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3×3 The Carrot Moving Forward For Griffin
Three-time WNBL champion Kelsey Griffin says 3×3 basketball has ignited a new motivation in her career, as she sets her sights on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Griffin has been named to Australia’s squad for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) alongside Bec Cole, Maddie Garrick, Keely Froling and Lauren Nicholson. The 32-year-old played with that team for the first time at the 3x3Hustle pro event at MSAC last month and impressed, as the squad went undefeated and displayed tremendous chemistry and skill.
When discussing why she jumped into the 3×3 world and opened a new career path, the third overall pick in the 2010 WNBA draft explained how she wanted to embraced the new challenge the shortened format presented.
“I was trying to figure out for myself why am I still playing? Not that I’ve done everything, but I felt fortunate,” Griffin said, via the Canberra Times.
“I needed to talk with (wife) Erin about why we were still doing this. Then 3×3 happened…I really enjoyed it. That’s a motivating factor, and being challenged to do something new. That’s the carrot moving forward.”
A new date for the OQT hasn’t been announced yet, as the entire basketball world is put on pause due to COVID-19. The added time off has allowed Griffin to get surgery on her AC joint, which she injured during the WNBL season with Canberra.
While the circumstances aren’t ideal, Griffin says the restrictions relating to social distancing and the sporting world coming to a half has given her plenty of time to get her body back to 100 percent.
“We decided to pull the trigger and now it turns out I’ve got a lot of time to recover,” Griffin laughs.
“We made the decision to have surgery to try to get back for the Olympics. I was just looking at it logistically and with the way [coronavirus] was spreading…I thought the Olympic would get pushed back.
“In the end we don’t have to work to that timeline of trying to get back that quickly. ”
