Storm's Sue Bird Announces She Will Retire After 2022 WNBA Season
June 16, 2022
Legendary Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird announced Thursday that she will retire at the conclusion of the 2022 WNBA season.
Bird said she has "loved every single minute" of her career:
Sue Bird @S10BirdI’ve decided this will be my final year. I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first ☺️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheFinalYear?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheFinalYear</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/seattlestorm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@seattlestorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/Uo2YqCCKUD">pic.twitter.com/Uo2YqCCKUD</a>
The 41-year-old is in her 21st WNBA season, all of which have been spent with the Storm.
Bird is one of the most decorated and successful players in the history of women's basketball across college, professional and international competition.
Before getting selected No. 1 overall by the Storm in the 2002 WNBA draft, she starred at UConn, where she was a two-time national champion and the 2002 Associated Press College Player of the Year.
The success carried over to the WNBA where Bird has become a 12-time All-Star, four-time champion and three-time assists leader. She was selected to the WNBA's 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th anniversary teams.
Bird is the WNBA's all-time leader in assists with 3,114 and games played with 559. She also ranks fourth in steals with 700 and seventh in scoring with 6,639 points.
In addition to the WNBA, Bird has played professionally in Russia for Dynamo Moscow, Spartak Moscow Region and UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Bird has won five titles in the Russian Premier League and five EuroLeague titles, along with two Europe SuperCup championships.
The native of Syosset, New York, has long been one of the faces of USA Basketball as well, winning four world championships and five consecutive Olympic gold medals from 2004 through 2020.
At last year's Summer Games in Tokyo, Bird was the female flag bearer for the United States during the opening ceremony.
The Storm are 9-5 this season, placing them second in the Western Conference. They'll try to send Bird into retirement as a five-time champion, which would break a tie with several others for the most by a player in WNBA history.