UConn great Bird to play another year
The Bird is back. UConn legend Sue Bird announced on Instagram Friday morning that she will play in the upcoming WNBA season for Seattle.
“OK. ... Let’s gooooo,” Sue captioned her post which included a couple photos of the four-time WNBA champion and a video clip of the Seattle audience chanting, ‘One more year.’
The 2022 season will be Bird’s 19th in the WNBA.
Following the conclusion of the 2021 season there was speculation the 41year-old would retire from the sport. She is the oldest active player in the league and previously announced she would step away from Team USA following the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Bird was selected as one of two athletes to represent Team USA as a flag bearer in Tokyo this summer. Later, Bird and former UConn teammate Diana Taurasi became the only U.S. basketball players, men or women, to earn five Olympic gold medals as Team USA won gold.
Seattle ended the 2021 season 21-11 and fell in the second round of the playoffs to Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury. The two former Huskies exchanged jerseys after the game.
The Storm posted a tweet welcoming Bird back, but the post was later deleted. Bird is an unrestricted free agent and the team cannot resign her until Feb. 1, per league rules.
But Bird will be playing in Seattle — she said on ESPN’s ManningCast in October that the prospect of playing in the city’s new arena “were very tempting.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Friday that Bird’s popularity with Seattle fans likely played a role in her return.
“She means a lot to that town, she means a lot to the fans of that of that city, she means a lot to the franchise, and she means a lot to the WNBA,” Auriemma said. “I think for a player sometimes the hardest thing is to know when it’s the perfect time to to walk away. And you don’t ever want to leave too soon, and you certainly don’t want to stay too long. But I think given the way Sue played this year and how she feels physically, I think she’s making you know, the best decision that she feels comfortable with and I’m happy for her. “
Bird is a four-time WNBA champion, a 12time All-Star and the league’s all-time leader in assists (3,048), games and minutes played (549 and 17,261), and career starts (549).
She led UConn to two national championships (2000 and 2002) and remains the program’s alltime leader in career 3point field percentage (45.9), free throw percentage (89.2) and single-season assists (231).
Seattle selected Bird as the No. 1 overall pick (UConn’s first No. 1 pick) in the 2002 WNBA draft.