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In Sue Bird’s farewell season, nothing (and everything) has changed

Sue Bird played her last regular-season game with the Seattle Storm on Sunday. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

As she handed off the microphone on Sunday, Sue Bird’s final words echoed throughout Climate Pledge Arena: “I love you. Thank you so much. I’ll see you in the playoffs.”

After 21 years in Seattle, Bird left the court following her final home regular-season game, an 89-81 loss to the Las Vegas Aces. Game 576 in a Storm uniform.

In that time, nothing has changed, and everything has changed for the Seattle legend.

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Sue Bird during her rookie season in 2002. (Mitchell Layton/WNBAE/Getty Images)
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Sue Bird during her final home regular-season game in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

She has the same perfectly gelled ponytail, holding her brown curls in place. The same warm smile that she flashed when the Storm drafted her No. 1 overall in 2002. The same competitive edge, the one she used to lead the Storm to four WNBA championships, and the one she expressed on Sunday when she promised the cheering crowd that she still had more basketball left in her, enough for a Storm playoff run.

She’s different, too. Seattle helped with that.

In 21 years, Sue Bird has found herself. She’s a proud gay woman, with her fiancée Megan Rapinoe cheering her on courtside on Sunday. She’s an activist for the game, for women, for people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. She’s a role model in every sense of the word.

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Sue Bird kisses fiancée Megan Rapinoe before the game Sunday. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Two decades ago, Bird didn’t know it was possible for a woman to play professional basketball for as long as she has.

In the NBA, there was Michael Jordan, whose six rings served as a benchmark for success. But in the WNBA, a league in its infancy, Bird didn’t know what a long career even looked like.

“There were no players that had 20-year careers. I don’t think there were players that had 10-year careers,” she said. “There wasn’t this model to copy or emulate.”

There is now.

“I think that 21-year-old me would be surprised that I’m still going,” Bird said. “Not because she didn’t think we had it in us, but because she wouldn’t have even thought about those things.”

In 2002, the entire WNBA was thinking about Sue Bird.

Fresh off an NCAA Tournament championship run — the third in UConn program history — and multiple Player of the Year Awards, Bird was slated to be the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Lin Dunn, who coached the Storm from 2000-02, started watching Bird casually during her high school days at Christ the King, and then even more once she enrolled at UConn.

When Dunn learned that her team would have the No. 1 pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, she really started paying attention to the point guard from Long Island.

“I watched so many of her games, read every article and studied everything available,” Dunn said.

She also answered a lot of phone calls. Dunn recognized Bird as a franchise cornerstone, a sentiment shared by nearly every team in the league. Dunn remembers the Detroit Shock and the New York Liberty being particularly relentless in their pursuit of the No. 1 pick.

“The more people called me about her and the more they offered me, the more it made me say, ‘There is no way I’m letting that pick go. She is too valuable,’” Dunn said. “I mean, I knew she was good, but I thought, ‘She might be even better than I thought.’ So I was determined to hold onto her.”

During her rookie campaign, and the Storm’s third season in existence, Bird averaged 14.4 points, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Her team also enjoyed a winning season for the first time.

Bird was instantly living up to the hype, and everyone took notice.

In 2002, the Storm weren’t the only professional basketball team in Seattle. One day, as the Storm finished up a practice at the facility they shared with the Sonics, nine-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton came up to Dunn to chat about Seattle’s newest basketball player.

“He said, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen a point guard like Sue Bird. She sees the game a second or two ahead, and that is really unusual,’” Dunn recalled.

Bird was also highly competitive. During her first season, the Storm players decided to pick horses for the Kentucky Derby. What started as a fun activity turned into an obsession for the point guard as she studied everything she could about the Derby participants.

She was willing to do whatever it took to win.

“I’ve seen that a lot in the latter part of her career,” Dunn said. “She figured out how to extend her career by becoming the fittest person she could be. She changed her diet, she changed her training regime so that I can extend my career. That’s her competitiveness.”

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(Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

In addition to her four titles with the Storm, Bird was named a WNBA All-Star 13 times. She earned All-WNBA First Team honors three times and Second Team honors twice, and she led the league in assists three times.

