning all six games she played in this year.
The 33-year-old averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game, despite needing almost 25 millilitres of fluid drained off her knee every week.
She did that without being able to train with her teammates throughout the week, with her knee problems limiting her to bike and fitness sessions.
The final straw was when her knee blew up after a double-header road-trip to Victoria, needing 50ml drained and her knee has been swollen for two weeks.
She will have surgery in two weeks, which is set to rule her out for between three and five months.
The four-time Olympian is still targeting a gold medal at the Games in Rio next year, confident she can have an impact if she looks after her body.
"I want to give back to Canberra, they've been so supportive of me and I feel so bad that I've been injured," Jackson said.
"I want to win a championship with the Capitals and the Olympics is huge as well. I want to win gold with the Opals more than anything."
