Perfect 10: As Sue Bird’s jersey is about to be retired in Seattle, here are some remarkable facts
Sue Bird, who burst into national prominence at UConn and maintained it with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, wrapped up an historic basketball career last year.
The accolades poured forth during her final trips to New York, her hometown, and Connecticut. The eventual last stop for such a journey, which spanned incredible growth in her sport, is the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield. Sunday the Storm will bestow a capstone honor for Bird, 42, to mark her contributions in Seattle; the franchise will retire her iconic jersey No. 10 Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.
Dom Amore: Sue Bird can leave women’s basketball knowing her impact will be felt forever
So on this occasion, let’s count down 10 remarkable facts to know about Suzanne Brigit Bird.
10
Bird as an All-Star 13 times in the WNBA, and was first-team all-WNBA five times.
9
Bird was named to the WNBA’s 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th anniversary teams.
8
She was part of five national league championship teams in Russia, five EuroLeague championship teams and two Europe SuperCup champions.
7
Bird owns five Olympic gold medals, earned with USA Basketball between 2004 and 2020.
6
She won two national championships with UConn, 2000, 2002
5
Trophies? Bird has won the Nancy Lieberman Award three times, the Wade Trophy, Honda Sports Award, Naismith Award, USBA National player of the year, AP college player of the year and Big East player of the year.
4
At UConn, Bird scored 1,378 points, had 585 assists and 243 steals. Her 3-point shooting (45.9 percent) and free throw shooting (89.2) are still Huskies records. She entered the Huskies of Honor in 2006.
3
Bird’s teams at UConn were 114-4. Oh, and she made a game-winning shot against Notre Dame in the 2001 Big East final that you may remember. The book called Bird At The Buzzer is about it.
2
She is the only player to win WNBA championships in three different decades.
1
Bird retired in 2022 with WNBA records in seasons played (20), games played (580), assists (3,234), minutes (18,080). She finished her career with 6,803 points, seventh in league history.
