Sue Bird thought 2021 would be her last year as a basketball player. Then she re-signed with the Seattle Storm on a one-year deal for this season after an internal struggle over whether to call it quits. She hasn’t outright declared the 2022 season will be her last, but somewhere in her heart she knows it very well might be.
“I think it’s assumed to be my last and I do believe all arrows are pointing in that direction,” Bird said Tuesday during her welcome back press conference in Seattle. “For some reason, I don’t necessarily want to operate in that space because I think for my personality ... it doesn’t necessarily fit for every game I go into to be ‘this is Sue’s last game in this city. This is her last time putting her shoe on.’ I don’t really operate in that space well, but I understand that comes with it.”
So, no farewell tour is on her mind, but what might be is one last dance with the Storm — who also re-signed Breanna Stewart to a one-year supermax deal and Jewell Loyd to a two-year deal before Bird made her decision to return. The three together have been key players to the team’s last two WNBA titles, legitimizing championship aspirations when the Storm paired Loyd and Stewart with Bird in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
