The Seattle Storm announced Thursday that they will retire Sue Bird‘s No. 10 jersey at their game on June 11, when the Washington Mystics visit Climate Pledge Arena.
Drafted No. 1 overall out of UConn by the Storm in 2002, Bird played her entire 19-year WNBA career in Seattle, finishing as the WNBA’s all-time leader in games (580), minutes (18,080) and assists (3,234). Bird led the Storm to four titles and was chosen an All-Star a record 13 times.
During Bird’s final season, she was honored at Seattle’s last home game of the regular season, which featured the largest crowd in franchise history. Bird helped the Storm past Washington in the first round of the playoffs before her career came to an end in the semifinals against the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces.
Bird’s No. 10 will join longtime teammate Lauren Jackson’s No. 15 as the second jersey retired by the Storm. Bird and Jackson teamed up for the franchise’s first two championships, in 2004 and 2010, and Jackson’s jersey was retired in 2016.
Seattle joins the Los Angeles Sparks (Lisa Leslie and Penny Toler), Minnesota Lynx (Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen) and Phoenix Mercury (Jennifer Gillom, Bridget Pettis, Penny Taylor and Michele Timms) as current WNBA teams with multiple retired jerseys.
