Storm legend Sue Bird elected into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

Percy Allen, The Seattle Times on Apr 5, 2025

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SEATTLE — Sue Bird’s place among the basketball greats was never in doubt, and when she retired in 2022 after an illustrious 21-year career with the Storm, it was just a matter of time before the WNBA star received the call that would cement her legacy.

On Saturday morning, Bird, a first-time nominee, became one of nine new inductees who will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The class of 2025 also includes former WNBA stars Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, former NBA standouts Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, coach Billy Donovan, former referee Danny Crawford, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison and the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

Finalists needed 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee to be elected.

“It’s surreal,” Bird said during an ESPN telecast in Tampa, Fla., while sitting next to Moore and Fowles. “There’s no way to really wrap your head around it, but my first couple of thoughts were: ‘Wow, how lucky am I that I got to experience all of these things, the people I got to do it with (and) all the support.’ You kind of start to relive it.

“But then honestly, I went straight to who I was going in with. Because I just want to do it with people that you not only respect and admire, but we actually played together. That’s a big part of it.”

The 5-foot-9 Bird is widely regarded as the greatest point guard in WNBA history. She’s the league’s all-time assists record holder (3,234), a 13-time WNBA All-Star and eight-time All-WNBA selection.

Bird, the No. 1 overall draft pick out of UConn in 2002, averaged 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 43.0% from the field, 39.2% on 3-pointers and 85.3% on free throws during 19 seasons with the Storm.

She’s the only player to win WNBA championships in three different decades — 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020.

“She’s a legend,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said in 2022 before Bird’s last game. “That says it all really. I can go on. ... She’s been our leader on and off the court. She’s a class act. She’s done it the right way. She’s always put the team first.

“She represented this organization the way you want and now it’s our turn to say thank you and pay our respects to one of the greatest players in our game.”

Bird is often described as the consummate floor general and indomitable competitor who played until she was 41.

However, one word truly encapsulates her brilliant career: Winner.

The Syosset, N.Y., native posted a 51-3 record during two years at Christ the King High in Queens, N.Y., including a 27-0 mark as a senior en route to winning a state and national title.

During an illustrious four-year stint at UConn, Bird won national titles in 2000 and 2002, and the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 2002. The Huskies were 136-9 during her tenure and 114-4 in the games she played.

Bird captured five consecutive Olympic gold medals and four FIBA World Cup championships with Team USA. During stints with three Russian teams, she also won five EuroLeague Women championships.

Aside from knee injuries that forced her to miss the 2013 and 2019 seasons, the ponytailed playmaker was a fixture in the Storm lineup while compiling a 333-247 record — the most wins in WNBA history.

Additionally, she ranks first all time in games played (580), second in 3-pointers (1,001), third in steals (724) and eighth in points (6,802).

“If feels amazing,” Bird said when asked Saturday about being a pioneer in women’s basketball. “Obviously, all of us, we had impact in that there’s little girls that are going to try to be like us. But I actually remember going to the Hall of Fame as a young person. … You see all the pictures on the wall. I’m seeing Anne Donovan and you’re seeing the women that came before you.

“I remember watching Dawn Staley’s speech. She had an incredible speech at the Hall of Fame. … So, in the same moment that I’m thinking about the next generation and inspiring them, I’m thinking about those that came before and inspired me.”

Two years ago, the Storm retired Bird’s No. 10 jersey and she joined the team’s ownership group as a minority investor last year.

Last August, Seattle named a street after Bird and in June, the 44-year-old Bird is going to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

Following former teammate Lauren Jackson, who was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, Bird is the second player to be enshrined in Springfield, Mass., after spending most of their career with the Storm.

Bird and the other new members will be inducted Sept. 5-6 during a ceremony at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.