WNBA legend Sue Bird retiring after this season

WNBA legend and the league’s all-time assists leader Sue Bird announced Thursday that she will retire at the end of the 2022 season.

“I’ve decided this will be my final year,” Bird posted on social media. “I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first.”

I’ve decided this will be my final year. I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first ☺️ #TheFinalYear @seattlestorm pic.twitter.com/Uo2YqCCKUD

— Sue Bird (@S10Bird) June 16, 2022

Bird previously said she considered retiring after the 2021 campaign, but she signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Storm, where she has played her entire 21-year WNBA career, this offseason and didn’t commit to anything until now.

The No. 1 overall pick in 2002, Bird is a four-time WNBA champion with the Storm and a five-time Olympic gold medalist with USA Basketball. She won two NCAA championships with UConn.

Bird’s announcement came a day before Seattle’s game at Connecticut. The Storm will close out their road trip on Sunday in New York, about 30 miles from where Bird grew up in Syosset, New York.

“As the season has gone, like I said, I pretty much knew, and then once I saw the schedule, and then once I started packing for this trip a little bit, I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be my last time playing in New York. My last time playing in front of my family and friends.’ And so that’s why the timing of this is what it is,” Bird said in a video posted by the Storm on social media.

“I just really felt strongly about announcing my retirement, saying it was my last year so I can share that with my family and my friends, all the people in New York who have watched me growing up so they can come and see me play for the last time in my home state. So I’m excited about that. It’s also bittersweet.”