HUTCHINSON, MINN. – There's no statue of Lindsay Whalen in this city of 14,000 residents on the Crow River about an hour west of Minneapolis.
But in the town where the winningest player in WNBA history grew up, there's a mural on Main Street depicting the homegrown basketball star in her Olympic uniform, driving hard to the bucket. And in a perfect summary of Whalen's relentlessly gritty character, it's painted on the side of a pawnshop.
As news of Whalen's retirement Monday from the Minnesota Lynx spread through town, those who know her and followed her and cheered her on stopped to pay tribute to the local girl who made good, an international sports star who never forgot her roots.
"She's a hometown sweetheart, that's for sure," said Tiffany Hopkins, pouring drinks at the Main Street Sports Bar, where the two TVs were tuned to Whalen's televised retirement news conference Monday afternoon.
"It's cool to see the culture that follows her in this town."
That culture includes photos of Whalen at local businesses, signed basketball gear displayed under glass and so many yard signs — "Lindsay, We Are Proud of You" — that one new Hutchinson resident, assuming the signs were put out by family members, wondered how she could possibly have so many relatives.
"She's pretty much done everything you can ask of an athlete," said Matthew Johnson, manager of Security Coin & Pawn, home of Whalen's mural, as he watched Whalen speak on television from Mayo Clinic Square. "Some people got it, some people don't."
At Hutchinson High School, Whalen's retired No. 13 jersey is kept in a frame in the school activities office. Sarah McGraw, an administrative assistant, was a neighbor of the Whalens; her son, Adam Froemming graduated in the Class of 2000 with Lindsay.