When Courtney Vandersloot thinks about basketball, she thinks about her mom.

Jan Vandersloot was the ultimate WNBA fan — and not just because she raised one of the greatest point guards to ever play in the league. She was a basketball junkie who taught her daughter to love a slick pass and a smooth jumper. She broke down salary caps as fervently as any executive. And she did her best to never miss a game — not when Vandersloot was at Gonzaga or in Chicago or even half a world away playing for Ekaterinburg in the EuroLeague championships.

It has been just over a year since Jan died after a two-year battle with multiple myeloma, a rare form of incurable blood cancer. And Vandersloot still doesn’t know how to love playing basketball the same without her mom watching.

“I don’t think basketb

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