Damn. Sue Bird finally said the words we’ve all been trying to stop her from saying for the last few years. It doesn’t seem like any amount of “One More Year!” chants can stop this inevitability (though, we should still try). The WNBA’s all-time assist leader will retire at the end of the season.

She could hardly keep composed at the end of a video shared by the Storm.

Bird said she’d known for most of the season that this would be it, but felt it for sure packing for Seattle’s road trip to Connecticut, where she starred for the UConn Huskies and New York, where she grew up.

There will never be another Sue Bird

Here we are in her 19th season (with an additional two missed to injury), at age 41, talking about starting point guard Sue Bird and the Seattle Storm in the mix for a championship. Few get to play nearly as long as she has, and fewer have the accolades she’s stacked.

Bird will retire with at least four championships won in three different decades, at least 12 All-Star nods, five All-W First Team honors, five EuroLeague championships, two NCAA championships, and a legendary clear mask-wearing alter-ego.

Don’t miss your chance to follow Bird’s final run

The Storm have struggled a bit out of the gate, but a wave of Covid-19-related absences could explain it. The team is still 9-5 with the fourth-best record in the league.

With co-stars Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd on board, new additions Briann January and Gabby Williams holding down the defensive end, and the emergence of Ezi Magbegor, Seattle is still here to play. They were champs just two years ago. 

With Bird giving us the heads up, please do not miss every chance you have to watch one of basketball’s greatest. There won’t be another Sue.