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First look at Sue Bird’s statue in Seattle
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- First look at Sue Bird’s statue in Seattle
Stephen Bisig-Imagn Images
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Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird made history on Sunday in becoming the first WNBA player to receive a statue commemorating her career in the league. Bird was originally selected by the Storm with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, and she spent all 21 of her seasons with the franchise. Prior to the Storm's game against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, Sue Bird's statue was unveiled outside the team's Climate Pledge Arena.
The statue won't be the only honor that Bird receives this year. She is slated to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. One of the WNBA's greatest players, Bird helped lead the Storm to four championships in 2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020. She also holds the WNBA's mark for most career assists at 3,234.
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In addition to her WNBA exploits, Bird also won five Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA. Although she never won a WNBA MVP award, the closest she came was finishing third in the voting during the 2008 season.
A 13-time WNBA All-Star, Bird was never a high-scoring player, holding a career average of 11.7 points per game. But she was the engine that kept the team running, the point guard and floor leader who orchestrated the offense. She is a five-time selection to the All-WNBA First Team and a three-time selection to the All-WNBA Second Team.
Bird holds career averages of 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals, with splits of 42.9 percent shooting from the field, 39.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. She appeared in a total of 580 WNBA games at a little over 31 minutes per game. Bird was sidelined the entirety of the 2013 and 2019 seasons due to injury.
In the playoffs, Bird holds career averages of 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals with splits of 39.6 percent shooting from the field, 36.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 84.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
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