Jun. 16—MOHEGAN — Sue Bird had said, “you know when you know” while discussing Thursday’s decision to announce her plans to retire at the conclusion of the Seattle Storm’s 2022 WNBA season.
The question was still posed to Bird during a surprise press conference at Mohegan Sun Arena: How did the “you know” manifest itself given she’s still playing at a high level?
“It’s funny,” Bird explained. “Sometimes someone will be like, ‘oh, man, I can’t even tell you’re 41.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Did you watch me play when I was 31? So I can tell the difference. … I’m still able to perform but I don’t feel like I’m fully myself anymore. And so there’s parts of that where it’s sad to let that go or sad to know that that’s gone, but there’s also the realization that I’m 41. That’s okay, too.
“I feel like I’ve played as long as I can at a very high level.”
Bird excused herself to take a moment to compose herself as tears began to well in her eyes.
“Stop crying,” Bird told herself.
Bird doesn’t want a retirement tour but will surely get her laurels along the way, starting Friday when she and the Storm play the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena (7 p.m., NESN+, CBSSN).
“That retirement ceremony, I think that’ll be next year,” Bird said.
She then turned to Jeff Hoffman, the Storm’s senior manager of public relations, and added, “Jeff, I don’t plan on doing a retirement ceremony.”
Bird had an inkling that this season would be the end of one of the most successful careers in sports. The 18-year WNBA veteran became one of the faces of women’s basketball at a time where the sport wasn’t in the national spotlight as much as it is now.
She won two national championships at UConn before being…
Mohican Covered Bridge — 
The Mohicans treehouse — 
