Three seasons before Caitlin Clark arrived, Sue Bird retired. Bird didn’t make her living hoisting logo threes, but she had an iconic 20-year career as the best pure point guard the women’s game has ever seen and one of its most formidable leaders, pioneers and ambassadors.
Sue Bird Becomes First WNBA Legend With Statue Outside Arena
Caitlin Clark has garnered much attention and accolades in her first two years in the WNBA, but what the former Iowa star doesn’t have yet is a statue. In a ceremony before the Seattle Storm hosted the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, Bird became the first WNBA player honored by her franchise with a statue outside of Climate Pledge Arena.
The always eloquent Bird, born in Syosset Long Island with a hoops game refined in Queens, NY at legendary Christ The King High School addressed the fans who were in attendance.
“People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first,” Bird said during her speech. “The truth is that I never set out to be the first at anything, but if being the first means I won’t be the last, if this statue means that 20 years from now there will be statues of other WNBA greats — some who are in the audience and players whose names you don’t even know yet — than I’m proud to be the first.”
Sue Bird Is A Hoops Icon
Bird was drafted number one by the Storm in 2002, out of women’s basketball powerhouse the University of Connecticut. She was fresh off her second national title, swept all five national player-of-the-year awards, and finished her collegiate career with a record of 114-4.
She paid dividends, immediately helping lead the Storm to their first playoff appearance and earned All-Star and All-WNBA honors.Bird is a four-time WNBA champion, 12-time WNBA All-Star, eight-time All-WNBA, the WNBA all-time assists leader and a member of the WNBA’s 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th anniversary teams. She’s won five Olympic gold medals and four FIBA world championships as a member of Team USA women’s basketball.
Sue Bird Is WNBA’s All-Time Assists Leader With 3,234
Every legendary player in attendance that was on the receiving end of one of Bird’s 3, 234 assists – a WNBA all-time record – reiterated that Bird’s career can’t be reduced to stats or titles alone. Her impact and ability to help create change and more opportunities for women ballers over decades was her calling card.
“We can have that basketball conversation,” said Hall of Famer Swin Cash, who teamed with Bird to win two national titles at UConn and the 2010 championship with Seattle. “Greatness changes the game. Greatness evolves. Greatness stays and has longevity. And that’s what Sue has.”
Sue Bird Pioneered The WNBA In U.S. & Overseas
Like many WNBA players to this day still do, Bird played overseas in the offseason where the contracts were more lucrative, and she won there too. She’s a five-time Russian national league champion, five-time EuroLeague champion and two-time Europe SuperCup winner. She’s also retired among the highest-paid WNBA players as one of the few WNBA stars who held endorsement deals. She’s been with Nike since 2003. But by 2020 she had the highest-selling jersey in the league and also signed deals with life insurance company Symetra (along with her life partner and soccer legend Megan Rapinoe). In 2022, Bird became a part-owner of National Women’s Soccer League franchise NJ/NY Gotham FC as a minority investor in the club.
RELATED: Legendary Sue Bird Has Top Selling Jersey As WNBA Finals Launch
Deals with State Farm, American Express and Glossier followed. Since retiring, Bird hasn’t slowed down as far as expanding her brand. She’s an SI Swimsuit legend. Most recently appeared in the 60th Anniversary Legends Issue in 2024. She’s a two-time brand model, cofounder of production company A Touch More and cofounder of media commerce brand TOGETHXR. Mattel recently created a Sue Bird Barbie doll in honor of the athlete’s success both on and off the court.
Sue Bird Will Enter Naismith Hall of Fame In 2025
The statue is just the icing on the cake of a career where she helped build up the WNBA brick by brick by being authentic, fierce, healthy and unbreakable.
The storm has already retired her No. 10 jersey in 2023 and the street outside Climate Pledge was renamed “Sue Bird Court” last summer. She will receive the ultimate honor this year when she’s inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
“I don’t know if ‘honor’ even really covers it,” she told reporters, “because it’s a bronze statue that will be there forever. It feels different when you think of it that way.”
The statue was created by Rotblatt Amrany Studio sculptor Julie Rotblatt Amrany. It featured Bird making sinking a layup in a pose similar to the silhouette that appears on the Climate Pledge court. Her statue features the Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2K4 PEs she wore during her first WNBA Championship season in 2004
The idea for a Sue Bird statue is seven years in the making. Back in 2018, after her third championship with the Storm, the idea began circulating in 2018. When Climate Pledge opened in 2022, that’s when it became a reality.
Other WNBA players have been awarded statues at their colleges, such as Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson, who attended South Carolina University. Bird is the first to have one outside of a WNBA arena, And she becomes the first woman in Seattle sports to get a statue, joining Seattle Mariners Hall of Famers Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez. One is planned for recently-inducted Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki.
Bird’s statue will sit prominently with legendary NBA coach and executive Lenny Wilkens, whose statue outside Climate Pledge was revealed in June. Bird says she chose the layup because it has strong symbolic value for her.
“Some fun little fact about my career that maybe some of you know, maybe not,” Bird said. “My very first points in the WNBA at KeyArena as a rookie were on a layup. My very final points in the WNBA were at Climate Pledge on a layup.”
“There’s just not a lot of women that are honored in this way, and we have tons of men,” Bird said. “I’m actually really proud and honored. ..”I came to Seattle as Sue Bird the basketball player while leaving as Sue Bird the Seattleite,” she said. “This statue will make sure a piece of me stays in this city forever, just like this city will always be a part of me. And when you inevitably see a little bird poop on the shoulder, don’t worry about it. Just consider it family checking in and reminding me where home is.”
The WNBA is entering a landmark moment in the league’s 32-year history and whatever gains are made on and off the court, Sue Bird is one of the first pioneers to thank for her service to keeping women’s basketball relevant and influencing current stars of the game.
