Sue Bird To Receive Statue Outside Of Climate Pledge Arena
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The question has existed dating back to when her illustrious playing career came to a close, and has only been heightened with developments over the past year or two such as having a street renamed after her and her upcoming induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. No longer will the question of “When will Sue bird get a statue?” be asked, as we now know that it’s happening later this year, where the monument will stand next to that of legendary Seattle SuperSonics player and coach Lenny Wilkens. Sue Bird will be honored with a statue on August 17th, standing on the Western plaza of Climate Pledge Arena next to Wilkens’ statue, unveiled this past Saturday. The accolades fittingly continue to roll in for the point guard that has an accomplishments list that seems to run on and on without end, from her jersey being retired by the franchise, to the street renaming, her induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September, and now another immortal dedication to her efforts on the basketball court coming in just a few months.
Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird during her street renaming ceremony on August 26th, 2024 just outside of Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo for Circling Seattle Sports)
Bird’s bronze statue is being sculpted by renowned Chicago-based artist Julie Amrany, who has sculpted Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and A’ja Wilson. The statue will honor one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball, as the Syosset, New York native captured the hearts of those in the Pacific Northwest and made the city of Seattle an adoptive hometown. A little under a month after her statue unveiling, Bird will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on the weekend of September 5th through 6th.
It’s difficult to truly lay out everything that Bird accomplished during her playing career, but we’ll try to summarize it all in this paragraph. Sue won two national championships and the national player of the year award at UCONN, and her remarkable play at that level led to the Storm selecting her with the number one overall choice in the 2002 draft. Bird spent all 21-years of her professional career with the Seattle franchise, playing in 19 of those seasons as she missed two years due to injuries, becoming arguably the greatest athlete in Seattle sports history. Sue won four WNBA titles, was named an All-Star 13 times, named to All-WNBA teams eight times, and sits atop the career assists list and games played list. She ranks third in steals and eighth in scoring, boasting a 34-26 playoff record where she especially seemed to thrive. On top of her career in the WNBA, Bird was a legend for the US national team as she captured five Olympic Gold Medals and four FIBA World Cup Championships. Lastly, Bird participated in the EuroLeague where she won five EuroLeague Women Championships with teams in Russia.
Sue has kept busy since retirement back in 2022, joining the Storm’s ownership group last year as a minority investor while more recently being named as USA Basketball’s first managing director for the women’s team. Bird of course is busy with non-basketball things as well, keeping busy with a new podcast and overseeing a media company.
Sue Bird will join a small list of athletes with statues dedicated to them outside of Seattle professional sports venues, as Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez are immortalized in bronze outside of T-Mobile Park while Lenny Wilkens very recently was given the honor of a statue outside of Climate Pledge Arena. One can certainly wonder when teams like the Seahawks, Sounders, Reign will immortalize some of their legends in respective franchise history, but those who currently have or will have the honor are certainly totally deserving. Names like Steve Largent, Walter Jones, and perhaps the Legion of Boom are those that come to mind for the Seahawks. Nicolás Lodeiro, Stefan Frei, and Osvaldo Alonso are prime candidates for the Sounders. One has to wonder when Megan Rapinoe is honored beyond just her jersey retirement by the Reign.
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