SEATTLE — It was a historic weekend off the court — and a frustrating one on it — for the Seattle Storm. It began on Friday with the Storm playing the first-ever regular-season WNBA game outside of the United States against the Atlanta Dream in Vancouver, Canada, and breaking their six-game losing streak. It ended Sunday with the franchise unveiling Sue Bird’s bronze statue outside of Climate Pledge Arena in the morning, followed by a close loss to the Phoenix Mercury in the afternoon.
The Storm arrived in Vancouver Thursday night, had a shootaround Friday morning, played the game Friday night and then flew straight back to Seattle. As a result, the players, several of whom were visiting Canada for the first time in their lives, didn’t have any time to explore and experience the country. It was a work trip all about ending the losing streak.
“I think the biggest thing is that we need to win,” Storm guard Erica Wheeler told The Next before the game. “I know this is a historic game, but for us, I think it’s more so about the Seattle Storm and being able to get a win and get back to a winning streak and feeling good. But we do want to give them a show.”
Many players went out of their way to make the experience special for Canadian fans, taking more photos and signing more autographs than they usually would. The Storm’s Brittney Sykes and Nneka Ogwumike, as well as Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, acknowledged that it is great to get more eyes on the game and continue expanding the fan base, so they wanted the Vancouver crowd to feel the love.
While the Storm wanted to show out for the Vancouver fans, it was really the Vancouver fans that showed out for the Storm. The sold-out crowd of 15,892 at Rogers Arena made what was technically an Atlanta home game, with all of the in-game entertainment and activities run by the Dream, into a much-needed home atmosphere for the Storm.
Though the Storm finally ended their six-game losing streak by defeating Atlanta 80-78, the victory did not come easily. After leading most of the game, Atlanta came back with a big fourth quarter, holding Seattle scoreless for the first several minutes of the final frame, to retake the lead.
As crunch time kicked in and the lead wobbled back and forth in a single-possession game, the crowd became more and more invested in a Storm win. The Dream’s defense chants failed to catch on while fans started up their own defense chants for the Storm, unorganized and messy but full of heart. Some fans took it upon themselves to boo Howard as she took critical free throws in the final minutes.
“The atmosphere felt like a Seattle home game,” Howard told reporters afterwards.
Ogwumike and guard Skylar Diggins said they fully expected it to be like a Seattle home game because of the sheer proximity between the two cities, but were still impressed by the atmosphere.
“It was electric out there,” Diggins said postgame. “We definitely felt [the fans] rally behind this. This was a great opportunity for us to be here and continue to show the WNBA’s international reach. They love it out here. They showed us a lot of love.”
On the court, the difference maker that finally got them the win was arguably the effort and hustle that was maintained for the full 40 minutes.
“We felt that we have been doing some good things up to this point in games,” Diggins said. “I think today it was for a full 40 minutes, and that was one of our goals. If it was adjustments that needed to be made, a conversation that needed to be had, we addressed them right away. And I think because we have been in this predicament of close games at the end, we didn’t panic, we didn’t waver. … So, our goal is to capitalize off of that, off of this win, and try to take momentum back home this weekend.”
Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe headline the night
As part of the festivities surrounding Sue Bird’s statue unveiling, Bird and her fiancé, soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe, hosted a live taping of their joint podcast “A Touch More” on Saturday night at the Moore Theater in Seattle. It was the largest live show they have done to date, and while there were some empty seats here and there, it felt full with joy and laughter.
Rapinoe and Bird were their normal goofy selves, the silly couple fans have grown to love. It didn’t take long before Rapinoe ramped up the humor by presenting Bird with her face carved out of butter so that she didn’t feel left out of the statue festivities. To say the final product looked nothing like Bird or the mockup Rapinoe worked off of would be an understatement, and it elicited thunderous laughter from the audience when the close-up photo on screen showed just how bad it was.
The hosts were joined by two special guests, Storm forward Gabby Williams and former Storm forward and legend Lauren Jackson. Both interviews provided a more candid view of the players than fans usually get to experience.
Jackson’s portion felt particularly special as she’s known to dislike public speaking, but made the choice to come into the spotlight for Bird’s jersey retirement, and now statue unveiling. The Australian legend, who was drafted No. 1 overall the year before Bird and helped build Seattle’s Championship legacy with trophies in 2004 and 2010, as well as three individual MVP awards, gave a glimpse into her hilarious personal side.
