Lynx Stars Stay Home To Stay Fresh

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- "I don't think any one of us is trying to out-chase or out-run Father Time. Like, we know that the time is ticking. We're just trying to dance as slowly as possible with him, and enjoy the ride until the music stops," Seimone Augustus said.

With words like those, perhaps a career in poetry will be in order when Seimone Augustus' basketball career finally comes to a close.

Thing is though, she's trying to put that day off as long as possible. Which is why, for the first time in her career, she didn't play overseas this offseason, in the hope of being fresher for the upcoming WNBA grind.

"When these players go overseas, so, they're our franchise players, they're asked to play at a high level every single day, at practice and in games. Well, they're getting paid a lot of money when they do go over there, for the same expectation," coach Cheryl Reeve said. "You have a responsibility to be on, all the time. So it's a year-round of being on, which is incredibly draining."

Augustus, as well Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen, all took the offseason off this winter -- Augustus and Moore for the first time ever.

"They're foregoing, at this point in their career, 3, 4, 500,000 dollars?" Reeve said. "Because it means so much to them? To play here, in this market, longer. That's what they're hoping for, by doing this."

That says a lot about their commitment to the WNBA and the Lynx, to put that money aside and make this league and this team their priority. It is a big sacrifice, though. That's a lot of money to leave on the table.

"I know but we've all been fortunate. Life isn't about just money. There's a lot of people out in the world with money that's not really happy. Like, we're happy doing what we do, we love what we're doing. But we want to make sure that it continues to be here," Augustus said.

"We understand that life is bigger than just us. We want the WNBA to be here, and in order to have that, you have to have quality players playing quality basketball."

"I'm incredibly proud of our group, that this means so much to them," Reeve said. "They just value the heck out of that, and it's a great time for us."

Even if they acknowledge their time is running out.