Sue Bird Talks Asterisk, Olympics, and the Fallout From WNBA Twitter Beef
Written by SOURCE on June 18, 2021
Sue Bird is WNBA royalty and in the middle of her 18th season, with 11 All-Star nods and four titles on her resume, she is uniquely qualified like few other individuals to offer up an opinion on just about everything related to the league thatās celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Including some Twitter beef that may have caught your attention from earlier this week.
If you somehow missed it, the Libertyās Jazmine Jones and the Mercuryās Skylar Diggins-Smith jawed at each other on social media after an outlet posted a highlight of Diggins-Smith deking Didi Richards with her impressive handle despite the Liberty ultimately prevailing. Being the sage basketball observer that she is, the living legendāwho letās not forget also won two NCAA titles during her days at UConnāhopes sports fans donāt ignore the serious issues the controversy unearthed. Ā
āI think the other conversation thatās really happening in this Twitter war right now is that what you see in womenās sportsābecause we get such small coverage, thereās like percentages are out there, like 4 percent, 5 percent of media coverageāitās just a very small piece of the pie,ā says Bird. āBecause we only get one highlight a week people are going to be scrapping and clawing for it. The problem isnāt this one thing, itās that there needs to be more coverage for everybody, there needs to be more than one highlight per week on some of these channels.ā
Sheās right, of course, and there are even deeper issues the Twitter scuffle brought to light that Bird says should be properly addressed. But because sheās one of Complexās favorite basketball personalities to chat with, we peppered her with a bunch of questions during our phone conversation Wednesday. We tackled topics that included asterisks, this summerās Olympics where she could become just the second basketball player ever to win five gold medals, and her participation in the latest MoĆ«t & Chandon Greatness Under Pressure campaign that also features Carmelo Anthony and designer Don C.
(This interview has been edited and condensed.)
Speaking of greatness, youāve authored a few incredible performances during your career. Curious if you think that WNBA title you and the Storm won last season was the hardest and most rewarding championship in the leagueās 25-year history?
Yeah, a lot of people have talked about their being an asterisk during the 2020 season, but this was the hardest one. The reason why is because there was just obviously so much more going on and the season was representing something much bigger than basketball. But simultaneously we were still being asked to be professional athletes and play the game and play at a high level. Whatās interesting is you can really connect it to Greatness Under Pressure because there was just a lot on all of our plates. We were fighting for certain things from a social justice standpoint, advocating, we were being strategic, and being an activist in our world requires a lot of energyāemotional energy, a lot of time, and here we were dedicating our time to that, but also dedicating our time to the basketball part of it and finding ways to continue to be great under that pressure, because it did exist. So for me and our team, we happened to be the team standing at the end, but I happen to believe that every single person in that was in that bubble came out on top because we accomplished so much off the court.
You bring up the whole asterisk thing and thatās kind of theme for some NBA fans these days. As a competitor,Ā how do you feel about fans or observers wanting to attach an asterisk to every single champion in the history of basketball?
Everybody wants to put an asterisk on everything. And the truth is thatās a part of sports. The news just came out about Chris Paul and sadly the world we live in with COVID right now thatās a part of sports. There are things out of your control. And they happen every year. So what makes any year different from the next when these types of moments take place? Iāve been fortunate enough to win four times and thereās a little bit of luck that goes into winning a championship. And Iāve also been on the unlucky side of it where thereās been years our best player got injured and couldnāt play in the playoffs. Thatās what it is.
In the WNBA doc, thereās that scene where Megan Rapinoe, who entered the bubble toward the end, told you about the special sense of community she observed while down there. How much of that carried over into this season?
As a league weāve really figured out who we are. Weāve established who we are, what we stand for, what our values are, and I think the bubble just put that on another level and it really set a standard for how we want to move in this world, like I said what we want to stand for, and that community gives you confidence. I think Iām going to go out on a limb a little bit here, but not reallyāI think women do a really good job of leaning on each other in those moments and we understood weāre a community. We understood that our voice was going to be louder as 144. It wasnāt going to be one person on one social media channel doing one thing. It wasnāt going to be that. We knew we had to be together, locked in, and together as I said 144 of us. That was going to be where our big microphone was going to live. We learned from that and moving forward weāll always move as one.
Now I need you to pick a side. Where do you fall on the Jazmine Jones/Skylar Diggins-Smith Twitter squabble?
[Laughs.] Let me start by saying this, truthfully you could probably go back and forth on the sides. In the end, what Skylar was talking about is a real issue, a real point to make so Iām probably on Skylarās side with that. The overarching argument here is two things. 1. Obviously, what Skylar said in terms of which players are being marketed the most, is that based on skin color, that kind of a vibe, thatās a conversation that needs to be had. I think the other conversation thatās really happening in this Twitter war right now is that what you see in womenās sportsābecause we get such small coverage, thereās like percentages are out there, like 4 percent, 5 percent of media coverageāitās just a very small piece of the pie. Shout out to Bleacher Report for putting a highlight on their channel, but because we only get one highlight a week people are going to be scrapping and clawing for it. The problem isnāt this one thing, itās that there needs to be more coverage for everybody, there needs to be more than one highlight per week on some of these channels. Then you would see the Skylar highlight, which was legit. That deserved to be played. Then you would also see Betnijah Laney balling out and winning the game. And then you would see other players. So thatās really to me what this argument also brings up that in the larger scale we need more coverage, more highlights. Not just one opportunity so everybody has to scratch and claw for it.
Wanted to talk about the Olympics because theyāre coming up. I know the team hasnāt been selected, but youāre widely expected to be on it. I think that would be a no-brainer. Have you allowed yourself to think about what the emotional ride will be like if this is your last run at a gold medal?
No, I havenāt at all. I just donāt operate well like that [laughs]. I get real nostalgic and kind of take it as it comes. Listen, if they call me up and tell me Iāve made the team of course Iām going to be super excited about that. Itāll mean a lotāfor me growing up there was no WNBA so the Olympics was always the end all, be all, the ultimate goal. So to have a chance to do it for a fifth time is incredible. To represent your country is incredible. To go into other countries is incredible. However it shakes out, Iām excited about it.
Letās talk about the campaign youāre appearing in for MoĆ«t & Chandon. I gotta say, you looked pretty fly dribbling in a silk suit for it.
Listen, dribbling in a silk suit, it just flows, it just works. I had a lot of space in there, it was working with me, I loved it. Itās been great being involved in this campaign. Itās one of those partnerships that makes sense. Whenever you can have a partnership make sense, obviously with MoĆ«t and NBA, including myself, MoĆ«tās really been there for a lot of huge moments, for my career, for a lot of athletesā careers, and the things this company represents and wants to put forth is really what all of the people are about, right. What it is is you see the success at the end, you see the rings, you see the championship, but itās all about what it takes to get there and thatās the whole Greatness Under Pressure aspect of it. It was a lot of fun to be a part of, I had a lot of fun in my silk suit, and it came out super dope and Iām super excited to be a part of it.
You just touched on it, but Iāll ask you to go a little deeper. What does Greatness Under Pressure mean to you?
When it comes to what you see at the end, like I said, which is the rings and the championship, itās really about the journey and the little things that it takes to get to those moments. Because Greatness Under Pressure for me, those pressure moments arenāt about that moment itself. Itās about all the work you did to get to that point where you donāt even notice the pressure. Or if you do, youāre comfortable in it because youāve already put the work in. And thatās not specific to athletes. I think that can go for really anybody in any walk of life, whatever it is youāre doing. I think people can relate to having to put in the work over time in order to get to that pressure moment and seeing the greatness come through.
