SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — On the biggest stage in the sport, Sue Bird delivered a lighthearted and surprisingly brief 13-minute speech before being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The former Storm star began with a playful jab at her old UConn coach Geno Auriemma before thanking family, friends, former teammates and a litany of medical support staffers who helped her play for more than two decades.

“You gave me the most important piece of advice I’ve ever received,” Bird said. “I mean, I guess you gave a lot of advice because you talk a lot, but this was really the one I remember. … You said: ‘Basketball is not a game of how to; it’s a game of when to.’ I built my career around it.”Admittedly, Bird was mesmerized by her latest and grandest milestone.

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