Bird’s point production has dipped over the years — down from 14.2 points per game in her rookie season to 7.9 this year — but her playmaking abilities have remained consistent. Her vision, which impressed Dunn, Payton and countless others back then, has helped her average 5.6 assists per game throughout her career.

Dunn, who is now the interim GM for the Indiana Fever, only coached Bird for one season in Seattle, but she remained a fan of the guard from that point on.

And throughout that fandom, Dunn has watched as Bird changed on and off the court.

Part of that was finding her voice.

Bird referenced the Wild Rose, a lesbian bar in Seattle, during her postgame remarks to the crowd on Sunday. Twenty years ago, Bird wouldn’t have been as candid about her sexuality.

She also wouldn’t have had her partner cheering for her from the sidelines. Nor would she have spoken out about issues, beliefs, politics — anything other than basketball.

“I definitely was part of a shut-up-and-dribble generation where that’s what we did. We didn’t complain too much or talk about things too much because we were scared to, or because it was the vibe,” Bird said during All-Star weekend last month. “It was an unspoken vibe, but it was there. Even coming out as gay, that’s not something I would have done in the early part of my career.”

Bird helped Seattle find its footing on the basketball court, and Seattle helped Bird find herself off of it.

“I did want to acknowledge everyone who made this moment possible,” Bird said, addressing the crowd at Climate Pledge Arena. “And not just this moment and having a sold-out crowd, but allowing me to be myself. It took me a minute to figure out who I was, but once I did, I was all right. And you guys allowed me to do that.”

In the postgame press conference, Bird, 41, said she didn’t think about what to say to the crowd before the game. She only knew she wanted to speak from the heart.

She spoke eloquently and thoughtfully, something she’s become known for during her time in the league. Although she didn’t have a script, every word was intentional.

During the “shut-up-and-dribble” era, Bird spoke with a different kind of intention. Her motive was to, as she put it, “fit the vibe.”

Now, she’s helping create the vibe.

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(Joshua Huston/NBAE via Getty Images)

As a rookie, Dun remembers Bird as being quick-witted and friendly. But in a crowd of people, the point guard was quieter. If she didn’t know someone, she kept to herself.

“Some of the things that meant a lot to her, she knew it mattered to her, but she was never really able to verbalize it and take a stand,” Dunn said. “I loved seeing her find her voice as she grew older.”

Sunday was a moment to celebrate Sue Bird for everything she is and everything she’s done.

It was also a moment to celebrate everything she will continue to do.

Bird is stepping away from the court, but never from the WNBA, and never from the voice she worked long and hard to find.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Unrivaled to Crown First-Ever 1v1 Tournament Champion

Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier dribbles the ball during an Unrivaled game.
Napheesa Collier is one of four Unrivaled players competing for the 1v1 tournament's $200,000 prize. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball will crown its first-ever 1v1 tournament champion on Friday night, when all four semifinalists take the court with a $200,000 grand prize on the line.

Vinyl guard Arike Ogunbowale will kick off the semis against Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards, before Unrivaled co-founder and Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier faces Rose forward Azurá Stevens. The victors will immediately advance to the night's best-of-three final series.

Notably, Friday's set puts alma mater pride on center court. A trio of UConn alums in Collier, Stevens, and Edwards will all clock in, while Ogunbowale reps Notre Dame — one of just three teams to beat the Huskies this NCAA season.

Along with those priceless bragging rights, the semifinalists are battling for a six-figure payday, though none will leave empty-handed. Each are guaranteed at least $25,000, with $50,000 on deck for the tournament's runner-up.

The players' Unrivaled teammates will also be watching with interest, as the winner's entire 3×3 team will snag $10,000 each.

Though 1v1 can feel like a schoolyard version of basketball, with this much money involved, expect the competition to rise miles above playground tussles.

Rose BC's Angel Reese defends Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards during an Unrivaled game.
Aaliyah Edwards is one of three UConn alums in the Unrivaled 1v1 semifinals. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Endurance could decide Unrivaled 1v1 tournament champion

Friday's format is in part a test of stamina, as players stare down a grueling schedule where the eventual winner must play either three or four 1v1 games in a single night.

