BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Nancy Bird looked on from a courtside seat as Storm players loosened up before Sunday’s contest vs. the Liberty. And with just over an hour to go until tipoff, she was greeted by the person she was most excited to see play. At 41, Sue, is Nancy’s daughter. Of course, though, she is also now a five-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion and member of the W25 team (among other accolades), as well as a Syosset, N.Y. native who was making her final on-court appearance in the area that she grew up.
On this morning, Nancy wore a black T-shirt, with a printed image of her daughter’s recent Slam magazine cover on it. “ICON,” the magazine tag line reads in block letters. But before Sue became the transcendent basketball star she has grown into, Nancy remembers taking Sue to Knicks games at Madison Square Garden. Together, they watched a young Michael Jordan and New York forward Kenny “Sky” Walker, Sue’s favorite player as a kid. “She knew every move and all the players,” Nancy said.
Now, everyone tries to mimic her.
