From the Associated Press:

San Antonio Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes confirmed Monday night that Jones has been training with his assistants to possibly play in the WNBA, more than a year after the 34-year-old was released from federal prison for lying about her doping use.

I completely forgot that Marion Jones was the starting point guard at North Carolina when they won the National Championship in 1994. Clearly she can play -- or at least, she could play at one point in her life. Jones received a call in May from someone from the NBA asking if she might want to play in the WNBA.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. On one side, it really seems like a publicity stunt. The WNBA would love to have Marion Jones come play and give a little bit of press to their league, which could use it after seeing the Houston Comets fold and the Detroit Shock moving to Tulsa. Those two franchises both had done very well, with each having won multiple championships. Would the Silver Stars give a roster spot to Jones even if she wasn't going to contribute, just to sell some tickets?



But I'm going to be optimistic about this and hope for a feel-good story. Marion Jones has been killed by the press for her steroid use. She deserves the criticism but so do MLB players who have seemed to have skated by with little repercussions. Jones was stripped of her medals from the 2000 Olympics and actually served jail time. A-Rod on the other hand just celebrated a World Series victory in which the ticker tape was made from bills from his $275 million contract (That's just how rich he is).

"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 said. "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?"

She hopes to play in Europe over the winter and join the WNBA next season. I hope she's able to overcome her troubles and we see her contribute in the WNBA.