Sue Bird on Life After Basketball, Allyship, Her Favorite WNBA Title, the Playoffs and Caitlin Clark

an impact, keep growing the game. Like you said, whether it's media, ownership, you name it. I have that as my north star. That's like my guiding light, and so again I feel really lucky that I have that and then from there, I'm just able to figure it out and see what works.

we have a unique outlook like we've lived it. And now that women's basketball is getting more attention, women's sports is getting more attention, you need our voices, You need us to be in this media space kind of given the real at times. And I think that's where Meghan and I have really landed with our podcast and what we want it to be about. We want to be

able to share the mic. If you will have guests on giving their real takes, but we also want to have our voice because honestly, when you do retire, what you realize is the mic is not in front of your face as much anymore, so you don't really have that outlet. So we just want ahead and built the outlet.

so us like, I'm like very prepared. I try to have like all my ducks in a row, and Meghan likes to be a little bit more spontaneous and pulsive in the moment. And I think that's why it actually fits really well. We're kind of broke both bringing that, so it really just doubled down on what I already knew.

As someone who has consistently used their platform to advocate the social justice and to support those marginalized communities, what role do you believe allyship plays and creating those meaningful conversations that can potentially change the sports world.

I've also experienced it as a gay athlete. Right Like when a straight person speaks on LGBTQ issues, it just has a bigger meaning. And I think that's just the like, that's just the reality of it, that's just the world we live in. Again, when somebody advocates for you, it can also take the load off a little bit, make it less of just my issue and kind of more one of all of our issues. And I think that

has a lot of power to it as well. It makes it a little less daunting, and because it's really hard to have to constantly advocate for yourself to have to constantly be out there. I mean, honestly, even sometimes I get sick of my own voice when I have to talk about things that are directly impacting me. You know, you don't want to be you want to be annoying

that kind of thing. So when you have somebody supporting you and backing you, when you can be the person who is supportive or backing somebody else, it just goes so far. And it's really, I think, such an important, like I said, piece of the puzzle if you actually want to create change.

just gave me your attention to time. But also this past June at the Tribeca Film Festival, the power of the Dreams. At the Power of the Dream screening, you asked all of us to stand up who was covering the w n b A And I just want to give you your flowers and thank you just for seeing those of us who've been in this space as women of color, in this space that covers this league, just recognizing that and giving us your time as a pro athlete.

So I appreciate you too. And I don't know if you knew that, but just want to let you know.

a story that just needs to be told. I mean, I'm sure you've heard me say. It's like if any other male sports league had done what we did in that bubble season, the whole world would have known, without a doubt, people would have been banging on the door to make that documentary. So in one sense, it was just important to tell it for what it is. But I think on another side, there's so many lessons to be learned. There's lessons around, I feel like for women,

for women of color, again, marginalized communities. There's an empowerment piece to this, right, there's a collaboration. What happens when we work together aspect to this, When to lead, when to follow understanding that when you're trying to get when you have this larger goal, it's not always going to be easy. Like some of my favorite moments, they weren't my favorite in the moment, but favor now is the harder times where we weren't necessarily arguing, but we all

had different perspectives on how to get things done. And that's really how you problem solve, right, Like, that's really how you get to that end goal. So it's just for so many reasons I think it needed to be told.

But yeah, if I'm being totally honest, it's because the women of the WNBA, like we do shit and we get shited done, and people needed to see what exactly happened in that moment and how we're able to help bring Reverend Warnock this like incredible amount of name recognition, which you know, i'd like to argue help them get elected, which as we know, changed and totally flipped democracy on its head.

be in a bad spot. So with that, not only is it the one way you're guaranteed, I feel like the other part of it is everybody has things they care about, you know, and so to piggyback off that this is the one way that the things that you care about you can have a voice in that as well. And yeah, this election is important, and yeah it makes me.

It makes me nervous. I've had I've had, actually had like a really hard time watching the debates because I just get this like almost like a almost like some sort of performance anxiety, like for Kamala Harris, where I'm like, oh God, like I want her to do well so bad as I can only imagine. It's like not that this is equivalent at all, but watching your kid do

something like you just want it so bad. But yeah, the other thing I feel like I would just encourage people to do is understand what's at stake and and really where that to be honest, where that segues too is social media, Like do not believe what you see on social media? And I'm just gonna go out like good or bad? You have to look stuff up. That for you page, Yeah, that for you page, it's dangerous, absolutely dangerous. It doesn't matter what we're talking about. That

for you page is dangerous. Is set up right now to you know, push different agendas and different narratives in your face based on what you might be interested in. So I really encourage people, especially younger people, if you see something on social media like this is the right moment, to go ahead and do your own research, Like, don't just believe it because you see a headline. That's something we're learning in women's basketball. I think it's something that

we're learning across the board. It definitely exists in politics as well.

highs and lows in the emotions. It would be impossible to make a decision now anyway, Like unless she already knew with one certainty, that wouldn't be the time where she would say something anyways. So I'd imagine she's probably if I had to guess, I do know they had a vacation on the book, So hopefully she's on a beach kicking it with her family, not thinking about this decision, and we'll all find out soon.

