Sue Bird announces retirement at season’s end

One of the winningest athletes in any sport has announced her retirement at the end of the season. Seattle Storm and  WNBA legend Sue Bird announced that she will retire at the end of the Storm’s current season.

Bird tried to quietly make the announcement but even in her own words, the process became overwhelming.  “ I tried to tell my teammates during dinner,  it became a bigger deal than I would have thought,”

Bird on telling her teammates

And why should it not be a big deal when one of the greatest athletes in any sport announces that they will walk away when the season ends.

DECORATED CAREER

Bird, is one of the most decorated women’s professional basketball players in history, has spent her entire 21-year career with the Storm, having played in 19 seasons—the most of any player in WNBA history. She has been honoured on each of the WNBA’s milestone teams including the All-Decade Team (2006), Top 15 Players (2011), Top 20@20 (2016) and was named to the W25 team in 2021 as one of the 25 greatest and most influential players in league history.

In addition, Bird has won a record five Olympic gold medals to go along with four WNBA championships, two NCAA Championships, and five Euro League titles. She has also been selected to a WNBA-record 12 all-star games and has been honoured as an All-WNBA selection eight times.

ALL-TIME ASSIST LEADER

Bird is the WNBA’s all-time assist leader, recording her 3,000th career assist on July 9, 2021 at Phoenix, and has 3,114 career assists—514 more than any other player. She is the only player to play in at least 500 games, starting in each of her 559 career games played. In addition, Bird ranks second in career three-pointers made (965), fourth in steals (700), and seventh in points (6,639).

Bird’s importance to the Seattle Storm franchise cannot be overstated. Originally selected as the No. 1 overall pick by Seattle in the 2002 WNBA draft, Bird has been with the Storm for 21 of the franchise’s 23 seasons of existence. In addition, she has scored or assisted on 27.5% of every basket scored in Seattle Storm history, including the four seasons she didn’t play (2000, 2001, 2013 and 2019). When only including games she has played in, Bird has scored or assisted on 35.4% of all Storm baskets.

More information on celebrations surrounding Bird will be announced throughout the remainder of the season.