Sue Bird has become the first player in WNBA history to have her own statue, which was unveiled on Monday (18 August) outside the Seattle Storm’s home, Climate Pledge Arena.
“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, then I’m proud to be the first,” said Bird, who hung up her high-tops for good three years ago.
Bird, 44, played her entire WNBA basketball career with Seattle, where she won a record-tying four championships and was a 13-time All-Star after being selected No. 1 in the 2002 draft.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist for Team USA is the Storm’s all-time leading scorer with 6,803 points and had a WNBA-record 3,234 assists.
American star Bird, who has had her No. 10 retired by the Storm, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in April this year, and will now be literally and figuratively in Seattle forever.
“The city has given me a home, a place where I could have a career, a place where I felt welcome,” she said. “A place where I really grew up. I mean in a lot of ways, I really grew up here.
“This is really exciting to be – I don’t even know if honored really covers it because it’s a bronze statue that will be there forever. And, it feels different when you think of it that way.”