Sue Bird becomes first WNBA player to receive a statue

SEATTLE — Sue Bird has seen it all.

The four-time WNBA champion and 13-time All-Star spent her entire 21-year career with the Seattle Storm after a successful collegiate career at Connecticut, retiring as an icon and the league’s all-time assists leader in 2022. Since then, Bird has seen her name go up in the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena — Key Arena for most of her days — and has even had a street named after her. She’s been a regular courtside guest for a Seattle team that was just two years old when she was drafted in 2002, and now practices in a multi-million-dollar Interbay training facility. Bird even joined the team’s ownership group in 2024.

But on Sunday, Bird flew where no WNBA player has before.

Sue Bird received a statue outside Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday morning with