Thirteen-time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird is one of the best to ever do it on the basketball court. This is exactly why it is worth noting that the 44-year-old has acknowledged the similarities between her career and that of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.
In a recent episode of her “A Touch More” podcast with her fiancée Megan Rapinoe, Bird pointed out the unexpected and rather surprising parallelism between herself and Clark early on in Bird’s career in the WNBA.
“It happened to me,” Bird started as she compared how both Clark and Angel Reese saw their coaches get fired after their respective rookie year — just like Bird had experienced many years ago, via Women’s Fastbreak. “In 2002, my rookie year, not that different from both Angel and Caitlin. A little more similar to Caitlin because we made the playoffs.
“So we were a team that had young talent, a lot of expectations because of… back-to-back No. 1 picks [in the WNBA Draft].”
13-Time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird
Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports
The same is the case for the Fever, who drafted Clark as the top pick in 2024 after selecting Aliyah Boston in the same spot one year prior.
“The season totally was up and down,” Bird continued. “Made the playoffs, lost in the first round to the eventual champion… and a month, maybe less, later, I get a call saying our coach has resigned. What’s interesting about that moment is that our head coach was Lin Dunn, who’s now with the Indiana Fever.”
Clark and Co. were also eliminated in the first round of this past season’s playoffs at the hands of the Connecticut Sun.
Bird then went on to talk about how the Seattle Storm eventually ended up hiring Anne Donovan, who would lead them to a championship within two years of her appointment as head coach.
Bird won three more WNBA championships in her career, and it will be very interesting to see if Clark is able to follow the same career trajectory as the future Hall of Famer.