As a player, Jackson was competitive but also hated her rivalry with Lisa Leslie, because it brought her unnecessary stress. She was highly awarded but never cared about the accolades; as she explained on Bird and Rapinoe’s show, it was the journey that mattered to her.
As Bird, Rapinoe and Jackson sat together, Jackson described publicly for the first time how she was told at 19 years old that she might not get drafted No. 1 overall because she was in a relationship with a woman at the time, and if it became public, the league might not want that kind of player drafted. She also spoke about how her and Bird’s relationship really blossomed when Bird finally told her that she was also gay. The thing that once threatened to ruined her career ultimately gave her one of her greatest friendships. As she sat across from one of the most famous lesbian couples in the world, Jackson was able to laugh about it now and point to how much times have changed.
Bird and Jackson also spent considerable time arguing about who was lucky to have who in their career, the power forward or the point guard. The mutual love between the pair radiated outward to the crowd, and the vibes felt like pure support. This was epitomized when they invited Jackson’s young son, Lenny, onto the stage, and he was helped by audience members to climb up amidst chants of “Lenny! Lenny! Lenny!”
The way Bird constantly gives credit to Jackson represents the grace and humility that fellow Australian Ezi Magbegor has also always admired in her former teammate. Magbegor won the 2020 WNBA Championship with Bird and a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics with Jackson.
“She never forgets the people that she’s played with, the people that have helped her get to where she is,” Magbegor told The Next about Bird ahead of Sunday’s game. “And so I think for me, that’s just so admirable to watch, because I know your career isn’t just about yourself, it’s about your family, it’s about your friends, it’s about your coaches and your teammates. And I think I love the way that Sue is celebrated, but also the way that she celebrates others as well.”
A historic statue unveiled
On Sunday morning, Bird’s friends and family gathered, surrounded by fans, to unveil her likeness in bronze outside of Climate Pledge Arena. Cocktail tables covered in black tablecloths dotted one half of the area, cordoned off, while the other half featured row after row of chairs facing the covered statue and podium for speeches.
Former teammates like Diana Taurasi, Swin Cash and Jackson joined many of Bird’s Storm coaches through the years, like Dan Hughes, Brian Agler, Lin Dunn and Jenny Boucek. Cash and Jackson made formal speeches honoring Bird before the curtain finally dropped for the reveal and Bird made her own speech.
The statue of Bird going up for a layup was revealed to a raucous cheer. Bird explained that she chose the pose because her first points as a WNBA rookie, in what was then Key Arena, were scored on a layup, and her very final points in the WNBA were scored at Climate Pledge on a layup, too.
Cash herself is a three-time WNBA Champion (2003, 2006, 2010), two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time All-Star, two-time All-Star game MVP, and more. She spoke thoughtfully about how greatness is defined and how Bird embodies every possible definition of the word.
“Greatness is in the way you change the air in the room, the way you change the air in the arena, the way you change the air in the community,” Cash remarked. “It’s in the way you lift your teammates; you inspire a city. You show young girls and young boys what’s possible when excellence meets longevity, when leadership meets humility. …
“Yes, this is a celebration for Sue Bird, but it’s also a celebration of all women in this game that you continue to show that they can show out on the court,” Cash continued. “Greatness changes the game. Greatness evolves. Greatness stays and has longevity, and that’s what Sue has.”
What Bird’s teammates had to say
No one was surprised that Bird got a statue. No one thought it was undeserved. Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson, who won gold with Bird and Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, praised Bird’s incredible leadership with anyone and everyone she played with.
“She makes you feel like you’re invincible and that’s really hard to do,” Wilson said postgame Sunday. “I bet Sue has her days, but she shows up every single day and just is a phenomenal leader. … When I look at myself as a leader, I hope that I can just take a pinch out of Sue’s book.”
Washington Mystics guard Alysha Clark, who won the 2018 and 2020 WNBA Championships with Bird, similarly praised her as a terrific teammate.
“The way she can make everybody around her better, elevate the play of everyone around her, was something that really made her special,” Clark told The Next. “What she meant to that organization, that city, what she’s meant to this league, I think it’s only right that she’s immortalized with some bronze out there in front of their new arena.”
