Sue Bird has accomplished so much as a basketball player. With USA Basketball in Tokyo, her and Diana Taurasi collected their fifth gold medal. The most of any USA Basketball players male or female. However, it looks like this will also be Sue Bird’s last gold medal. During her postagem interview, she said this was her last Olympics and effectively retired from the national team. Meanwhile, Taursi said see you in Paris. Hey, it could happen. Either way, it looks like Bird’s Hall of Fame basketball career is going to be over soon.
Why is That?
Well, that’s a fair question. Especially if you don’t know that much about her. Let’s start with the all time stats for the four time champ. Check them out below:
All-time leader in assists in WNBA history
All-time leader in starts in WNBA history
All-time leader in minutes played in WNBA history
6th all-time in points in WNBA history
4th all-times in steals in WNBA hisotry
8th all-time in field goals made in WNBA history
2nd all-time in 3 pointers made in WNBA history
In addition to all of that, she is a 12 time all-star, the leading scorer in the history of the Seattle Storm, and one of six players to win a gold medal along with an NCCA and WNBA championship. But, the important number in this case is age. She is 40 years old. There comes a point where the body, brain, and heart say we’ve had enough. Bird is still playing for the Storm and doing well. Seattle are defending champs and one of the top teams right now. With her production not as insanely good as it used to be and a fiance waiting in the wings in Megan Rapinoe, life after basketball may be starting to take shape.
Will She Come Back if She doesn’t Win Another Championship This Year?
Highly unlikely. If she rides off into the sunset by repeating as champion, that would be a great way for her to go out with her fifth gold medal. If the Storm don’t repeat, like all the greats she’ll get a nice long standing ovation, and that would be the end of that. Although no formal announcements have been made yet, she has worked with ESPN lately for WNBA and women’s college basketball projects and assignments. Additionally, she spent one year working with the Denver Nuggets front office before the pandemic. Sue Bird knows there are options if she wants to continue staying involved with the game, but she also knows that it may be time to give others a turn. No matter what, she will forever be regarded as one of or the greatest WNBA player of all time, and one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
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