Sue Bird isn’t in a rush to decide on her future.
Following the Seattle Storm’s 85-80 loss to the Phoenix Mercury in overtime, Bird said she isn’t sure whether she’ll retire or not, and she’s also in no hurry to make a decision.
“I’ve been really trying to push away those thoughts,” Bird said. “The minute I even let myself think about it, it makes me want to cry. This is the first offseason where I feel like I need to weigh it. Usually, I’m like, ‘Nope, one more year if I feel good, I’ll be there.’
“This is the first time where I’m really going to have to sit back, see how I feel, weigh some things. I know for sure that I want to let the emotion of the season die down. I don’t want to make some emotional decision.”
The guard will turn 41 in October and has played 18 seasons in the WNBA, all of which have been with Seattle, who drafted her No. 1 overall out of UConn in 2002.
Physically, Bird has withstood the test of time. While knee issues limited her to 11 of 20 regular-season games in last year’s WNBA bubble, she then played in all six playoff games to help the Storm to their fourth WNBA title.
This year, she was present in 30 of the Storm’s 32 regular-season games. She also played in the Commissioner’s Cup final — which Seattle won — and the Tokyo Olympics, where she earned her fifth Olympic gold medal.
On Sunday, she played nearly 37 minutes, finishing with 16 points and five assists.
“I feel very lucky that physically I’m still… it’s not the physical part that is ‘taking me down,'” she said, concluding, “It will be my own decision.”