For us, so we're really there to learn. De definitely played a lot more than I did, but we're both still there to learn. But we're all so excited, you know, and we understand that the early games, Like I think we played New Zealand in the very first game. We're like, okay, this might be the only time we play, so like we got to be ready. So we get to the very first game. We walk in the locker room, you know, you just normal locker room stuff, put in your uniform on,

whatever it is, go to put your shoes on. She was like, she taps me. She's like, oh no, I'm like what. She's like, I brought two left shoes. I'm like what, Like, what do you mean? There's another story where we're in Russia, very very very long story short. We get to the gym. I'm actually not playing this game. For whatever reason, I'm not. It's like I'm not even dressed. Maybe I'm hurt, who knows. We get to the range. She was like, oh my god, you have to go

back to my apartment. I forgot my jersey. I'm like, all right, so I have, like I actually have like a decently long list of d doing shit like that. So no, it's super hard.

a sense. But now because they're getting like the brands to attach to them, the money's bigger. There's a different notoriety. And yes, Caitlin is obviously an angel to like in this other stratosphere, which I'm sure Paige and you know, would you just have announce her Nike deal They're going to follow. But regardless, like all the athletes are now building actual brands, and I think that's giving them just

this like societal acceptance. That's much different because when a lot of us came into the WNBA, it was like a little bit of a drop off. The coverage was a drop off. This cool factor didn't really exist. You were cool in college, but something happened when you went to the WNBA. It's like, but I'm the same person. My game's the same, So yeah, there was just like something different. But now, and I do think this plays

a huge role. You've got these players building their platforms, building like who they are as players but also as businesses, and they're taking that with them into the pro game. And what's happening is all these people, all these fans, all these brands, decision makers are seeing that and now they can invest in them early and also follow them

into the pro leagues. And I really think that has been It's been so big for women's basketball because we are one of the few sports where the college platform is bigger or has been traditionally bigger than the pro platform. So this has really been needed to bridge that. And that's yeah, if I had to land somewhere, it's that bridging of the gap between college and the WNBA. It didn't exist for so many years, and now we're starting to see it and the business is big.

of mad at me. But the truth is the reason why twenty eighteen is my my favorite is because I was at a point in my career where I debated retirement. I don't really talk about this, but I debated retirement in twenty sixteen and seventeen. Like it was, it was, it was getting closer. I knew it was, it was on the horizon. And I had also in twenty sixteen

signed up for a rebuild. So I'm at a point where I don't know how much longer I'm going to play, and I'm also at a point where I have totally resigned myself to helping the next generation of Storm players carry on the legacy, and it's not about winning a championship anymore. I really had accepted that. I was okay with that, But then all of a sudden, twenty eighteen comes and yet we had Stewey, we had Jewel that was already in the works. AC is only getting better

and better. Right, I can go down the list. We add Natasha Howard, So a team that was kind of like we finished seventh eighty year before, we're kind of like, okay, now the sudden we plug her in and things just change. And now we finished first, right, Like we're probably picked to finish seventh or eight, who knows we finished. We're in the top of the standings. We're smelling championship, and I just people a lot of times will say like, oh, make sure you enjoy the moment, like live in the now.

That can be hard to do that year, especially in our playoff run. I was so present and so in the moment because I knew this was so unexpected and I was just so thankful for it. So then to actually win it. So that's why it's my favorite.

Because we know the Seattle Storm team is a team that's synonymous with winning when people think of Seattle basketball, Yes, you think of the SuperSonics, but no, it's the Seattle Storms town when it comes to basketball. So what have you been able to just kind of part to Jewel as she looks to, you know, continue that winning culture in Seattle.

try to be present in that way. But at the same time, like it was more so when I played with Jewel, you know, and I'm seeing her every day and you just try to like help somebody like you, like, I'm not gonna sit Jewel down and be like, yo, this is actually the way you should shoot your pull up or you know, this is Actually it was more just like mindset stuff, being a leader, like what it means to represent and carry a franchise right, not just

to championships, but like every day, and how to embody that and how to get other people like your teammates involved in that way and feel ownership within that. So it's more so conversations like that. And to be honest, in twenty twenty three, to see Jewel step in to this leadership role, to see her be more vocal, to see her, you know, again take ownership of the team,

that really made me proud. And again it's not I don't take any credit whatsoever, because like I said, we were just teammates having conversations here and there, But it really did make me proud to see her come out of her show in that way, to see her take on that role. You saw it again this year. This year obviously was a little bit different because now you've added Skyler Diggins and Echo Gumake, so it's obviously a little different. But it was really cool for me to

watch Jool come out of her shelf. So that's been fun.

