All in all, Sue Bird is seen by many WNBA fans as one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, player in the history of the league. However, there was doubt that she would ever lace up the sneakers one more time but the four-time WNBA champion made it official on her Instagram page. Sue Bird returns for her 19th, and possibly final, season in the WNBA.
It is important to realize that Bird is an unrestricted free agent. Teams and players cannot commence in negotiating new deals until Jan. 15 and said deals cannot officially be signed until Feb. 1.
Without a doubt, Bird has pretty much done everything a player can do in the WNBA. To put it another way, she has accomplished many things in the sport of basketball. First, she is only one of six players to win a national title in college, a WNBA title, and a gold medal.
Second, Bird is only one of two players to win five gold medals for USA Basketball, male or female. The other player is the Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi.
Lastly, she is a four-time FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Championship gold medalist with USA Basketball. To sum up, Bird is really good at basketball. In addition, she has done okay for herself in the WNBA.
Bird’s WNBA Career
Summing up the career of Sue Bird is no easy task but I shall do my best. Firstly, Bird is the all-time assists leader in WNBA history with 3,048. Secondly, she has started 549 games in her career and has never come off the bench in her 18 years in the league. Thirdly, Bird became the first player in league history to have 5,000 points and 2,000 assists in their career.
She has scored 300 or more points in 15 seasons, which is tied with former Houston Comets great Tina Thompson for most in WNBA history.
Even though it is taboo to mention a women’s age, it is hard to ignore what she did last year at age 41. Bird became the first WNBA player to have at least eight assists in a game after 40 years old and the fifth to reach the feat between the WNBA and NBA. She joined NBA players John Stockton, Karl Malone, Steve Nash, and Michael Jordan.
Even more, she made three-pointer number 900, placing her second on the all-time three-point made list as Taurasi is first.
As shown above, Sue Bird’s career is one that very few players, albeit in the NBA or WNBA, can match. On a personal note, she made this writer a fan back at UConn (No need to Google my age). Above all, seeing her in a Seattle Storm uniform would be ideal but we have to wait and see on that. Thanks, Sue for one more year.
Follow Beyond Women’s Sports for all things in the upcoming 2022 WNBA season. For more from the league and more, follow LaDarius Brown on Twitter @ladarius_brown.
