A Conversation With Sue Bird

TigerBlog has shared with you the long walks that his colleagues Warren Croxton and Andrew Borders went on during the Ivy Step Challenge.

Today, he'll mention another Office of Athletic Communications member, Elliott Carr, who among other things is originally from Australia. Also, he's about 6-6, so one of his steps would cover more than Warren's or Andrew's.

The Thursday OAC call yesterday was pushed back from its originally scheduled morning time until 1:15, because other Zoom calls forced some rearranging. And so it was at 1:17 or so that Elliott mentioned that when he was 12, he saw Sue Bird and the U.S. women's national basketball team play against the Australian team.

The Americans won, though Elliott said it was a pretty close game.

The Australian women, by the way, have won three Olympic silver medals and two Olympic bronze medals, and they've medaled at five of the last six Olympiads. They've never won the gold, but the Americans have - a lot of times.

Women's basketball didn't become an Olympic sport until 1976, and the U.S. has won eight gold medals in the 11 times the sport has been contested. The Soviet Union won the first two, in 1976 and 1980, and the U.S. have won eight of nine since.

The only time the U.S. hasn't won in that time was in 1992 in Barcelona, where the Unified Team won. That team was comprised of 12 of the 15 former republics that had made up the USSR and now are independent countries. 

For each of the last four Olympiads, Sue Bird has been on the winning US team. Before that, she won two NCAA championships at UConn, where the team went 114-4 during her four seasons. She's also mixed in three WNBA championships, which gives her the whopping total of nine major championships.

In fact, that number grows considerably when you add in her five Russian national league and five EuroLeague titles. 

And none of that takes into account her individual resume, which includes things like being an 11-time WNBA all-star, a five-time first-team All-WNBA selection, a Honda Sports Award and a Naismith Award, as well as being the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in 2002.

She is clearly one of the absolute greatest women's basketball players of all time.

Her playing career is winding down now, and she will turn 40 in October. How would she have reacted on the OAC call when Elliott mentioned that he'd seen her play when he was 12?

Judging by how she came across earlier in the day, when she was the guest on a conversation hosted by Princeton basketball coaches Carla Berube (herself a UConn grad, though before Bird arrived) and Mitch Henderson, she would have laughed.

Bird spoke and answered questions about all sorts of subjects, ranging from social justice and sexuality to her basketball career. If TigerBlog had to pick one word to describe how she came across, it would be this: "Likeable."

Okay, he'll pick two. "Likeable," and "genuine."

She talked about the advice she would give her younger self (it was either Abby Meyers or Carlie Littlefield, two current Princeton women's players, who asked the question), and she said she would take better care of herself physically, including things like nutrition, hydration and sleep, which had to make Jason Gallucci, the head of the Princeton Tiger Performance program smile.

She also talked about having to be true to yourself in all areas, how team sports have no room for phoniness. 

Mitch, by the way, did a series of podcasts a few years ago that were really impressive. He would be a great sports talk host on TV or radio when his coaching career ends. 

The event with Sue Bird was one of several that Mitch has had so far, including one earlier with Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. There will be others to come.

It was really good to hear Sue Bird speak. And it was nice to see her be so likeable and genuine. 

Of course, there's certainly not enough of that these days. 

To see it in someone so accomplished makes it even better.