After a legendary career that featured four WNBA titles and 13 All-Star nods, Sue Bird’s legacy in Seattle is now enshrined in bronze. On Sunday — designed Sue Bird Day in the city, county and state — the Storm unveiled a statue of the point guard outside Climate Pledge Arena.
“People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first,” Bird said in a speech. “The truth is that I never set out to be the first at anything, but if being the first means I won’t be the last. If this statue means that 20 years from now there will be statues of other WNBA greats — some who are in the audience and players whose names you don’t even know yet — than I’m proud to be the first.”
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Although Bird is the WNBA’s all-time assists leader, the statue features her going for a layup — a pose she selected because it represents the “full circle” of her career.
“My very first points in the WNBA at KeyArena as a rookie were on a layup. My very final points in the WNBA were at Climate Pledge on a layup,” Bird said. “Not really known for those layups, but it’s something that means a lot to me.”
The 8-foot, 650-pound monument was made by Julie Rotblatt-Amrany of Rotblatt Amrany Studio, who also sculpted statues of Seattle sports legends Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Lenny Wilkens (located nearby Bird outside Climate Pledge Arena), A’ja Wilson at South Carolina, Michael Jordan, and other NBA stars. Along with the pose, Bird also picked the sneakers — Nike Air Zoom Huaraches, which she wore while winning her first Olympic gold medal and first WNBA title in 2004 — as well as the jersey.
“The process was interesting and really fun,” she said. “It was so incredible, every time I went to the studio to walk in — it’s weird to see yourself in clay form — but it was like every little tweak, it just became more and more me until finally I was underneath it and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s my nose. Oh, that’s definitely my hair.’”
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Former UConn teammates Diana Taurasi and Swin Cash flew in for the ceremony, while Geno Auriemma shared his congratulations in a video on social media.
“That statue, I hope the pigeons are kind to it,” the coach quipped.
To her credit, Bird isn’t worried about that.
“When you inevitably see a little bird poop on my shoulder, don’t worry about it. Just consider it family checking in and reminding me where home is,” she said.
The Storm are the first WNBA team to dedicate a statue to a former player. Since Bird retired following the 2022 season, the franchise also retired her No. 10 jersey and named a street near Climate Pledge Arena after her.
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“Greatness is not just in the numbers for me, though she has plenty of those. It’s not just in banners and trophies and gold medals, though she has enough of those too. Greatness is the way you change the air in the room, the way you change the air in the arena, the way you change the air in the community,” Cash said. “For the city of Seattle, Sue is not just a player, she’s family — as this was told to me by the lady in Nordstrom’s yesterday.”
The celebrations around the region didn’t stop with the statue, either. The Space Needle flew a commemorative flag that featured Bird, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge lit up green in honor of the point guard and the aforementioned Mariners statues at T-Mobile Park were adorned with her No. 10 jerseys.
The honors for Bird won’t stop with the statue, either. In September, she’ll be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with Auriemma and Cash serving as presenters.