of her career. But that was somebody that I look up to when I was a little kid, like fourteen fifteen. That was my c at B a moment. I obviously wanted to have a career just like her, you know, like won national championships in college, had success at the pro level ABLWNBA, but one Olympic gold medals, and that was like somebody I was like, oh my gosh, I could have a career like that. And then when I finally got to play against her. You know, sometimes some

people just have your number. She would just always block my shot. And I'm not like, you know, like I'm should pull up some threes. It's not like I'm in there doing any wild stuff. She had my pull up time, she would always block my shot. So I feel like

that experience clearly I held onto it. But that's also, to be honest, why I take pride when I look back on my career because I know there's going to be somebody that's like, oh, if I can win, you know, this amount of gold medals, if I can win this amount of WNBA championships, like that's kind of what I want to aspire to be.

elite point guards. I want to know, in your opinion, what makes New York Guards stand out from the rest of the world.

definitely why New York City guards are are elite. You kind of have to. It's like the city that you're playing in what felt like was always on the line. When I think back to my my high school days, even my AAU days, it was like there was always something on the line and you had to represent in a different way. And I think it gave all of us this mental toughness, like we knew we were representing something else, not just ourselves.

close in personal. I was sitting courtside, and immediately I was like, Oh, she's strong, she's fast as shit, and her handle was a lot tighter than I think you could understand watching on t But with all that said, it's still her range. The fact that you have to guard her that far out, the fact that you know she's efficient from that range. So it's not just the range it's the fact that she could shoot it off the dribble. This is what opens everything up for her.

This is what allows her to utilize her speed and get by you, because what happens then people have to come and then she can find you. There's also another aspect of her game, like in terms of IQ and her pick and roll reads. That's elite. But I still think the threat of that long range three, the logo three, if you want to call it that, it opens up and allows her to showcase all the other parts of her game.

how are you creating the angle? Like to me, like a Courtney vanderslute, she always creates angles like off the dribble. She finds ways I didn't really do it that way. I did it in other ways. So there's there's all different kind of ways to get this recipe going. I do think some of it is just a willingness and then using your experience as you go to like learn and read the defense. And then you have to have like an anticipation. That to me is like the biggest

the biggest key. When you watch players who as they're watching plays unfold, they can kind of it feels like they're almost predicting. They're really just anticipating based on experiences they've already had and they're able to tap into that. Some of that comes from watching a lot of film. Some of that is literally just going out there and doing it and learning from mistakes.

Then we went to single nation. Now we're back to three games with a two to one format, But obviously some teams don't get a home game, so there's there's still I feel like this playoff show that still needs to be worked out. Once expansion team comes in there, comes in there, we'll see, we'll see how that changes things. That's the only negative. Everything else has been amazing. I

think we're seeing excellent play. We're seeing in real time like adjustments from game to game, different teams doing different things. It becomes a chess match, which I love. Obviously, the viewership and tendance speaks for itself. And then, last but not least, we're having, you know, big time players show up and make big time plays or have big time games. I think Sabrina is an excellent example of that, you know,

especially having like a not so great game three. She responded, and like, that's what you want to see in the playoffs, right, you want to see what players are made of. That's why I love the playoffs. You really get to see. As a player, you got to know what you were made of as a fan. Now as a spectator, I get to see what all these what all these younger players are made of, and you really can only know in the playoffs, and it's really been fun for me.

I didn't have to deal with this. You're also playing for history, and sometimes that history, right like the winning history that is the University of Kannic, can can can be like a mental little bit of a mental hindrance. It can really get in your head, it can play with you. So for Paige, I would just try to, yeah, maybe have her continue to stay focused on this one year and emphasize that what happened before in Yukon history has nothing to do. Both good and bad has nothing

to do. And you get to write your own story. You get to write your own history, and just to kind of take advantage of that moment, but she knows, she knows this is nothing new.

go to my very first Gothup FC game. Whe everyone watches Women's Sports Night. It was super festive, celebrating, you know, the growth of women's sports. I was able to meet one of the co owners and also shout out is superb because she is also a co owner for Gotham FC. I think at the seventy minute mark of the match. Gotham FC just really turned it up. They scored four goals from the seventieth minim mark to the ninety and you know, I just have never been so excited for

a soccer match than attending that game. So it was really good vibes and I'm happy that they won. They clinched home field advantage for the playoffs. I would like to think that I'm a little bit of good luck, but shout out to them. Another thing that I loved this week was on Monday, I was able to attend a live recording of All the Smoke. Shout out to Matt Barnes and Stack, my big bros in this industry. They had Larry Johnson, former Knicks player, NBA legend as

a guest. It was good laughs, good vibes all around at grever Se. My friends and I went to the show and it was just great to see podcasting in like a different form. So I thoroughly enjoyed my night. And that's gonna do it for the things that I love this week. Also, of course, I'm gonna love the playoffs when the finals start tomorrow.