WNBA star Bird says 2022 will be her final season
Seattle Storm star and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird announced Thursday the 2022 season will be her last playing in the WNBA.
The announcement by Bird, 41, ended any speculation about her future; she had acknowledged in February when she re-signed with Seattle that this would likely be her final season. She strongly considered retirement after last season before choosing to return for a 19th season as a player.
Bird's announcement came a day before Seattle's game at Connecticut. The Storm will close out their road trip on Sunday in New York, about 30 miles from where Bird grew up in Syosset,
New York.
“As the season has gone, like I said, I pretty much knew, and then once I saw the schedule, and then once I started packing for this trip a little bit, I was like, `Oh, this is gonna be my last time playing in New York. My last time playing in front of my family and friends.' And so that's why the timing of this is what it is,” Bird said in a video posted by the Storm on social media.
“I just really felt strongly about announcing my retirement, saying it was my last year so I can share that with my family and my friends, all the people in New York who have watched me growing up so they can come and see me play for the last time in my
home state. So I'm excited about that. It's also bittersweet.”
Bird is a four-time WNBA champion, 12-time All-Star and the oldest player in the league. She has spent her entire WNBA career with Seattle since becoming the No. 1 draft pick in 2002 following her storied college career at UConn.
Her resume is the envy of anyone in professional sports. National championships at UConn in 2000 and 2002. WNBA titles with Seattle in 2004, 2008, 2018 and 2020.
Bird hoisted five additional titles playing overseas in the EuroLeague. Last year, she added a fifth Olympic gold in Tokyo.
SOURCE: DALLAS GETS CHRISTIAN WOOD FROM ROCKETS >>
A person with direct knowledge of the agreement said the Houston Rockets are trading center Christian Wood, their leading scorer and rebounder this season, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for four players and a draft pick.
Boban Marjanovic, Trey Burke, Sterling Brown and former Warrior Marquese Chriss are going to the Rockets, who will also receive the No. 26 pick this year, according to the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The deal won't be finalized until the June 23 draft, the person said.
It is a major move for the Mavericks, after Wood averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He was one of nine players to average at least 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Wood is entering the final season of a three-year, $41 million contract.
Dallas star Luka Doncic will now have another talented option to surround himself with next season.
Houston also has two other first-round picks in the draft — including No. 3, with the most likely selection in that spot being Auburn's Jabari Smith, Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren or Duke's Paolo Banchero. Orlando picks No. 1, followed by Oklahoma City at No. 2, and there has been much speculation that Banchero would fall to the Rockets.
Wood averaged 50% shooting this season, including 39% from 3-point range. Dallas will be the 26-year-old's seventh team in seven NBA seasons, after stints in Philadelphia, Charlotte, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Detroit and Houston.