It was one of those nights where an extra marine layer of tension hung in the air as the Storm’s season, and Sue Bird’s career, hung in the balance. But eventually, that tension gave way to the melancholy that always attaches itself to a legendary player walking away from the game.
It took 40 minutes of intensity, brilliance and absurd stress, an epic back-and-forth struggle with the highest of stakes, before the outcome was determined. And for the Storm, who had the will but not the way, the ending came with stark finality.
The Storm on Tuesday were eliminated, 97-92, by the Las Vegas Aces, who took the best-of-five series in four games. But outside of the Aces locker room, perhaps, that will not be the bullet point, nor the lasting memory, when this game is recalled, as it is certain to be.
No, it will be known as the last time the great Sue Bird took the court. And it was the sight of her leaving the court for the final time that touched most poignantly at the heartstrings. Everyone knew this day was coming, but it still was jarring to think that after 21 years and a storehouse of memories, she would not play at this level again.
As a gracious Vegas coach Becky Hammon said afterward, “Sue had a career kids dream of, and she lived it. Her thumbprint on the game is forever etched … She’s a beautiful mind. Her jumper going left is killer, too, but her mind for the game is one of a kind, so you have so much respect for her.”
Bird, still emotional an hour later, said the end felt “surreal,” but she leaves with no regrets and no notions of changing her mind.
“No, I don’t have second thoughts,” she said. “Of course, my body feels good. And so that can be tricky. Or it can trick you But there’s a reason why I felt comfortable, and I felt confident in this being my last year. Being able to say that out loud was a big hurdle. And once I kind of jumped over that, I knew I did the right thing, because how I felt afterwards.
“Am I gonna miss basketball? Absolutely. There’s going to be nothing like this. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to replicate it. I’m not even going to try. But now I know I made the right decision.”
When the game ended, the Storm’s hopes of a miracle comeback having expired, Bird immediately consoled some of her teammates, then joined a Storm group huddle.
Afterward, she took a couple of steps toward the tunnel before turning around and joining the handshake line with Vegas as a thunderous chant of “Thank you, Sue” rung out from the 11,328 in attendance.
As the emotion of the moment began to hit her, Bird saluted the crowd, her eyes glistening. She put her hands together in a gesture of thanks and gratitude before walking off, the tears now flowing. She stopped for an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, and walked off into the tunnel with a wistful expression on her face.
“I wanted to kind of have one last moment to say thank you, to soak it all in,” Bird said of her final few minutes. “Because in some ways, it is a happy thing. I’m proud of everything we’ve accomplished here. And, of course, I’m sad, but there’s happiness, too, to be able to have a moment like that with the fans, to have them chant the way they did. I know the tears don’t look like happy tears, but there’s a lot of happiness.”
Have you ever bid someone a fond and emotional farewell at the airport, only to turn a corner and run smack dab into that person? Bird’s departure from Seattle has had that feel. Since a raucous, sellout crowd celebrated her Storm career in what could have been her final home game on Aug. 14 with a touching ceremony, the Storm have now played four more home games.
But this one was really, truly the last one — though for much of the night it appeared the Storm had a chance to extend Bird’s career at least one more game. As Hammon pointed out, the game featured an astonishing array of talent. Breanna Stewart tied Angel McCoughtry’s playoff record with 42 points. Jewell Loyd added 29. Bird had eight to go with eight assists. Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray became the first player in WNBA playoff history with at least 30 points (31) and 10 assists (10). A’Ja Wilson had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum each scored in double figures.
“They gave us a hell of a shot. Big shots. Big shots,’’ Hammon said. “Obviously, we have our own big shotmaker in Chelsea. Two titans going at it. It was going to be who was the last woman standing. Glad to be moving on — and out of this arena, for sure.
“It was a pretty gutsy effort by some amazing basketball players. They’re going to be named among the greatest the game has ever seen, and to see them on the court together, battling, I don’t know if we’ll ever see it again.”
Said Bird with a laugh, while assessing the changes in the league over her 21-year career: “Because of this individual talent, you’re seeing more free flow. I think, honestly, I would love to be 22 now. That would be amazing. I’m not a grind-it-out defensive player. Like, I was born in the wrong era. It’d be amazing to play now as a young pup.”
The agonizing ending on Sunday, when a sure Seattle victory was snatched away in the final eight-tenths of a second, could have gone two ways for the Storm: demoralizing or galvanizing them. It was the latter — Seattle came out with the intensity you’d expect in an elimination game, writ even larger by their desire to quickly quench any hangover affect.
Stewart, who felt that she hadn’t been aggressive enough early in Sunday’s game, came out with a vengeance. She was a dynamo in the first half, scoring more points — 26 — than any WNBA player ever had in the first half of a playoff game.
Seattle led 47-44 at intermission, but the game swung Las Vegas’ way in the third quarter as the Storm missed their first 10 shots and the Aces moved ahead by eight. Seattle fought back to take an 83-82 lead on a three-point play by Gabbie Williams with 2:40 left in the game, but they never led again. Every time the Storm was on the verge of regaining control, it seemed, one of Vegas’ players would drain a shot from Steph Curry range.
Bird finishes her career with four WNBA titles as the Storm was unable to get to the finals to give her a chance for a fifth — “to ride off on a white horse with a championship,” as Storm coach Noelle Quinn wistfully put it. The Storm lost three straight to the Aces after winning the opener — the first playoff series loss in Stewart’s career.
Storm reserve Briann January, who played seven minutes off the bench, is also retiring. But Bird’s resonance in the annals of WNBA history, and her impact on Seattle sports, made her the focal point of the game, just as she had been all season.
“It’s hard to win here on any night, not to mention under the circumstances,” Hammon said. “It feels like the girl who beat Serena (Williams) — bittersweet.”
With Bird, it is the sweetness that will live on long after the bitter disappointment has worn off.