Sue Bird breaks down in tears on the court as the four-time WNBA champion brings the curtain down on her illustrious career - with Seattle Storm fans chanting 'thank you for following semifinals defeat by Las Vegas Aces.
The reason for WNBA legend Sue Bird was her retirement
%20(2).jpeg "The career ends of Sue Bird as a Las Vegas Aces quell Seattle to reach the WNBA final")
Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird is retiring from the W.N.B.A. after 21 years. She came emotional as her home crowd cheered for her after the Storm lost to the Aces on Tuesday.Credit.Lindsey Wasson/ Associated Press.
Seattle Storm fans wanted one further time. Sue Bird gave it to them.
She oiled back her signature ponytail, laced up her custom Nike sneakers, and added to her lend with a farewell tour.
%20(3).jpeg "Sue Bird")
When the Storm set an a W.N.B.A. single-game assists record for the regular season with 37, eight of them were hers. She stretched her formidable margin as the league’s career leader by assists and inched advanced on the steals and 3- point lists. She helped the Storm make the playoffs for the 16th time in the 19 seasons she played.
And also she was done.
The Las Vegas Aces beat the Storm, 97- 92, in Game 4 of their semifinal series on Tuesday to advance to the W.N.B.A. finals. For Bird, 41, who had said in June that she'd retire after the season, the loss on her home court marked the end of an incredible career. As fans cheered and chanted “ Thank you, Sue, ” Bird stood on the court and cried.
At a postgame news conference, Bird said that she hadn’t wanted to leave the court so that she could “ soak it all in. ” She started to cry again. “ I know the tears don’t look like happy tears, but there’s a lot of happiness, ” she said.
Aces Coach Becky Hammon said it was “ bittersweet ” to have defeated Bird to end her “fairy-tale” career. The bird had 8 points and 8 assists in the loss.
“ I kind of feel like the girl that beat Serena, ” Hammon said, referring to Ajla Tomljanovic, who beat Serena Williams in her final match at theU.S. Open last week. Williams had said she planned to retire after the event.
Storm Coach Noelle Quinn,
who also played with Bird in Seattle, called Bird “ the best point guard to ever play this game. ”
Bird won four championships with Seattle, the last in 2020. That season showcased the traits that have come to define her resilience and keen court vision. She missed half of the regular season with injuries. But she proved invaluable during Seattle’s six postseason games. Seattle noway lost during that playoff run. Bird set a then-W.N.B.A. record for assists in a playoff game with 16 in Game 1 of the finals against the Aces. also, she had a double-double — 16 points and 10 assists — in Game 2. In the series-clinching Game 3, Bird spent the end of the fourth quarter on the bench laughing with forwarding Breanna Stewart. The Storm won by 33.
"THANK YOU SUE!"
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 7, 2022
Sue Bird's final sendoff ❤️ pic.twitter.com/y9HMg8jnjJ
“ The fact that I ’m sitting then, I think I ’m having this, like, in shock moment, because it doesn’t feel real that we just won and that I was suitable to contribute in the way that I did, ” she said subsequently.
The importance of Bird’s 21- year career has come as a surprise, if only because there wasn’t enough time for someone to negotiate similar feats before her. “ I didn’t know what to dream, ” Bird told The New York Times last month, “ and so to sit then now with all the championships I have, I just feel really satisfied. ”
The Storm drafted a hero. 1 overall in 2002 out of UConn before the W.N.B.A.’s sixth season. She incontinently came Seattle’s franchise leader by assists, with 191 that year. She came in alternate for the Rookie of the Year Award, but she and the player who beat her — Indiana’s Tamika Catchings — came to the first rookies ever named to the All-W.N.B.A. first team.
Over the coming 20 years, Bird would pile up honors, including a record 13W.N.B.A. All-Star selections and five Olympic gold medals with the United States. Last year, she was voted to the W25, theW.N.B.A.’s list of the top 25 players ever as the league celebrated its 25th anniversary.
.jpg "Fans celebrated Bird with signs and T-shirts all season.")
“ These athletes have played the game at the highest level on the court — they're songwriters and rebounders, assist makers and defensive stoppers, leaders and mentors, ”W.N.B.A. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in announcing the W25. She added, “ Together, they've transformed the way the game is played, changed the way athletes are viewed, come inconceivable part models, and inspired generations of youthful, different athletes. ”
Bird, who's engaged to the women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe, is one of the most visible gay professional athletes. For utmost of theW.N.B.A.’s history, its most prominent stars weren't openly gay, and players have said that they felt pressured to conform to heterosexual norms of femininity. But Bird is among a surge of stars — including Brittney Griner, Seimone Augustus, Elena Delle Donne, and Diana Taurasi who have been open about their sexuality and spoken aboutL.G.B.T.Q. rights and acceptance.
Bird has also used her platform as one of the league’s biggest stars to support social justice causes, especially regarding Black women. And as the theW.N.B.A. continues to push for the release of Griner, who has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February, Bird has been vocal.
“ We all feel rattled by this and just want her home, ” Bird said at a news conference with Griner’s woman, Cherelle Griner, in July.
Bird’s off-the-court influence has gone beyond politics to style. She's known for her love of lurkers, and her custom Nikes — from the signature line of the theN.B.A. star Kyrie Irving have “ Keep Sue Fresh ” published on them each night.
But the core of Bird’s legacy is on the court.
“ That’s a legendary player right there, ” said Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who scored 31 points and fueled Las Vegas’s victory in Bird’s final game.
Stewart, who had 42 points in Game 4 for Seattle, said that knowing it would be her last game with Bird was more “ devastating ” than losing.
“ That’s what hurts the most, ” she said, adding that Bird had been a mentor and friend.
Storm guard Jewell Loyd said the Game 4 loss was “ obviously not how we wanted to finish for her. ”
Loyd added, “ We ’ve been very fortunate to play with a generational player like Sue. ”
Bird said though her body felt good, she wasn't having second thoughts about retiring. But she'll miss basketball.
“ There’s going to be nothing like this, ” she said.
The bird gave fans someone to believe in until the end. Her final points in the theW.N.B.A. came on a layup with21.8 seconds to go on Tuesday and Seattle down by 6. It was reminiscent of a play on Sunday, in Game 3. The Storm turned to her when they were down by 1 point with less than two seconds to go. She sank a 3- pointer and held her follow-through, as her teammates went wild around her. Seattle would lose to the Aces in overtime, but that play was what this final season was for.
One further chance to celebrate. One last moment with Bird.