Having won 4 WNBA championships in a span of 6 years with the Lynx, Seimone Augustus understood how to win again and again in her 14-year career. The Lynx legend was on the podium last night to receive one of the greatest honors as a basketball athlete, i.e. getting inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She had her path set from the very beginning when she debuted on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine at the age of 14 years old.

She attended LSU and led the Lady Tigers to three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2004 to 2006 while recording several accolades under her belt. Being an 8x All-Star, 4x WNBA champion, and 3x Olympic gold medalist, Augustus is one of the most decorated players in the sport. So, let’s recall her illustrious journey as our newest Hall of Famer.

Seimone Augustus burst onto the scene in the WNBA

Drafted as the No.1 overall pick in 2006, Seimone Augustus had come to change the course of Minnesota’s destiny in the WNBA. In her inaugural season in the league, she averaged 21.9 points, with which she set a rookie record and she finished second to Diana Taurasi, who led the league in scoring that year. She also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game.

She was selected as a reserve for the WNBA All-Star game and led the West Squad with 16 points at Madison Square Garden. The night before the All-Star Game, she also won the Skills Challenge. Her performances led her to the Rookie of the Year honor and she finished 10th in the MVP race and was named to the All-WNBA 2nd team.

Then, in 2007, she took her scoring to another level, gathering a career-high 22.6 points per game. Augustus shot 51% from the field and finished second to Seattle’s Lauren Jackson. This time, her votes for the MVP placed her in 8th position while she was named to the All-WNBA 2nd Team again. However, the 2007 season didn’t turn out that great for the Lynx as they put out probably their worst record of 10-24.

Augustus’ third season in the league took a step back, but still, she was able to keep some momentum, averaging 19.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. But the real downfall came in 2009 when she suffered an impact and tore her ACL in a game against the Phoenix Mercury. As a result, her 2010 season wasn’t so good either due to the medical issues she was facing.

But in the next season, Augustus emerged to get the job done, i,e. building the dynasty. Back to health, she had come into a roster that had a supporting cast of Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson, and Maya Moore as the team’s newest addition at the time. These four elevated Minnesota to an unprecedented height.

Augustus leading the Lynx toward multiple championships

The Lynx reached the playoffs for the first time with Augustus in 2011. The LSU alumna led the Lynx in scoring and had the second-highest single-game score in the WNBA Finals history with 36 points in Game 2. The Lynx then swept Atlanta with Augustus being named the Finals MVP.

However, this win wasn’t just a 1-year thing for the team as they came back to the Finals the following two seasons, losing in 2012 to Indiana and defeating Atlanta in 2013. Augustus maintained her scoring to 16.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists through 2011-13 and won several accolades, including being named to the first team All-WNBA in 2012, and was voted as a starter in the 2013 All-Star Game.

It was the sixth time in her career that Seimone Augustus was named an All-Star while she averaged 13.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Her scoring had come down a little bit as she was battling with a knee injury at the time and was declared indefinitely out mid-way through the season.

However, she came back just in time for the real fun to begin, i.e. the 2015 playoffs. She led the Lynx to the Finals for a 2012 rematch against the Indiana Fever, but they ended that story a little differently this time around. After a hard-fought series, Minnesota emerged victorious 3-2 and lifted their third WNBA title in 5 years.

In 2016, they continued their championship contention and finished with a franchise-best record of 28 wins and 6 losses. This was the year when the new WNBA playoff format had come into effect, but the Lynx stayed on top and defeated the Mercury in a three-game sweep in the semi-finals.

Upon reaching the Finals yet again, they faced the LA Sparks, who ended the Lynx’s championship run. Nonetheless, Augustus was chosen to the WNBA Top 20@20 list of the league’s 20 best players ever as it was the league’s 20th anniversary.

Bringing up her last draw in 2017, Augustus’ scoring took a drastic hit, averaging 10.9 points per game. However, it was due to the fact that she had transitioned into the role of an offensive facilitator for the team instead. Hence, she had a career-high in assists at 4 per game.

Moreover, she was named an All-Star for the seventh time. The Lynx finished as the no.1 seed with a 27-7 record, a double-bye to the semi-finals. She led a three-game sweep over Washington, advanced to the Finals for the sixth time in 7 years, and set up a 2016 Finals rematch with the Sparks. She ended up giving a season-high performance with 24 points in a single game and also she avenged the team’s loss from the previous year and clinched her 4th WNBA title.

Her impact continued to decrease over the next three years and she eventually hung up her boots in 2020, bowing out as one of the greatest the world had ever seen. The Hall of Fame honor does justice to her body of work.