Sue Bird reflected on her 20 years in the league. There is a delay of1:45.
Sue Bird didn't know how to feel about her career coming to an end after the Seattle Storm were eliminated from the playoffs on Tuesday.
Bird said that he was sad about the season and the game. As the emotions came to the surface, that was my last game, I think. It was a combination of those two things.
A year after Storm fans chanted "One more year!" in the wake of a playoff elimination by the Phoenix Mercury, the sentiment was gratitude after this loss.
Bird initially headed to the locker room with teammates and coaches, but reversed course and remained on the court. After receiving hugs from everyone on the Las Vegas team and coaching staff, Bird acknowledged the crowd by raising her hand multiple times and then heading into the locker room.
Bird wanted to stay in the court. I followed at first because it felt like everyone was going that way. I wanted to say thank you one last time so I could soak it all in.
I'm proud of everything that's happened here. I'm sad but I'm also happy that the fans were able to chant the way they did. There is a lot of happiness even though the tears don't look like it.
The coach of the Seattle Storm stayed in the arena bowl to watch Bird's farewell.
"I wanted to stay and feel the energy of the game so I didn't go to the game," he said. She's done a lot for the city of Seattle, for the organization and for this team.
It's difficult not having her ride off on a white horse with a championship, but she's won enough for the two of us, so just proud to be part of her journey.
Bird announced in June that this would be her final year and her teammates were not able to help her.
The team was sad in the locker room. There is little laughter. We've been playing with Sue for so long that we're the last three left. We didn't want to finish for her. It is what it is.
Stewart was coming to terms with the fact that Bird wouldn't be a part of the team on a daily basis.
She said that it was sad that they weren't able to compete for a championship, but that it was even more sad that they wouldn't be on the court with Sue. We aren't going to play with her in games. Having that come to a reality fast is what hurts the most.
Bird acknowledged the void that retiring will leave, saying she's not going to try to duplicate the emotions playing the sport at its highest level has provided.
There was no second-guessing Bird's decision after she finished with 46 assists and just six turnovers in six playoff games.
"Of course my body feels good," Bird said, "so that can trick ya, but there's a reason why I felt comfortable and I felt confident in this being my final year." It was a challenge to say that out loud. I knew I did the right thing after jumping over it.
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