Sue Bird
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Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980 in Syosset, New York) is a professional women's basketball player, the first player to be first picked in the 2002 WNBA draft. She currently plays for the Seattle Storm in the WNBA.
University of Connecticut
Bird (not related to NBA legend Larry Bird) gained renown while playing as the starting point guard for the women's basketball team at the University of Connecticut from 1998 to 2002, where she led them to the 2000 and 2002 NCAA titles. While playing for the Huskies, Bird was feared most as a three point shooter, and also at the free throw line, where she averaged over 90% of her free throws in her sophomore and senior seasons. At the conclusion of her college career, she was named the Naismith Award winner and College Player of the Year in 2002.
WNBA
Bird was named the first pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft to the Seattle Storm and was also the first point guard to be picked first in the league's history. In her rookie season, she led the Storm to their first playoff appearance, and was also named a starter to the WNBA Western Conference All-Star team, and was a member of the All-WNBA First team at the conclusion of the 2002 season. She was second in the team in scoring (14.4 ppg), led in assists (6 apg), steals (1.6 spg), and in three point shots (57).
In the 2003 season, Bird suffered a minor knee injury that kept her nagging the entire season, but however, she still led the team in assists (6.5), steals (1.4), and three point shots (49). She was once again named as a starter to the All-Star Team, and was named to the All-WNBA First Team for the second time. The Seattle Storm, however, was not in the playoffs.
The Storm had a strong 2004 season that lead them to the playoffs. In the 2004 WNBA playoffs, Sue Bird averaged 8.5 points and 5.3 assists and overcame a broken nose in the conference finals series to help the Storm win their first ever WNBA Championship.
International career
In the 2003-2004 offseason, Bird was named to the United States 2004 Women's Olympic Basketball Team's core roster. She was the youngest player on the core roster of nine players.
In the 2004-2005 WNBA off-season, she played in Russia with Storm teammate Kamila Vodichkova. Bird's family on her father's side had originally immigrated from Russia. [1] (http://www.wnba.com/features/bird_russia_4.html)