Bird says this will be her final season
Always in control on the court, Sue Bird lasted about 10 minutes until the emotion of the moment and the finality of the decision got the best of her.
After 21 professional seasons, one of the greatest basketball careers ever is nearing its end.
“I feel like I’ve played as long as I can at a really high level both physically and mentally, and it’s just gotten harder,” Bird said, fighting through tears.
The Seattle Storm star and five-time Olympic gold medalist 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 state where she was a collegiate star and national player of the year. The Storm will close out their trip Sunday in New York, about 30 miles from where Bird grew up in Syosset, N.Y.
It’s Seattle’s only scheduled trip to New York this season, which helped prompt her announcement.
“Knowing it was going to be my last game in New York is really what started the thought process around announcing that this would be my last year,” Bird said. “So that’s kind of the how, and the when. That was the motivating factor on the timing. And I feel like for every athlete, sometimes it really just comes down to you know when you know. There isn’t necessarily a recipe for it. You just know when you know.”
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 college career at UConn. This season is her 21st associated with the franchise although just her 19th playing after missing two seasons because of injuries.
Her resume is the envy of anyone in professional sports, let alone basketball. National championships at UConn in 2000 and 2002. WNBA titles with Seattle in 2004, 2008, 2018 and 2020, the last coming inside the WNBA “bubble” in Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bird was the AP national player of the year her final season at UConn. She is a fivetime all-WNBA first-team selection, the league’s all-time leader in assists and the only player to appear in more than 500 games in league history.
Bird said she’s not really prepared for the farewell tour that’s likely to follow her every time she visits a WNBA road city for the last time.
“I feel like I don’t personally need that,” Bird said. “But I also understand that there are fan bases that might want to, you know, take that moment. … But yeah, I’m not prepared for it.”
Liberty 77, Mystics 65: Natasha Howard scored a seasonhigh 27 points to help host New York beat Washington. Howard added eight rebounds and was 13 for 17 from the field for the Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu had 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
The Mystics were missing starter Elena Delle Donne, who has been taking games off to rest her back after she had surgery for herniated disks and missed all of last season.