Standing on stage at the KARE-TV barn at the State Fair on Saturday, with three WNBA championship trophies to her left, Lindsay Whalen grabbed the microphone, smiled and joked:
"All right, so I'm not retiring," she said.
Of course she wasn't. Though she did acknowledge that was one of the rumors she heard floating around this week when the Lynx and WNBA announced a news conference and promised a major piece of news.
The news made it official: The 2018 WNBA All-Star Game will be held at newly renovated Target Center on July 28.
With fans packed into the building cheering almost every word, a number of city and league officials touted the announcement, which will bring the best female players in the world to the Twin Cities for a weekend. On the stage were WNBA Chief Operating Officer Jay Parry, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, City Council member and chair of Sports Minneapolis Jacob Frey, Meet Minneapolis CEO Melvin Tennant and Lynx Director of Business Operations Carley Knox.
The team's bid for the game was a joint effort between the team, Meet Minneapolis and Sports Minneapolis.
And Whalen. Perfect for the event because of her Minnesota roots and a career that includes five All-Star Game appearances, the Lynx point guard was available because her injured left hand will keep her out of Sunday's regular-season finale. She is expected to return for the playoffs.
"I remember the first All-Star Game I went to," she said. It was 2003, in New York. Whalen, about to enter her senior year at the University of Minnesota, was with Team USA basketball there and went to the game. She remembers watching Sue Bird's famous between-the-legs pass to Lauren Jackson.