Sue Bird - Biography - American professional basketball player, WNBA, and UMMC Ekaterinburg

Suzanne Brigit ‘Sue’ Bird is an American professional basketball player who plays for Seattle Storm. She has been in the Women’s National Basketball Association and UMMC Ekaterinburg for a long time now. 

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Synopsis

Sue is a professional basketball player. During her high school period, Sue was the New York State player of the year. In 2002, she won the ‘Wade Trophy’ and the ‘Naismith Award’. Besides basketball, Sue plays Soccer, Ran Track, and Tennis. In the 6th grade, her basketball interest rose and she became a really good player. Later, Bird ended up being the runner-up for the Rookie player of the year and one of two players to make up to the ‘All-WNBA’ first team. In 2004 and 2005, she played in Russia with Kamila Vodichkova. Till the date, Sue has collected a lot of awards and she has been one of the best players in the whole world.

Early Life

Sue Bird was born on October 16th, 1989; in Syosset, Nassau Country; New York. Sue’s original last name was ‘Boorda’ because her father is an Italian-born Russian Jew. Although; she holds an Israeli Citizenship since 2006, Sue represents her birth country the USA in international tournaments. Bird had an interest in basketball from her early age and she started playing for AAU basketball team called ‘The Liberty Belles’ while she was in the 6th grade. When she turned 11, Sue played during the halftime of St. John’s basketball game. Her play was so remarkable that even a security guard requested for her autograph.

High School and College

She completed her graduation from ‘Christ the King Regional High School’ in Queens. Prior to her enrollment at the ‘Christ’, she was at ‘Syosset High School’ and played her freshman and sophomore years over there. As per her college, she chose UCONN (The University of Connecticut) because it was close to her home and had a winning tradition like the one at the ‘Christ’.

During her sophomore years (1999-2000), Sue leads the team to a 36-1 record and won the ‘2000 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament’ and the ‘Big East Championship’. In her junior years, she played against ‘Notre Dame’ and it was named as the ‘Best Women’s basketball Game Ever Played’. They won by taking the eponymous shot at the buzzer.

Career

Bird’s career took off when Seattle Storm selected her with the first complete pick of 2002 WNBA Draft. During her rookie season, she started with all 32 playoffs for the storm and averaged 14.4 ppg. Sue also managed the storm to their major playoff appearance. In 2004, She led the Storm to win their first ever WNBA Championship and became one of the 9 women to collect an Olympic Gold Medal along with Tamika Catchings. In 2011, Sue was voted as one of the Top 15 players in the 15-year history of WNBA.

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During the 2012 season, Bird had problems with her left knee and she had to go through a surgery which prevented her from playing the entire 2013 season with the Storm. But it didn’t let her guards down and she watched where her co-players liked the ball and on which tactics they liked to drive on. She filed the information for the next season and got back during the 2014 playoff.

International Career

In the 2004 and 2005 season, Sue played with Storm in Russia; and in the 2005 and 2006 WNBA off-season, she played with the same team leading her to team to Euro league Women’s Playoffs and Russian Championship. In the 2006 and 2007 season, she joined with Lauren Jackson, Svetlana Abrosimova and Diana Taurasi in the Russian team ‘Spartak Moscow Region’ to win the Euro league Women Championship and Russian Super League. Furthermore, she was in Rio for the Olympics with Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi in 2016. 

Personal Life

Till the date, Sue hasn’t revealed anything about her personal life, or her husband or her boyfriend. But there are rumors about her being a lesbian in the media. It might not be true but that is what people talk about when they hear the name Sue Bird. Sue has an older sister named ‘Jen Brigit’. They are the daughter of Herschel (Father) and Nancy Bird (Mother). She was raised with her mother’s religion, Christian. 

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Honors and Awards

Sue is 4 times Olympic Gold Medalist. To this day, she has received many awards and they are: 1998 ‘WBCA All-American’, 2000 ‘Nancy Lieberman Award’, 2001 ‘Nancy Lieberman Award’, 2002 ‘Nancy Lieberman Award’, 2002 ‘Wade Trophy’, 2002 ‘Naismith Award’, 2002 ‘Winner of the Honda Sports Award for Basketball’, 2002-2007, 2008,2011 and 2014 ‘WNBA All-Star Selection’, 2010 ‘All-WNBA Second Team’, 2012 ‘MVP Russian Cup Finals’ and etcetera. 

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