Weathering the storm
Chasing another WNBA title, Seattle’s Bird still consistently great
Geno Auriemma clicked on the television the other night to watch the WNBA semifinals between the Minnesota Lynx and the Seattle Storm. He saw Crystal Dangerfield. He saw Sue Bird.
“You got a point guard who was just named Rookie of the Year playing against a point guard who is 39 years old,” Auriemma said Thursday. “And they both played for me.
“I was just shaking my head, going, ‘What the hell?’ ”
Although life in the IMG Academy “wubble” may have felt like an eternity for WNBA players, Sue Bird really has played for an eternity. OK, we got our little joke in about how UConn’s Girl Next Door became Grandma Moses.
At the same time, on the eve of the 2020 WNBA Finals, it is impossible not to pay homage to Bird’s unremitting determination to prepare and remain fit through entire calendar years of play and constantly evolve through a process that has led her to become the purest, most accomplished point guard in women’s basketball history.
If they ever play the Big Game in the Sky, Bird sets up the winning basket. Money. Most games played all-time, most assists alltime — the numbers give
account to Bird’s longevity.
Here’s a fact that helps document Bird’s sustained greatness as a champion: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his first NBA championship in 1971 with the Bucks and his last of six with the Lakers in 1988. That’s a record 17-year stretch.
If the Storm beat the Las Vegas Aces in the best-offive Finals, Bird will have four titles over a 16-year stretch dating to the 2004 victory over the Sun. Given the Storm also won in 2018, it’s already at 14.
“Kareem was incredibly consistent,” Auriemma said. “Every year he was a threat to win the whole thing. Obviously, health played a big role and being on a great team (the Lakers for five titles) played a big role.
“Sue’s incredible consistency as a player comes from her consistency as a person: ‘This is what I do every day. This is what I did every day when I was a WNBA rookie. I learned. The second year I did this. The third year I did this.’ Each year she has added something that has made her more consistent and healthier.”
Abdul-Jabbar, of course, was 17 inches taller than Bird. He lived on sky hooks. Sue did not live on
Sky Bars. While sitting with her before a game at Mohegan Sun a number of years ago, Bird diligently went through her diet regimen and what she had learned about nutrition since college. You may beat Bird with height, speed or luck. You’re not beating her with detail.
“There are some injuries you can’t control, but she is an incredible leader on the basketball court of epic proportions because she understands what has to be done with a particular team in order to win,” Auriemma said. “It doesn’t matter to her who the coach is — doesn’t matter — as long as she has the opportunity to direct the team, they’re going to find a way to win. When you’re that smart, that committed, that consistent, you’re a hard person to beat.”
Bird missed the 2013 season after surgery to remove a cyst from her right knee, and she missed last year with surgery to her left knee. Remember, too, she played so many years, year-round, in North America and Russia and in the Olympics.
“There are definitely sacrifices you make,” Bird said. “We can joke about that extra piece of cake. There’s a certain lifestyle that I feel I have committed to, but I don’t see it as giving something up, because you get in return.
“I’m also lucky in a way. My position and how I play it allows for longevity. I never really relied on my physical quickness or speed or size, obviously. So as long as I continue to add to my game from a mental perspective and remained healthy, I was always going to be able to stay on the floor.”
Bird missed half of Seattle’s 22 regular-season games in the wubble with a bone bruise and later a collision with Satou Sabally that left her limping and with a black eye (and Sabally in concussion protocol). Bird is back for the playoffs, back for title No. 4 before she turns 40 on Oct.
16.
Auriemma asked whether we’d checked the numbers in the Storm’s closeout game against Minnesota. Breanna Stewart, the best player in the sport in
2020, had 31 points and seven assists. Bird had 16 and nine. They dominated. He calls it players with the “knack for the big moment.” He has had a bunch through 11 national titles.
“Sue has been training for these moments every single day since her rookie year,” Auriemma said. “Some people don’t have the stamina to do that. The discipline to do that. You know how hard it is to stay in shape for 12 months of the year? And the older you get? I can’t do it.
“I have a COVID-19 drawer at my house. I have a wine opener that I can’t see it anymore, it’s covered with so many labels. That’s my discipline. I’m going to fill this drawer up. Sue’s discipline is, ‘I want to win championships every single year I’m in the league. And I’m going to give up all the things that cause me not to be able to do that.’ ”
Bird spoke for nearly 20 minutes Thursday on Zoom, and more than half of the time involved questions about social injustice. She has become an important voice in sports. There was a time when I was sure she’d coach. Now, I’m thinking maybe Congress.
COVID, the bone bruise that kept her out of the lineup, life in the wubble, dealing with social issues involving Dream owner Kelly Loeffler, the police shootings of Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor, and the WNBA dedicating the season to Taylor … Bird was asked whether it’s the hardest road ever taken in a season.
“Yes, definitely,” Bird said. “With each day, each week, there was a lot on everybody’s plate. This season in some parts was amazing because it wasn’t just about basketball. But what I’ve come to find out when you’re in this world of activism and organization, there’s this other energy you expend. And oh, by
the way, you have to be a basketball player as well. I think for a lot of people it was exhausting at times.”
Bird pointed to Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the WNBA players association, who fought back spasms and couldn’t play in the playoffs because of a migraine. Her stress, Bird said, manifested itself physically.
“You’re here to play basketball and you’re here to ‘Say Her Name,’ ” Bird said. “One of those things got taken away from me. It was very frustrating. But I think everyone can sit here and tell you a story of hitting the wubble wall and finding a way to get over it and move on. This isn’t me trying to be dramatic. In some ways, regardless of who is the winner, we all come out on top. I really believe that. But it’s been hard. It’s been tough.”
Bird brought up Zoom conversations with Michelle Obama and Stacey Abrams and how they reenergized her. She smiled. You could almost see her mind grabbing that energy and applying it to Game 1 on Friday night. Stewart and Bird never lost an NCAA championship game or world championship game. They never lost Olympic gold. They haven’t lost in the WNBA Finals.
Bird said answering questions about why is like asking what makes a clutch
player a clutch player. It’s not easy to put into words. She talked about a mindset and building confidence. As an older player, physical fitness and mental preparation from game film and having a plan of attack in the back of her head are vital.
“Sue and Stewie know how to win big games,” Auriemma said. “Because they’ve been so successful in so many of them, they walk into every big game knowing they’re going to win. That’s a big difference than players hoping they’re going to win. The flip side is true. If you’re playing them, you know they don’t lose these types of games. That works on you. They’re the best. They know how to win. And the guys who are playing against them know they know how to win.”
Auriemma said he made a point to his current team of half-dozen newcomers recently.
“Did you guys watch the game?” he said. “There’s almost a 40-year-old point guard on the floor that was the best guard on the floor. What’s that say about the rest of the league? And what does that say about Sue?’
“I think there’s a really good question in that statement.”