Sue Bird on why NCAA fans don’t always follow the WNBA : NPR

Women’s college basketball is hot, says now-retired WBNA player Sue Bird (shown here in 2022). “If you liked us in college, why didn’t you follow us to the WNBA? That’s probably one of the most interesting questions and maybe the hardest to answer.”

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Women’s college basketball is hot, says now-retired WBNA player Sue Bird (shown here in 2022). “If you liked us in college, why didn’t you follow us to the WNBA? That’s probably one of the most interesting questions and maybe the hardest to answer.”

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Basketball star Sue Bird remembers winning the NCAA tournament in 2000 and again in 2002 while playing for the University of Connecticut. At the time, she said, her college games were “the hottest tickets” in the state. But when she joined the WNBA, the crowds dwindled.

“Society loves to provide opportunities, promote and support young girls and young women,” Bird says. “But when they become women, they feel a little less supported.”

Bird notes that WNBA players represent “every marginalized group that exists today.”

“We’re black, we’re women, we’re gay,” she says. “And those are the groups that are being held back in our society. And so I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the WNBA has been held back in that way.”

Bird holds the record for most career assists in the WNBA, with 3,234 during her 19-season professional career. She also won four WNBA championships and five Olympic gold medals. The new documentary Sue Bird: In the coverdetails his final season in the WNBA in 2022.

Since retiring from the league, Bird has become an activist fighting for LGBTQ rights and gender equality in women’s sports. She spoke about the wage gap that exists in her sport, noting that while NBA stars can earn more than $40 million a year, WNBA players max out at about $250,000.

“I’ve always said that when we see WNBA players signing million-dollar contracts, I’ll be proud of that moment,” she says. (During her career, Bird supplemented her WNBA salary by playing overseas in Russia.)

Bird credits college basketball stars like Caitlin Clark with bringing new fans to women’s soccer — and increasing the WNBA’s “cool factor.”

“Would I wish I was 22 and playing? Absolutely. I mean, what a time to be playing women’s basketball!” she says. “Of course I’m sad I can’t do that. But I know at 43 I couldn’t, so I’m cool.”

Interview Highlights

On the gap between the popularity of women’s college basketball and that of the WNBA

Women’s college basketball is a huge entity. The NCAA is a huge entity. So when you go to college, and especially a college like the University of Connecticut, where we have packed houses every night, we’re the hottest ticket in the state of Connecticut. There are no other professional teams in this region. So we got a ton of media coverage. And so, at the time, in 2002, when I came to the WNBA, it’s a league that is… still new. It going. And his coverage has certainly had its ups and downs. I think when I came into the league it was about to go downhill and then it definitely plateaued. So it was different. It wasn’t the same platform as college basketball. … The level of play and product was great and much higher (in the WNBA), but it was lacking in every way in terms of media coverage and investment. So it was confusing.

Playing leader

A lot of it was making sure that our team was always on the same page, that we always understood what we were trying to accomplish. To be a little more specific, it’s as specific as what play we run, when we run it, why we run it, what we look for both offensively (and) defensively. I think it became my identity, especially later in my career. But it probably took 20 years to really perfect it. It has always been part of me. Even when I look back on my childhood, I always wanted to leave my mark on the game in this way.

A big part of playing team sports is understanding your teammates, understanding what motivates them, understanding who you can be a little tougher on, who maybe needs a pat on the back. Sometimes it can change from one day to the next. And then at the same time, you are also someone on the team. So you’re going to have your own emotions, your own mood swings.

Stay calm under pressure

Athletes, we are all a little crazy. …We are literally primed to control our emotions in these really hyper-emotional moments. So you prepare yourself, you try to put yourself in these kinds of situations. Your coaches try to put your team in these kinds of situations so you can feel it. Nothing feels like a real game. … I would say that with every big shot I made in those split-second moments, I feel very calm. I don’t have a lot of chatter in my head. I can just feel the game.

On how her leadership skills translate to her personal life off the field

I think athletes are heavily rewarded for characteristics or abilities that don’t always serve them when they take off their uniform. …Whether it’s in an intimate relationship, friendships with your family, it doesn’t always serve you in certain things. So keeping my emotions in check isn’t necessarily the key to success and some of my relationships. So it’s definitely something I’ve been working on, to be honest.

Megan Rapinoe, left, and Sue Bird on October 6, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

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As for whether she’s competing with her fiancée, the USWNT soccer star Megan Rapinoe

We don’t feel any competitiveness within our relationship or with each other. But what appears is that I’m not that different from who I was on the field as a leader. …A lot of times I’ve had to put the needs of others before my own, haven’t I? For the good of the team, for the common goal. … If there were five of me on a basketball court, it would be a terrible team. Because you need different personalities. It takes different types of players to make a good team.

Megan is the type where her game contains a little more selfishness. She’s a great passer, but she looks for those moments. She is looking for them. And so how does this sometimes manifest in our relationship? It could take up a little more space. I might be willing to give up that space. So it’s up to both of us, me first and foremost, to take space in our relationship, and up to Megan to see when that happens, and vice versa. So that’s kind of one of the ways that it’s impacted our relationship, but we’re aware of it now. Bravo to couples therapy. And that made the relationship even more fun to be around.

On How Rapinoe Convinced Her To Come Out Publicly

I thought I was missing. I told all my friends, all my family. All my teammates knew it. My agents knew it, the Seattle Storm organization knew it. Everyone working in the WNBA knew it. It wasn’t something I was hiding. Why did I have to say that to a reporter to more or less get me out? We started dating in the fall of 2016 and had a lot of conversations. And again, I was making my point, and I was even telling him, “I’m going out, we’re going out to dinner, we’re kissing in public, we’re holding hands.” How do I not go out? There’s nothing I can do. hide.” And Megan’s point, which I definitely agreed with, is that as long as there are people – children, adults, whatever – who are being murdered and bullied and everything else under the sun because they’re gay, people like us have to come out. Public figures have to come out because that’s how you change the narrative. That’s how you change the perception. It’s basically how you change culture and society.

On his six knee surgeries and his decision to retire

I think a big part of my story has to do with my left knee. I had all six surgeries on one knee. Name it literally, and I got it. …So the story of my career is really a story of taking care of this knee. … By the time I retired, I was 41 and the reality is you’re trying to keep up with 21-year-olds. You must therefore have a certain physical shape. And so I could have continued playing. In fact, I know I could have played for a few more years. …But knowing that it was really the amount of focus and work and diligence that it took to stay at a certain level that I just didn’t want to do anymore. I was just kind of done with it. Being so disciplined all the time, day after day, month after month, year after year, finally caught up to where I no longer wanted to do it. And that’s really part of the reason I retired.

Heidi Saman and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.