WNBA legend Sue Bird retires after two decades helping change the face of US women’s sport

“I would stare at him, watch him warm up,” Bird said.

At the time, there was no WNBA. Many sports fans had little concept that a women’s game existed. But something remarkable has happened during Bird’s lifetime, which will reach 42 years on Oct. 16: The profile of women’s basketball has surged.

The NCAA held its first women’s basketball tournament in 1982. The WNBA launched in 1997. The U.S. women’s basketball team became one of the most dominant Olympic dynasties in any sport. And Bird has played such an enduring role across all of those entities that her childhood idol in the NBA has become an admirer.

“You make sure that you tell her that I am really honoured that she said that she looked up to me,” Walker said in an interview. “Tell her that I got a big smile on my face. I can always tell my buddies that Sue Bird liked me more than she liked Michael Jordan.”

Bird played her final game Tuesday, a 97-92 Seattle Storm loss to the Las Vegas Aces, who took the best-of-five playoff semi-final series 3-1. She’d said in June that this would be her final season. On Tuesday night after the final buzzer, she fought tears as fans in Seattle’s packed Climate Pledge Arena roared.

“I’m going to miss it so much,” Bird said.

She left a lasting mark and showed what a transcendent star can do for the women’s game.

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament — which didn’t exist when Bird was born in 1980 — has become the second-most watched championship the NCAA operates, behind men’s basketball. The U.S. women’s basketball team has won the past seven Olympic gold medals and nine of the 12 ever awarded. The WNBA is the longest-running major women’s professional league in the U.S.

Although dozens of other women stood out as the game grew — from Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Tamika Catchings to Cynthia Cooper, Maya Moore and Candace Parker — Bird is arguably the most accomplished across the college, Olympic and pro game.

She helped lead UConn to the second and third of its record 11 NCAA titles, establishing the Huskies’ dynasty. She played on five gold medal-winning Olympic teams, a feat equalled only by Diana Taurasi, a teammate of Bird’s at UConn. Bird helped lead the Storm to four WNBA championships over her 19 seasons, all in Seattle. (She sat out 2013 and 2019 with knee injuries.)

Bird was the WNBA’s No. 1 overall pick in 2002. She leaves as a league-leading 13-time All-Star. She’s the all-time leader in assists, and could score in devastating style.

In Game 3 of the Storm-Aces series, Bird caught Gabby Williams’s inbound pass in the corner, elevated off her 41-year-old knees and swished a 3-pointer that gave Seattle the lead with .8 seconds left. (It took a buzzer-beating shot and a run in overtime for the top-seeded Aces to win the game.)

But as Bird said after playing her final game in New York earlier this season, she’s proud of what she’s achieved without abundant physical gifts.

“You don’t have to be the biggest, the tallest,” the 5-foot-9 guard said. “I always joke: I’m fast, I’m not the fastest — definitely not now. I’m pretty quick, I’m not the quickest. I’m not jumping over people. I had to find another way.”

Meanwhile, she became a popular ambassador as the women’s game grew off the court. Several years ago Bird began dating U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe — the two are now engaged — and she came out as gay in 2017.

Bird grew more outspoken, saying that the WNBA’s popularity had suffered because of racism and homophobia. She joined in as players continued their practice of protest in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

As the league’s profile grew, with increased investment, rising TV ratings and sponsorship, so did Bird’s. Two years ago, when she was 39, Bird’s was the top-selling jersey in the WNBA. She’s a fixture on the popular Instagram page LeagueFits.

She starred in TV commercials with Steph Curry, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird — no relation. (Women’s basketball truly will have arrived if Sue Bird can land the role of wisecracking retiree.)

The announcement of Bird’s final season helped boost the Storm’s average home attendance to a franchise-record 10,867 through Sunday’s playoff game. Her appeal extended to road games: Overall, 20 of the 27 largest WNBA crowds during the regular season involved the Storm, the team said, including a franchise-record 18,100 fans in Bird’s regular-season home finale.

And Bird left a strong impression on the NBA idol she once stared at, who played before her league existed.

“You talk about leaving it all out on the floor, I mean, she plays hard every game,” Walker said. “She plays with a tremendous amount of passion every game. You know what you’re going to get out of her each and every single night.”

-Wall Street Journal