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Sue Bird, one of the all-time great women’s basketball players, will retire after this season, her 21st in the WNBA.
“I’ve decided this will be my final year,” Bird tweeted, along with a photo of herself today next to an image of her as a little girl. “I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first.”
Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time WNBA champion, said she considered retiring after last season but signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Storm. The No. 1 overall pick in 2002, Bird, 41, has spent her entire professional career with the Storm and has been a 12-time all-star. During her college career at Connecticut, the Huskies won two NCAA championships.
The timing “is what it is,” Bird said in a video tweeted by the Storm, explaining that the team has started what will be her last regular season East Coast swing. Bird grew up in New York.
“I kind of knew this was going to be my last year, but I wanted to be for sure about it before I announced the retirement or did anything that was so, like, final,” said Bird, who is engaged to soccer legend Megan Rapinoe. “Once I saw the schedule and once I started packing for the trip a little bit, I was like, ‘this is going to be my last time playing in New York, my last time playing in front of my family and friends.’ That’s why the timing of this is what it is.”
The decision was “bittersweet,” she said with a sigh. The Storm plays Friday in Connecticut, Sunday in New York City and June 23 in Washington.
“I just really felt strongly about announcing my retirement and saying this was going to be my last year so I could share that with my family and my friends and all the people who watched me growing up, so they could come see me play for the last time in my home state.”
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