WNBABy Stacey Mickles on

WNBA legend Sue Bird has announced that this will be her last season.

“I’ve decided this will be my final year,” Bird, 41, said on Twitter. “I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first.”

The 12-time All-Star and eight-time All-WNBA selection said she considered retiring last year but decided to sign up for one more season with the Seattle Storm.

Bird has spent her entire 21-year career with the Storm, who drafted her in the first round back in 2002 out of UConn.

“As the season has gone, like I said, I pretty much knew, and then once I saw the schedule, and then once I started packing for this trip a little bit, I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be my last time playing in New York. My last time playing in front of my family and friends.’ And so that’s why the timing of this is what it is,” said Bird.

“I just really felt strongly about announcing my retirement, saying it was my last year so I can share that with my family and my friends, all the people in New York who have watched me growing up so they can come and see me play for the last time in my home state. So I’m excited about that. It’s also bittersweet.”

Tributes poured in immediately for the WNBA legend.

{ESPN}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.

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