Marion Jones plans to make move to WNBA
Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones is in basketball training with a view to playing in the women’s NBA.
Jones left prison in September last year after serving a six-month sentence for lying about steroid use and involvement in a drugs fraud case.
Reports state that the 34-year-old has been working on her skills in San Antonio since October.
“It would be an interesting journey if I decided to do this,” Jones told the New York Times.
“It would give me an opportunity to share my message to young people on a bigger platform, it would give me an opportunity to get a second chance.”
Jones played college basketball at North Carolina, where she was the starting point guard on their national championship team in 1994.
She also told the New York Times that she hopes to play in Europe this winter and in the WNBA next season.
“It’s important for people to know that it’s possible to make a mistake in your life, but it’s what you do after the mistake that people are going to remember you by,” she added.
“Are you going to make whatever negatives that happened in your life a positive? Are you going to disappear? That has certainly never been in my horizon.
“How can I use my experience, my story, to help people and in the process hop on this journey of trying to make a team?”
San Antonio Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes says he has not yet been told by his assistants whether Jones has the ability to play in the WNBA, but praised her for trying.
“I deal with people where they are right now,” he said. “If she’s interested in playing, great for her. The past is the past.”
