Storm star Bird says 2022 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 road trip on Sunday in New York, about 30 miles from where Bird grew up in Syosset, New York.
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, 12time 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. 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 hoisted five additional titles playing overseas in the Euroleague. Last year, she added a fifth Olympic gold in Tokyo to go along with the ones the United States earned in 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.