It’s been a long time since Kara Lawson called the Washington area home. For four years, the former West Springfield High graduate has made her year-round home in Sacramento, where she’s led the Monarchs to the WNBA finals the last two seasons, including a championship in 2005
Lawson also has become a regular presence in Bristol, Conn., and around the country, too, serving as a basketball analyst for ESPN.
With such a packed schedule for most of the year, she looks forward to the summer like a kid in school.
“Everyone always asks me, ‘Is it hard to switch gears, going from basketball player to broadcaster?’” said Lawson. “I don’t feel like I switch gears. I’m always a basketball player, 12 months out of the year. I have to find time to fit in TV.”
Lawson never misses a workout, and she uses the access she has as a broadcaster to gain insight not only as an analyst, but also to improve her own game.
Ahead of the Monarchs’ sole regular-season visit to Washington, it’s not hard to see why she’s successful both on the court and in the studio.
“[The Mystics are] pretty long and athletic as a team,” said Lawson. “It’s a great challenge for us one on one defensively to try and take care of our players, and their team defensively. They have the ability to score a lot of points and they run a lot of different stuff. … You can get confused with all the different plays. It’s pretty much a futile effort, you just need to stick to your principles and your game plan, and try and worry about defending one on one.”
