Lauren Jackson will miss four months after undergoing surgery

As announced by the Seattle Storm earlier today, star post Lauren Jackson returned to Australia yesterday to have surgery. Chris Dutton of the Canberra Times offered more detail on that story by saying Jackson is expected to be out of action for four months.

Australian Opals superstar Lauren Jackson will miss four months of basketball as she recovers from knee and Achilles tendon surgery.

But the Opals captain will be back for the world championships and coach Brendan Joyce has declared Jackson will ''be right for the real deal''...Her recovery means she will miss the start of the WNBA season in May.

But Joyce is confident the four-time Olympian will be back in career best form as the Opals chase a world title in September.

So as of right now, there is hope for Storm fans that Jackson will be available for the majority of the WNBA season if the four month timeline ends up being correct. However, that doesn't exclude her skipping the WNBA season entirely in favor of preparing for the World Championships with the Opals - Opals coach Brendan Joyce goes on to suggest that Jackson will be playing with them in July and August.

For more on the Storm's activity this offseason, stay tuned to our 2013-14 Seattle Storm offseason storystream.