Sami Whitcomb, who won the WNBA Championships alongside Clark and Bird and now plays with the Phoenix Mercury, remarked that there simply is nobody else like Bird.
“She made everybody feel valued. She made everybody feel a part of it,” Whitcomb told The Next. “She understood the value of every player as well, and I just think she highlighted it every time you stepped on the floor with her. She knew how to include players and include their strengths and make them feel great in those. … I think when it comes from that person, that just goes such a long way.”
Speaking about how incredible it was “to witness greatness on the floor” every day when she played with Bird, Magbegor felt the biggest lesson she learned from Bird was that effective leadership comes in different styles.
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“Obviously, she’s not always the loudest in the room, but just the way she leads by example, but also just being so personal with players and teammates,” Magbegor praised. “I think just knowing when to like, pull you aside and kind of tell you to do something, or whether she gave you the stare, the Sue Bird stare, and you just knew to like, cut, screen. … And I think I obviously am not the loudest in the room [and she helped me] know that I don’t have to be the loudest to be a leader as well.”
The Storm’s current point guard, Diggins, who won gold in Tokyo with Bird, and has broken some of her franchise records now in her second season with Seattle, said she admires how Bird approached the game and her ability to thrive at a very high level for 20 years.
“As I approach Year 13, and just thinking about how much preparation goes into each year, it’s just incredible what she was able to do — her availability and being able to stretch a career that long and have so much success,” Diggins told The Next. “So I learned a lot of intangible things from her, … and I don’t take it for granted.”
Bird’s off-court presence
Bird’s on-court accolades are never-ending. She was a four-time WNBA Champion, five-time Olympic gold medalist, 13-time All-Star, and the list goes on. She is unquestionably the winningest athlete in Seattle history, but her statue is as much about recognizing what she did off the court as on the court.
Not only was a statue unveiled, but it also made history. This was the first time a WNBA franchise had ever dedicated a statue to a player, something quite common in the NBA for decades now. As Storm co-owner Dawn Trudeau pointed out, that alone says just how monumental Bird’s impact has been, not just in Seattle and not just on the court.
Ogwumike served on the WNBPA Executive Committee with Bird and thinks everyone can see exactly how impactful her voice has been.
“A lot of her input and wisdom went a really long way in terms of not just what we were able to get done back then but also how we’re able to move today,” Ogwumike told The Next.
Williams, who has been incredibly vocal about prioritization during CBA negotiations, credited Bird (and Rapinoe, for her work with the U.S. women’s national soccer team) for teaching her the ins and outs of CBA negotiations and “kind of everything I know about it.”
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A moment that still stands out to Williams is Bird’s last game in New York, her home state. Williams said that every game that season, Bird’s farewell season, felt like a home game, but particularly in New York, the size of the crowd showed “not just her effect in Seattle but all across the country.”
“I mean, look at this arena and the facility we have today, it’s thanks to Sue Bird, just what she’s been able to do in Seattle, but also for women’s basketball,” Williams told The Next. “Just seeing where she started and how things were back then, and seeing where they are now, and I think it’s thanks to people like Sue and all that she’s done to grow the game.”
Bird has also lived by the phrase “just be yourself,” and in doing so has helped countless others feel comfortable being themselves, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community. She has continuously used her platform to advocate for human and equal rights.
“While she racked up stats and shattered records, she also built bridges between teammates, across generations of fans, and between the game and the broader world off the court,” Trudeau told the assembled crowd at the statue unveiling. “Sue’s connection to Seattle cemented the Storm as more than just a team. It became a community institution. … She helped make it a family and a source of pride for an entire city.”
When it finally came time for Bird’s speech, most of what could possibly be said had been said, but she still found a way to give even more credit to everyone but herself in a beautiful tribute to Seattle.
“People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first,” Bird began. “And the truth is, I never set out to be the first at anything. But if being the first means that I won’t be the last, if this statue means that 20 years from now there’ll be statues of other WNBA greats, some are in this audience, and players whose names we don’t even know yet, then I’m proud to be the first.”
Kelly Johnson, Rob Knox and Kiri Oler contributed reporting to this piece.
