Sue Bird blazed her own trail into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

In fifth grade, Sue Bird predicted that she’d grow up to become either a doctor, a lawyer or a professional soccer player — yes, soccer, not basketball. At the time, Bird couldn’t have fathomed becoming a basketball star because no professional women’s league existed in the United States.

“There wasn't a pathway,” Bird explained. “There wasn't a professional league, which I think is what allows kids to really dream and dream big.”

Despite that, Bird was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame over the weekend after a legendary career — alongside two other women’s basketball greats in Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, no less. The path may not have existed for Bird when she first fell in love with the game but it opened up as she progressed.

When she arrived at UConn in the fall of 1998, the WNBA was finishing its second season. As the No. 1 overall pick in 2002, Bird experienced practically every iteration of the WNBA — from the fledgling league that seemed to constantly be on the brink of collapse, to a period of stagnant stability, to the recent growth — and retired just as it began to enter the mainstream.

Bird’s basketball life serves as the perfect measuring stick of the sport’s progress. She ended up living out a dream that wasn’t even possible when she first began playing.

“I didn't have a WNBA. The path wasn't as clear for how to make it,” she said. “Our generation — people a little bit older than me, a little bit younger than me — we were of the generation where we just had to hold it down. People were telling us that we didn't have value, people were telling us our league was gonna fold, and we just showed up and kept playing… Now seeing players that it's not a question of, ‘Where am I gonna play?’ There are multiple pathways. There are all kinds of ways to get to where I'm sitting now and I feel really proud about that, too.”

It’s not as if Bird were just along for the ride, either. Over a 25-year span — four years at UConn, 21 in the WNBA — she set the bar for all point guards yet to come. She was a two-time national champion, the consensus national player of the year and First Team All-American in 2002, as well as the Huskies’ record holder for single-season assists leader and career 3-point percentage in college.

From there, Bird became the first No. 1 overall pick in program history and went on to spend her entire WNBA career with the Seattle Storm. She finished as a four-time champion, eight-time All-WNBA pick, 13-time All-Star along with the league’s leader in assists, games played, starts and victories.

Then there’s her international career, where Bird became the first basketball player to win five Olympic gold medals (alongside Diana Taurasi) while also claiming four FIBA World Championships.

Bird didn’t have a path, so she created her own.

“I think that little girl… would be so proud to have been the beneficiary of a lot of trailblazers before her but also to know that she, when you look back on it, will be one of the trailblazers,” she said of her younger self.

Since Bird hung it up following the 2022 season, she’s been honored plenty. The Seattle Storm retired her No. 10, named a street after her and became the first WNBA team to build a statue for a player. Bird was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this year and is now enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

At first, she found the number of ceremonies and honors in such a short span of time daunting, though it ended up working out quite well.

“I'm having a ton of fun,” Bird said. “To be honest, having them all in one year is probably the best thing that could happen because now as I sit here, I'm totally relaxed. I'm like, ‘Oh, I just did this five minutes ago. I can really enjoy it.’”

She’s also enjoyed being a part of the 2025 inductee class alongside Moore, Fowles, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Billy Donovan, Danny Crawford, Mickey Arison and the 2008 US Men’s Olympic team. The spotlight isn’t solely on Bird.

“The difference with this Hall of Fame is that you're doing it with others,” she said. “The statue is all me. The street sign, all me. If you rewind a couple years, jersey retirement, all me. That's a lot. This feels like a breeze.”

As part of the festivities during the weekend, Bird received her Hall of Fame jacket and ring during a ceremony on Saturday. She got to pick the presenters and ended up going with an outside-the-box-choice: Her two nieces, aged 12 and 10. Bird wanted them involved in some fashion not just because they’re family, but also to illustrate just how far the sport’s come over the last 30 years.

“In that moment, I'm just gonna try to take it in with them, understanding that when I was their age, there was none of this for women's basketball players… as far as having a professional league,” Bird said. “That didn't really exist. Those two little nuggets, they get to dream about it so I'm going to share that with them.”