American former professional basketball player Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) played for the Seattle Storm of the Women’s National Basketball Association until retiring in 2014. (WNBA) The Storm picked the bird first in the 2002 WNBA draught and is considered one of the finest players in WNBA history. Bird is the first WNBA player to win championships in three distinct decades. She used to work as the Denver Nuggets’ Basketball Operations Associate in the front office.
She has appeared on the field in Russia for no less than three different clubs. She was born in the United States but also had Israeli citizenship. After leading the University of Connecticut to a perfect season as a senior in 2002, she was honored as the nation’s best player with the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Award.
Sue Bird Early Life
The bird was born to parents Herschel and Nancy in the Long Island community of Syosset, Nassau County. She has one sibling, an elder sister named Jen. The original surname for her father’s family was “Boorda,” which reflects their Russian-Jewish heritage. Her Jewish father and paternal grandfather made her an Israeli citizen in 2006, yet she continues to compete in the United States.
Bird’s older sister was an athlete, and she took an early interest in athletics. She also participated in sports like soccer, tennis, and track & field. In the sixth grade, Bird joined the Amateur Athletic Union, basketball league. Halftime at a St. John’s basketball game, she performed so well that a security guard sought her autograph even though she was only 11 years old.
Sue Bird’s Career
The Stanford Cardinal and the Vanderbilt Commodores weren’t the only clubs interested in signing Bird. She had previously been confident that UConn was the best option. Still, her confidence wavered after the Huskies secured the commitments of two starting point guards, Keirsten Walters and Brianne Stepherson. She was concerned that she wouldn’t have a role to perform. Nonetheless, Bird chose UConn after Stepherson reversed her decision and signed with Boston College.
UConn was an excellent fit for her because of its proximity to her home and family and its abundance of opportunities. Bird tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) eight games into her rookie year. She could not redshirt because she had participated in more than 20% of the team’s games during the 1998–1999 season. The following year, as a sophomore, she led the team to a 36-1 record, the Big East title, and an appearance in the 2000 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament.
In her junior year (2000-2001), UConn’s record was 32-3; they lost to Big East foe Notre Dame in the Final Four. The 2001-2002 season was Bird’s final season of collegiate competition, and the Huskies went 39-0. She swept the awards for college basketball’s best player that year, taking home the Wade Trophy, the Honda Sports Award, and the Naismith Trophy. Bird’s junior year included “the best women’s basketball game ever played,” a matchup with Notre Dame. Bird’s game-winning jumper at the buzzer was chronicled in a book of the same name.
After her time at UConn, she topped the charts in several categories. She scored 1,378 points, good for 24th on the all-time list, and presently ranked second in assists (585) and seventh in steals (243). She is first in the league in free throw and three-point shooting (89.2). She was victorious in two National Championships, three Big East Championships, and a Big East regular season victory.
Awarded to the best point guard in the country, Bird was the first recipient of the Nancy Lieberman Award in 2000 and went on to win it again in 2001 and 2002. She played in 114 games throughout her time at UConn and won every one of them. The bird was inducted into the University of Connecticut women’s basketball “Huskies of Honor” hall of fame in its first year of existence (2006).
Is Sue Bird Gay?
WNBA great Sue Bird officially disclosed that she was gay and dating Seattle Reign and USWNT star soccer player Megan Rapinoe in an article from Mechelle Voepel of ESPNW. People who know me know that “I’m gay” and “Megan’s my girlfriend,” as Bird puts it. “I don’t feel as though I haven’t lived my life,” she said. “I think people think that if you’re not talking about it, you must be hiding it like it’s this secret. That was never the case for me.” Bird stated that she believed it was the proper time to come out.
“It’s happening when it’s happening because that’s what feels right,” she said. Some people think I should have done it sooner, but that doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the appropriate moment for me. This is my path, and I have to honor that. Bird, now 36 years old, has won every significant honor in basketball.
She has won four national championships at UConn, two WNBA Championships with the Seattle Storm, two Olympic gold medals, and has been named to the All-Star team ten times. Bird has maintained remarkable productivity for a player in her 15th season with the Storm, averaging 10.8 points and 6.9 assists per game. She has a lifetime average of 12.3 points and 5.5 assists per contest.
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Sue Bird And Megan Rapinoe Relationship Timeline
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird are two of the most accomplished athletes; they have won seven Olympic medals in different sports. It’s natural that this athletic power couple met at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and quickly started dating. They got engaged in October of 2020, and Bird told PEOPLE in December that they weren’t rushing to be married.
The WNBA player said, “We’ve always known this was forever, so we aren’t necessarily in a rush.” She added, “I think we are both okay with the fact that this might not happen for a year, maybe two.” When asked about her connection with Bird, Rapinoe told PEOPLE in April 2021 that she feels “fortunate” to have Bird in her life. She said, “I have to pinch myself every day because I can’t believe how lucky we are to be in this life together.”
Did Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe Get Married Yet?
The athletes got engaged in October 2020 after three years of dating. A bird broke the news with an Instagram snapshot of Rapinoe proposing to her at the edge of an infinity pool, to which she added no remark. The basketball player gave an interview to The Seattle Times in May of 2022, explaining why she and Rapinoe have yet to get married.
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