Sports
‘Proud and honored’ Bird sees Storm unveil statue
SEATTLE — In a ceremony before the Seattle Storm hosted the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, legendary former guard Sue Bird became the first WNBA player honored by her franchise with a statue outside of Climate Pledge Arena.
“People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first,” Bird said during her speech. “The truth is that I never set out to be the first at anything, but if being the first means I won’t be the last, if this statue means that 20 years from now there will be statues of other WNBA greats — some who are in the audience and players whose names you don’t even know yet — than I’m proud to be the first.”
Few players if any in league history have done more to merit recognition than Bird, who spent her entire two-decade WNBA career with the Storm, playing the bulk of it at KeyArena before the building was rebuilt and reopened as Climate Pledge Arena for Bird’s final campaign in 2022.
Over that span, Bird led Seattle to four WNBA championships, tying the most by any franchise. She also retired as the league’s all-time leader in games and minutes played as well as assists, making a record 13 All-Star appearances. Yet as other speakers (including three-time MVP and longtime teammate Lauren Jackson) highlighted, Bird’s career can’t be reduced to stats or titles alone.
“We can have that basketball conversation,” said Hall of Famer Swin Cash, who teamed with Bird both to win two national titles at UConn and the 2010 championship with Seattle. “Greatness changes the game. Greatness evolves. Greatness stays and has longevity. And that’s what Sue has.”
Certainly, nothing has longevity like a statue. And that’s why for all the honors Bird has received since her career concluded, including the Storm retiring her No. 10 jersey in 2023 and the street outside Climate Pledge being renamed “Sue Bird Court” last summer — with induction in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame set for later this year — Bird said this moment stands apart.
“I don’t know if ‘honor’ even really covers it,” she told reporters, “because it’s a bronze statue that will be there forever. It feels different when you think of it that way.”
The statue, created by Roblatt Amrany Studio sculptor Julie Rotblatt-Amrany, features Bird making a layup in a pose similar to the silhouette that appears on the Climate Pledge court. After considering the options of featuring a pass or one of her trademark pull-up jumpers, Bird found symbolism in the layup.
“Some fun little fact about my career that maybe some of you know, maybe not,” Bird said. “My very first points in the WNBA at KeyArena as a rookie were on a layup. My very final points in the WNBA were at Climate Pledge on a layup.”
Bird helped oversee details of the statue, which depicts her wearing Nike Air Zoom Huarache sneakers. Bird wore those shoes while winning her first Olympic gold medal and the Storm’s first championship, both in 2004.
“The process was interesting and really fun,” she said. “It was so incredible, every time I went to the studio to walk in — it’s weird to see yourself in clay form — but it was like every little tweak, it just became more and more me until finally I was underneath it and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s my nose. Oh, that’s definitely my hair.'”
In Bird’s memory, talk of a statue began in earnest after the Storm’s third championship in 2018, before increasing in volume when Climate Pledge opened ahead of her final season. After retirement, Bird began to believe it would become reality.
Other WNBA players, most notably A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, have been immortalized with statues at their college homes. Bird is the first outside a WNBA arena, as well as the first female athlete in the city of Seattle.
The Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball have statues of Hall of Famers Ken Griffey, Jr. and Edgar Martinez and recently announced plans to add a third statue for Ichiro after his recent induction. And Bird joins longtime Seattle SuperSonics player, coach and executive Lenny Wilkens, whose nearby statue outside Climate Pledge was revealed in June.
“There’s just not a lot of women that are honored in this way, and we have tons of men,” Bird said. “I’m actually really proud and honored, especially in the city of Seattle, to be with those other male athletes. Those are elite, elite athletes and I’m really proud to be in the same breath as some of the greats that have come through here, but even more proud to be the first WNBA player.”
To conclude her speech, Bird pointed out that she never would have imagined this honor when she arrived in Seattle as the No. 1 pick in the 2002 WNBA draft at age 21.
“I came to Seattle as Sue Bird the basketball player while leaving as Sue Bird the Seattleite,” she said. “This statue will make sure a piece of me stays in this city forever, just like this city will always be a part of me. And when you inevitably see a little bird poop on the shoulder, don’t worry about it. Just consider it family checking in and reminding me where home is.”
Star LAFC recruit Son Heung-Min is settling into life in Los Angeles brilliantly.
After netting his debut goal for the club last Saturday — a stunning 30-yard free kick against FC Dallas no less — the South Korea captain capped a fine week by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
Ahead of the Dodgers hosting Cincinnati Reds, the former Premier League star stepped up to the plate and launched a finely arced right-handed strike, much to the delight of the fans at the stadium.
Son’s pitch comes just days after BTS star V also threw the ceremonial first pitch in LA. We’ll leave it up to you to decide which Korean superstars’ throw was best.
Sports
Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’
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Travis Kelce has spoken out about the ongoing controversy over Shedeur Sanders‘ role with the Cleveland Browns.
During his “New Heights” podcast this week, the Kansas City Chiefs star said he believes the Browns should start Sanders, who is third on the team’s depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.Â
Travis Kelce spoke about Shedeur Sanders’ role with the Browns on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which aired before the official start of the NFL season. (Imagn)
“Give the people what they want, in terms of the Browns fans. Start Shedeur. … Put him in coach,” Kelce said. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there, and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him. This isn’t anything against Dillon. This isn’t anything against Joe. I’m just saying the excitement is there for [Sanders] to go out there. He’s going to put eyes on the screen. He’s going to bring people to the game.Â
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“I would love to f—ing see it, man.”Â
On the contrary, Kelce’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, defended the team naming Joe Flacco as the starter.Â
“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski and the Browns are trying to do the thing that they feel gives them the best chance to win football games,” Jason said. “If the Browns and Kevin Stefanski felt their best option and the most confident option they had to win games was Shedeur Sanders, they would be playing him.”Â
Still, Jason conceded that he “wants” to see Sanders play.Â
“What do I want? I want to see Shedeur Sanders,” Jason said.Â
Jason also rejected the “conspiracies” surrounding the situation as to why Sanders is as low on the depth chart as he is.Â
Criticism and conspiracy theories directed at the Browns reemerged after the team’s preseason finale on Saturday.Â
Sanders entered the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. He netted minus-27 yards for Cleveland before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley.Â
Huntley led the Browns’ offense on a game-winning field goal drive, and the Browns won 19-17.
It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley.Â
However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates while also calling questionable plays.Â
EX-NBA PLAYER MAKES SHEDEUR SANDERS-LEBRON JAMES COMPARISON AFTER QB’S PRESEASON DEBUT
Jason Kelce on the ESPN postseason countdown set during the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium Feb. 2, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive.Â
“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2-minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X.Â
Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback.Â
“They sabotaged it. They rigged it against him today, putting him in with third- and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers. You got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said.Â
Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional.Â
Prior to that game, NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.Â
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in a recent interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports.Â
“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you, ‘This is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”Â
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Donald Trump, who condemned the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback in a Truth Social post.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”Â
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”Â
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”Â
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado.Â
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