Kara Lawson has been striding toward her Olympic moment since the age of 3. True story. Since the age of 3.
Her precociousness aside, she initially picked the wrong sport. She later learned to measure her progress in increments rather than bursts of speed. She gets there, eventually.
Yet within an uncharacteristic blur of a few months, all of this has occurred: She married Damien Barling, a local disc jockey on KSFM (102.5 FM) who charmed her the night the Monarchs won the 2005 WNBA championship. She claimed a starting job for the first time in her professional career. She entered talks with the Kings to return to their broadcasting team after a one-year hiatus because of her national team commitments.
Finally, Lawson, who has envisioned herself as a gold medalist since watching on television as Evelyn Ashford sprinted to victory in the 1984 Games, recently was named to the women's U.S. Olympic basketball squad.
"When I was growing up," said the six-year veteran, with a sheepish grin, "our house was on a corner in Alexandria, Va., and there was a street sign nearby. After the Olympics that year, I would go outside in my front yard, start at the street sign, and try to outrace the cars. I figured if I trained hard enough and I could beat the cars, I could beat anyone else."
Another true story?
"I got older and slower," she added, laughing.
Lawson, of course, is far too modest. At 27, she has evolved into an exceptional shooter and legitimate WNBA starter, one of the best television analysts in NCAA women's basketball, and a potential star for the men's telecasts. She also is projected by many as a future head coach. Men. Women. Whatever. The convergence of possibilities makes the former Tennessee standout's progression all the more intriguing.
She sneaks up on you. She is right there in your face, swatting balls loose, converting momentum-changing threes, answering difficult questions, screaming in victory and sobbing in defeat, yet on teams with Ticha Penicheiro, Nicole Powell and former Monarchs center Yolanda Griffith, she quietly has eased into the business of becoming a multifaceted star.
"Other coaches try to speed her up," said coach Jenny Boucek, "but she's never going to be faster, quicker. Much of the game is about angles, spacing, reads. We tried to slow her down, get her to use a change of pace, calculate how she's going to handle situations."
Lawson responds to most situations with constant, almost chronic motion. In the weight room and on the jogging paths, she shed weight and molded her pudgy 5-foot-9 frame into 165 pounds of tight muscle. In front of the camera, she developed a style that is conversational, informative and analytical; she criticizes without permanently wounding – a major talent. Hence, the ongoing conversations with Kings officials to rejoin their broadcasting team.
"TV is perfect for me while I'm playing, because I learn so much about the game, talking to players and coaches," said Lawson, who joined the Kings telecasts in 2004. "It works well with my commitment to training. Right now it's like a puzzle; I'm just trying to see how they can fit me in again. They understood when I couldn't commit last year because of the national team, and ESPN was great, too. They let me out of some dates, pretty much everything but the NCAA Tournament."
The sacrifice was professional and personal, and came without any guarantees of an Olympic berth. Lawson and Barling even shortened their honeymoon so Kara could travel with the USA squad and enhance her prospects. And in one of those timing-is-everything episodes, she was named to the team July 10, or right about the same time she was finally securing a starting job with the Monarchs.
"I always wanted to be an Olympic champion," said Lawson, adding with a grin, "track just wasn't my sport."
Call The Bee's Ailene Voisin, (916) 321-1208.
