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“No player, no team, no city deserves this more than you” – Diana Taurasi on Sue Bird becoming the first WNBA player with a statue originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Former Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird made history when she became the first player in WNBA history to have a statue put up in her honor. The “stat-sue”,” which is located just outside the Storm’s home court, Climate Pledge Arena, was unveiled on Sunday before the start of the team’s game against the Phoenix Mercury.
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Curiously, a former Mercury player, Diana Taurasi, a good friend of Sue, was the first to congratulate her on the historic honor. Taurasi recorded a video, which the Storm posted on their social media account.
“Sue, congratulations! No player, no team, no city deserves this more than you,” Taurasi said. “You brought championships, joy, you changed the game. We love you, and I can’t wait to see this statue.”
The tale of two GOATs
Taurasi and Bird are two of the greatest women’s basketball players ever and are in the women’s GOAT conversation. Although they were never teammates in the WNBA and played against each other in a record 46 regular-season games, they were teammates at UConn in college and won a national title together.
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Both also played together for Dynamo Moscow and UMMC Ekaterinburg in the Russian League during the WNBA offseasons and won multiple championships together.
But perhaps more than those, Diana and Sue led the U.S. women’s basketball team to five consecutive Olympic gold medals from 2004 to 2020 and three straight FIBA world titles from 2010 to 2018. They also participated in the WNBA’s 15th, 20th, and 25th anniversary teams.
“Those memories, they stay close to my heart, whether we played against each other, with each other. It’s been an incredible ride, and you know, in any profession when you get to do something with your best friend for 20 years, life’s good,” said Taurasi in 2022 after Bird’s retirement.
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Related: “He went to go to shoot and I blocked his shot” — Muggsy Bogues recalled being chased by Manute Bol after he blocked his shot in practice
Bird played all of her 19 seasons for the Storm
As the Mercury legend said, no one deserved to have a statue more than Sue. Bird was the Storm’s No.1 overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft, and she played all of her 19 seasons with them. She helped them win four championships in three different decades and represented the team in 13 WNBA All-Star games. She was also named to the All-WNBA first team five times and the second team thrice.
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“People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first,” Bird said in a speech during her statue’s unveiling. “The truth is that I never set out to be the first at anything, but if being the first means I won’t be the last, if this statue means that 20 years from now there will be statues of other WNBA greats — some who are in the audience and players whose names you don’t even know yet — than I’m proud to be the first.”
The WNBA lauded the Storm for being the first team to give a female player a statue. Hopefully, the Mercury are next because there is also no question that Taurasi deserves one outside their arena.
Related: “It was my team for 20 years” – Diana Taurasi on making the 2024 Olympic Team over Caitlin Clark
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
