Sue Bird is retiring — but one of the greatest careers in women’s basketball history isn’t over just yet.
On Thursday, Bird announced via her social media channels that this WNBA season will be her last.
The 41-year-old is the league’s all-time leader in assists (3,114), All-Star appearances (12), games played (559), and seasons played (19). She’s second all-time in 3PM (965) and 3P% (39.2), and seventh all-time in points (6,639).
A star for the Seattle Storm for the entirety of her 21-year career (she missed two seasons due to injury), Bird has been a champion at every level. She has won two NCAA titles with UConn, five Olympic gold medals with Team USA, and four WNBA Championships with the Storm.
After playing on a supermax contract ($221,450) last season, Bird took a team-friendly pay cut for 2022, signing a one-year, $72,141 deal in February.
She’s getting plenty of income elsewhere: She recently appeared in commercials for Capital One, Carmax, and Corona, and she had the top-selling jersey for the 2020 season.
In 2018, she and fiance Megan Rapinoe were the first same-sex couple to appear on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue.
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