To that end, Collier's elite conditioning could make her the favorite, if she can outlast Stevens in the pair's semifinal.

"Her motor is unmatched," Stevens said of Collier's endurance, a key factor in her success so far. "I try to conserve some energy in between possessions, especially when the games get really tiring."

Motors aside, Friday's title will boil down to fundamentals — and which athlete best leverages their personal skillset.

"I have to use my size and stick to my strengths," said Edwards. "It’s about imposing my will and getting the job done."

How to watch the Unrivaled 1v1 tournament finals

The inaugural Unrivaled 1v1 tournament concludes on Friday. Live coverage begins at 7:30 PM ET on TNT.

USC Beats UCLA as JuJu Watkins Ends Bruins’ Undefeated NCAA Season

USC's JuJu Watkins drives to the basket between UCLA's Janiah Barker and Elina Aarnisalo.
Watkins scored 38 points to hand UCLA their first loss of the season. (Robert Hanashiro/Imagn Images)

The last perfect DI basketball season has officially fallen, as USC phenom JuJu Watkins put up a historic performance to lead the No. 6 Trojans to a 71-60 win over then-undefeated No. 1 UCLA on Thursday.

Watkins finished the night with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and eight blocks, becoming the first DI player to register an overall stat-line so robust in 20 years.

"It took everything. It's been a rough couple weeks for me," Watkins said after the game, referencing uncharacteristic performances leading up to Thursday's rivalry matchup. "To be able to kind of snap back into it and get into my rhythm here at Galen versus UCLA, it's really all I could ask for."

"I'm really just like a kid out there and living out my dream."

Throughout the back-and-forth battle, Watkins's consistency made all the difference. She scored every one of USC's 14 second-quarter points, and helped lead a monster fourth quarter in which the Trojans slammed the door by outscoring the Bruins 24-8.

"I didn't teach JuJu any of that," commented USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the game. "[I] just try to put her in situations to be her best self, and she does most of that work. What I was so impressed with tonight, obviously, was just the mentality she came out with."

With the marquee win, USC now sits firmly atop the Big Ten. That said, UCLA will have a chance to avenge the loss in the pair's March 1st rematch, when that final regular-season game could decide the conference title.

Until then, the Trojans will be riding high on their Thursday night dominance.

"We'll never forget this night," Gottlieb said. "It's as good as anything I've ever seen."

UConn star Paige Bueckers dribbles the ball during a game.
UConn takes on South Carolina on Sunday. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)

How to watch Top 10 NCAA basketball this weekend

With no undefeated teams left in DI basketball, Watkins's performance has put the field on notice to not make any assumptions about who might end up on top.

While Sunday will see USC roll against unranked Washington and UCLA try to bounce back against No. 22 Michigan State, the NCAA slate will also serve up two huge Top 10 matchups.

First, No. 7 UConn will take their final major regular-season test when they visit No. 4 South Carolina at 1 PM ET, when Paige Bueckers and the Huskies will aim to pull off a similarly impressive USC-inspired upset.

Then at 3 PM ET, No. 5 LSU heads to No. 3 Texas, where the Tigers will hunt their first win over the Longhorns in more than 22 years.

Both elite meetings are set to air live on ABC.

Pro Women’s Lacrosse League Debuts at WLL Championship Series

A promotional graphic for the WLL Championship Series.
The WLL played its first-ever pro games at this week's Lexus Championship Series. (ESPN)

The brand-new professional Women's Lacrosse League (WLL) made its official debut this week just outside of Washington, DC, where its first-ever game saw the New York Charging take down the Maryland Charm 14-13 in the WLL Championship Series.

After the inaugural Tuesday result, the action continued on Wednesday, when the California Palms opened their WLL account by getting the better of the Boston Guard in a tight 16-15 matchup.

Founded and run by the Premier Lacrosse League, the WLL fosters top-level competition as the sport gears up for its 2028 Olympic return.

The four-team WLL Championship Series follows an Olympic-style "sixes" format. Unlike traditional lacrosse, which uses a larger pitch and 10 athletes per team, sixes employs a condensed field with six players per side.

