Five moments that led to Lindsay Whalen's Hall of Fame career

Lindsay Whalen spent Tuesday in her office at the University of Minnesota, surrounded by medals, championship rings and mementos.

She was a day away from flying East to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A sign on her desk read: "It's a good day to have a good day,'' and Whalen was in high spirits, looking forward to spending the week with friends and family, and to being introduced at the Hall of Fame by legends Dawn Staley and Charles Barkley on Saturday.

Her career highlights are memorable and indelible but were hardly preordained. Asked to provide five moments that shaped her career, Whalen relived five pivotal conversations and epiphanies.

Childhood

Whalen's first love as a child in Hutchinson was hockey.

"There was no girls varsity hockey and my Mom was worried about checking, even though I could have probably held my own.

"I was a sports fanatic, and I wanted to play something, so I tried basketball. First game I ever played, in middle school, I scored eight points, and made a shot from behind the backboard. This was in Litchfield, Minnesota, and I remember hearing the crowd gasp, and thinking, 'Oh, I like that. I might be onto something here. This is good.' That was my first basketball memory, feeling like there weren't many people in the gym who could do what I just did.''

Hutchinson High

Legendary Hutchinson football coach Andy Rostberg also coached girls basketball.

"Andy would open the gym all summer, Monday through Thursday, 8 to noon. We'd just show up and pick teams, boys and girls playing together, and play the whole time. I'd hop on my bike, stop on my way at Super America for a bear claw, if I had the money. Having that access was huge for me.

"Andy was there all the time. He gave up his summers so we would have a place to play. So when I got to Minnesota and we didn't have summer practice, we'd do what we did with Andy and go find a rec center and play all day.''

University of Minnesota

Gopher women's basketball had won one NCAA tournament game before Whalen arrived. She would win seven, leading the Gophers to their only Final Four appearance in 2004.

Her freshman season, she played for Cheryl Littlejohn, who was dismissed after going 29-81 at Minnesota. Her sophomore season, she played for Brenda Frese (then Oldfield), before Frese left for Maryland and Pam Borton replaced her.

"My sophomore year, we were pretty good. That was Brenda's one year here. We come back from the holiday break in January and the floor of the Pavilion is flooded. The promotional department starts saying that we're going to "Ride The Wave'' to Williams Arena.

"The Pav is a beautiful facility, but Williams Arena is Williams Arena. And we never went back to the Pavilion.

"My sophomore year, we were drawing 2,000 people to the Pavilion. As a freshman, it was 500. We have Hometown Day at Williams, and kids from Hutchinson are coming in busloads from the rec center. We have 11,000 for a game. And we were like, OK, we know we're pretty good, but we'd better really play now. That game, we shoot like 20 percent in the first half, but we get over our nerves and kick their rears in the second half. Then we have Purdue in town and we have 8,000 people and I score 41.

"At that point, I'm like, 'We've got this. We're really good.'

"You know the saying, 'Leave it better than you found it?' Now there's a women's locker room in Williams, and a film room. None of that was here when I played here. That team, we did that. We produced physical changes in the program.''

Minnesota Lynx

The Connecticut Sun chose Whalen with the fourth pick in the 2004 draft, making her the highest-drafted player ever from the Big Ten. She took the Sun to the WNBA finals in her first two seasons.

In 2010, the Lynx, with new coach Cheryl Reeve, traded for Whalen. They would win four WNBA titles together.

"In 2010, we were terrible,'' Whalen said. "We started out like 2-11 [actually 2-9]. She had a conversation with me that I probably didn't want to have. She sat me down after the Fourth of July break. She texted me, saying, 'Hey, let's meet.' So I go down to the old Target Center offices and it's me and Cheryl and coach Shelley [Patterson]. I was shooting 33 percent from the floor, and I don't think I had a great assist-to-turnover ratio.

"Cheryl was willing to have a conversation with me that was probably hard for her at the time, saying, 'You've got to really hone in on your fitness and nutrition.' I was in my seventh year in the league. I had been runner-up for MVP. I had played in two finals, and made first team All-WNBA. I was already good-slash-great. She wanted to know if I wanted to be great-slash-elite.

"From that point on, I lost 10 pounds during the season, and started working extra before and after practice, and my shooting percentage went up. She made me uncomfortable, in the right way. We missed the playoffs that year, but from that point on, I made Team USA and won a championship — WNBA, national team, in Europe — every year through 2017.''

Team USA

Whalen has called Reeve and UConn legend Geno Auriemma the two best coaches in women's basketball. When Whalen dedicated herself to making Team USA and playing in the Olympics, she knew she had to impress Auriemma, then the program's coach.

"To get to the world championships and Olympics, I first had to make the team in 2010,'' Whalen said. "So we [the Lynx] miss the playoffs, meaning I can attend the whole Team USA camp. It was in D.C. So I fly out there and the night before practice my sister and I go out and I have a couple of glasses of wine, which is not something I usually did.

"The next day, I'm probably a little looser than I would have been in other situations, joking in the layup line, that sort of thing. I know that if I get cut, I can go play in Europe and make a lot of money, and have a longer vacation. So I'm not all that serious.

"Geno is so good. He knows exactly what to say. He asked me at practice, 'Do you want to make this team?' I said, 'Yeah,' but my heart dropped. He's like, "Well, that's good to say. I really think you have a chance to make this team. But you have to believe you can make this team.' "

Inspired and chastened, Whalen decided to prove herself to Auriemma. She made the team and won two Olympic gold medals.

A youth game in Litchfield. An open gym in Hutchinson. A flooded court on campus. A pre-practice meeting in Target Center. An on-court conversation in D.C.

Thanks to those moments, Whalen never regretted hanging up her skates.