Sue Bird

In the 1900's, Bird's paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from what is now Ukraine.

Upon her grandfather's arrival at Ellis Island in New York, their original last name was switched from "Boorda" to "Bird".

To avoid European rules which state European basketball teams can only have two Americans, Bird obtained her Israeli citizenship, on account of her Jewish father and paternal grandparents.

However, she represents her birth country, the United States, in international competitions.

Bird was interested in sports from an early age, which was partly influenced by her athletic older sister.

Besides basketball, she played soccer and tennis and ran track.

Bird's fifth grade yearbook lists her potential future careers as lawyer, doctor, and professional soccer player.

Bird started playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball in the sixth grade.

While only 11 years old, she played during halftime of a St. John's basketball game; her play was so impressive that a security guard asked for her autograph.

Bird played her freshman and sophomore years at Syosset High School, but wanted more competition.

She therefore enrolled at Christ the King Regional High School in Queens, New York.

Bird spent two seasons at Christ the King, and the Royals went 24–3 her junior year.

In the second season her team finished undefeated and won the New York state championship, and the national title.

Bird won many awards, including the New York State Player of the Year, and the New York Daily News Player of the Year.

Bird was named a WBCA All-American.

She participated in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game, where she scored 11 points.

Bird was recruited by a number of teams including Stanford and Vanderbilt.

She considered UConn the favorite, but she began to waver when Keirsten Walters and Brianne Stepherson, both point guards, announced commitments to UConn.

She worried that there might not be room for her to play.

However, when Stepherson changed her mind and committed to Boston College, Bird committed to UConn.

In addition to increased opportunity, UConn was close to home and "felt right" to her.

Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Bird was drafted by the Storm first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history.

As of 2021, Bird is the only WNBA player to win titles in three different decades.

She held a front office position for the NBA's Denver Nuggets as their Basketball Operations Associate.

She has also played for three teams in Russia, and also has dual citizenship with both U.S. and Israel.

In high school, she was the New York State Player of the Year, the New York Daily News Player of the Year, and a WBCA All-American.

In her senior year on the undefeated University of Connecticut team in 2002, she won the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Award as College Player of the Year.

She finished her UConn career ranked first in three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, second in assists and steals, and as a three-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation, while leading her team to a record of 114–4.

Bird has won a joint-record four WNBA championships with the Storm (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020), a historic five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020), two NCAA Championships with UConn (2000, 2002); and four FIBA World Cups (2002, 2010, 2014, 2018).

She is one of only 11 women to attain all four accolades.

She is also a five-time EuroLeague Women champion (2007-2010, 2013).

During her WNBA career, she has been selected to thirteen WNBA All-Star teams and eight All-WNBA teams.

Additionally, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time in 2011, was voted into the WNBA Top 20@20 as one of the league's top 20 players of all time in 2016, and was voted into The W25 as one of the league's top 25 players of all time in 2021.

Her fifth Olympic gold medal, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, makes her one of only two Olympic basketball players—of either gender—ever to win five gold medals, with the other player being her US Olympic teammate Diana Taurasi.

Bird publicly confirmed on June 16, 2022 that she would retire from playing professional basketball after the 2022 WNBA season.

Her season ended on September 7, 2022 with the Storm's playoff loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

Bird was born in Syosset, New York, on Long Island to Herschel and Nancy Bird.

She has one sibling, an older sister named Jen.

Her father's ancestry is Russian-Jewish.