In the Championship Series, teams are first competing in three round-robin games to determine semifinal seedings. The tournament will culminate with the knockout semifinal and final rounds on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

Team USA lacrosse star Charlotte North gestures during a 2022 World Championship game.
Team USA star Charlotte North competes for the WLL's Boston Guard. (Ryan Hunt/Getty Images)

WLL looks to level up lacrosse ahead of 2028 Olympics

Despite the competition's quick turnaround, the WLL represents a growing professionalization movement in women's lacrosse — with all involved betting big on the sport's Olympic success in LA.

When lacrosse steps back onto the Olympic stage in 2028, it will have been 80 years since its last 1948 outing — and even then, it was merely a demonstration event. The last time the sport earned medals was in 1908.

Furthermore, the sport's entire Olympic history rests in the men's game — 2028 will see women take the Olympic lacrosse pitch for the first time ever.

"We are honored to be a part of the WLL, and we couldn't be more excited to bring this game to the fans in new ways than ever before," said Boston Guard star Charlotte North in a league statement.

"We firmly believe that this is the beginning of what will be a monumental movement in the game of professional women's lacrosse, and for female athletes around the globe.... It's our time."

Former Northwestern lacrosse star Izzy Scane shoots the ball during an NCAA game.
Izzy Scane, the NCAA DI lacrosse career scoring leader, plays for the New York Charging. (Greg Fiume/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

How to watch the WLL Championship Series

The tournament's round-robin play continues with the Maryland Charm facing off against the Boston guard at 9 PM ET on Thursday, before the California Palms contend with the New York Charging at 6 PM ET on Friday.

All WLL Championship Series games will stream live on ESPN+, with Sunday's and Monday's knockout rounds airing live on ESPN2.

Indiana Fever Rev Roster Ahead of 2025 WNBA Season

Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson dribbles the ball during a 2024 WNBA game.
Indiana is buying out Katie Lou Samuelson's contract as the Fever reconfigures their roster. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

The Indiana Fever continued upending their roster this week, with the WNBA franchise announcing the departures of both forward Katie Lou Samuelson and guard Erica Wheeler.

First, the team agreed to a contract buyout with Samuelson on Monday. The 27-year-old was on track to enter the final season of her two-year contract with the Fever, on a guaranteed $180,250 salary for 2025.

Indiana reportedly acquiesced to a $106,419 buyout — allowing the franchise just enough leftover funds to sign one additional veteran to a minimum contract. At the same time, that buyout ensures that Samuelson — who will officially become a free agent next week after the requisite five days on the wire — will be made whole even if she inks a minimum contract elsewhere.

Then on Wednesday, the Fever cleared up more space on their roster as free agent Wheeler opted to join Seattle.

Indiana Fever players DeWanna Bonner, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, and Caitlin Clark attend an NBA game.
DeWanna Bonner, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, and Caitlin Clark are central to the 2025 Fever roster. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

Fever aims for the ultimate WNBA prize with refreshed roster

Indiana as been cleaning house this offseason, from sending their 2022 No. 2 draft pick NaLyssa Smith to the Dallas Wings two weeks ago to this week's departures.

Exits aren't the only changes to the Fever's lineup, however. In the last few weeks, the team has successfully re-signed guard Kelsey Mitchell and traded for guard Sophie Cunningham while also stocking up on top veteran talent in free agents DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sydney Colson.

The moves are part of Indiana's plan to make a major playoff push in 2025, revamping their roster to build off their 2024 playoff appearance — the team's first since 2016.

With a pair of WNBA Rookies of the Year in Caitlin Clark (2024) and Aliyah Boston (2023) forming the team's young core, the Fever are building a tested veteran shield primed for the challenge of a deep postseason run — which can sometimes spell growing pains both on and off the court as fans and players alike grow accustomed to the rejiggered lineup.

That said, Clark is focusing on the fun part of smoothing out the Fever's new-look roster, saying "I think it will be a lot of fun to get in the gym and be with my teammates and just start putting the pieces together and see what works or what doesn't... I think that's what's super exciting."

"The next few years are gonna be amazing for this franchise and will continue to be for hopefully 10-plus years," she continued.

"Hopefully we win a few championships. They’re investing to help us be really good."

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