Sue Bird Career Retrospective: Honoring a Great WNBA Legend
Taking a look back at her career and her accomplishments.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also buy Her Hoop Stats gear, such as laptop stickers, mugs, and shirts!
Haven’t subscribed to the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter yet?
She’s been the engine behind some of the greatest teams in women’s basketball history. She’s excelled on the court at every level. She’s the greatest point guard in WNBA history. On June 16, Sue Bird officially announced that her storybook career will be coming to an end after this WNBA season. In honor of this legend, we’re taking a look at her remarkable career.
Note: All stats below are based on data as of June 24, 2022.
The UConn years
In multiple interviews, Bird has recounted a meeting with Coach Geno Auriemma before her sophomore season at UConn. Bird tore her ACL eight games into her freshman season, and the Huskies were upset by Iowa State in the Sweet Sixteen.
“Coach Auriemma took me into his office and said ‘Anything bad that happens, it’s your fault,’” Bird recalled. “He was basically saying I had to take responsibility for everything.”
Talk about being thrown into the fire. Nonetheless, Bird rose to the challenge, leading the Huskies to a 107-4 record and two national championships (2000 and 2002) during her remaining three years in Storrs, Conn. A three-time recipient of the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the nation’s best point guard, Bird still holds UConn’s single-season assist record (231 in 2001-02) and the career record for three-point percentage (45.9%, minimum 40 threes made). The Syosset, N.Y., native capped off her collegiate career in style, capturing the Wade Trophy and Naismith Award for national player of the year en route to the Huskies’ 39-0 national championship season.
A professional career defined by longevity and consistency
“To be able to do something and get paid for it that you love to do, that’s gotta be everyone’s dream. That’s why it would be great if I played in the WNBA.”
Sue Bird made that statement in 1998. In 2002, she realized her dream when the Seattle Storm selected her with the first overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft. It marked the genesis of a legendary WNBA career characterized by longevity, consistency, and of course, winning.
Bird is currently in her 19th WNBA season and holds the league records for games played and games started with 562; no other player has exceeded the 500-game threshold. That in and of itself might not seem like a significant accomplishment until you remember the lack of roster spots in the W. The ability to maintain a roster spot, never mind a spot in the starting lineup, for a team with the pedigree of the Seattle Storm, is a testament to Bird’s consistently high level of play throughout her 20-year career.
Speaking of consistency and longevity, let’s talk about the aspect of Bird’s game that fans most associate with the 13-time WNBA All-Star: passing. Bird has ranked in the W’s top three in assists per game in 14 of her 18 seasons. She’s also averaged at least five assists per contest in 14 seasons (minimum 10 games); no player in league history has cracked double digits. And she’s maintained such production through her late 30s and into her 40s! She has recorded six consecutive 5+ assist-per-game seasons (ignoring the 2019 season she missed due to injury) and is on track for number seven this year. Consistency and longevity - it all adds up to Bird holding the WNBA record for career assists.
Of course, it helps when prolific scorers like Lauren Jackson, Breanna Stewart, and Jewell Loyd are on the receiving end of her passes. But now we’re treading into chicken-and-egg territory - is Bird more responsible for that trio’s scoring output or are they the reason Bird has such gaudy assist numbers?
It’s an impossible question to answer, but Bird does have a knack for developing synergy with her teammates whenever and wherever she plays. Her four WNBA championships occurred in three different decades (2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020), making her the only player to accomplish the feat. She’s a cornerstone of the dynasty that is the United States Women National Team, winners of seven consecutive Olympic gold medals, including five with Bird on the roster, and four of the last five FIBA World Cups (all with Bird). She has also found success overseas, with two Europe SuperCup wins, five EuroLeague crowns with Spartak Moscow and UMMC Ekaterinburg, and five Russian National League titles. It’s not wise to overly conflate individual accomplishments with team accolades, but it’s also no coincidence that Bird has played on championship teams everywhere. Simply put, all she does is win.
Legacy
Where does Sue Bird rank in the pantheon of WNBA legends? Top 25? Top 10? To answer that question, let’s circle back to some of her individual accomplishments. She’s first in assists, second in made three-pointers, fourth in steals, sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio, and seventh in points. Bird also ranks in the top 10 in win shares, an advanced statistic that approximates the total number of wins a player produces for their team through their play on the offensive and defensive ends. In addition to being a 13-time All-Star, a five-time member of the All-WNBA First Team, and a three-time member of the All-WNBA Second Team, the league has named her to each of its four milestone teams - the All-Decade Team in 2006, the Top 15 Players in 2011, the Top 20@20 in 2016, and the W25 team in 2021.
Given her teams’ success, individual accolades, and how long she was one of the world’s best at her position, she’s comfortably in the WNBA’s top 10 of all-time and unquestionably the greatest point guard in league history. It’s a sentiment shared by her college coach.
"There certainly isn't anything that Sue left undone or to prove," Auriemma said. "There's going to be a lot of stories written and comparisons made about her and everything she's done. It really is no exaggeration to say, I don't think in our lifetime of watching basketball, that we've seen anyone play that position at a higher level and for a longer period of time than Sue has."
Arguably, the most important part of Bird’s legacy is her impact on future generations. She helped shepherd the WNBA through an important period of growth. The digital media and commerce platform she co-founded, TOGETHXR, “shatters the often narrow depictions of women in the media with content featuring a diverse and inclusive community of game-changers, culture-shapers, thought leaders, and barrier breakers.” She continues to inspire the next generation of women’s basketball players. The future is bright for women’s sports, and that’s in part due to Bird’s fierce advocacy for increased coverage and equal opportunity.
Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats Newsletter. If you like our work, be sure to check out our stats site, our podcast, and our social media accounts on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.