Sue Bird returns to 19th WNBA season at 41

LOS ANGELES: Five-time Olympic champion Sue Bird said Friday she intends to play the 2022 Women’s NBA season, her 19th campaign in the league, at age 41.

The American star has won four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm and revealed her plans with an Instagram video of fans chanting, ‘One Most Year,’ and the caption, ‘OK, Let’s Gooooo.’

Bird, a 12-time WNBA AllStar and the oldest player in league history, hinted she wanted to play for the Storm in its first season at renovated Climate Pledge Arena when she was at the venue in October for the inaugural game of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

Bird was a US flag-bearer at the opening ceremonies of last year’s Tokyo Olympics, where the US women completed a seventh consecutive unbeaten run to gold.

A US backcourt stalwart since 2004 in Athens, Bird has also helped the Americans capture four Basketball World Cup crowns.

Since being the first overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft by Seattle, Bird has helped the Storm win WNBA titles in 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020.

She missed the 2013 and 2019 campaigns with knee surgery but has played a record 549 WNBA games, averaging 12.0 points, 5.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals a game.