By Aris Barkas / info@eurohoops.net
When thinking about the best-ever female basketball player, the conversation must involve Sue Bird.
Four-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm, she turned into an icon of the international game by winning five consecutive Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020) with Team USA.
Eurohoops had the opportunity to sit down with the Women’s Team USA legend to discuss the longevity of such victories.
“A lot of us played overseas, we are actually very familiar with he international game, maybe more familiar then men because they don’t play internationally as much. It gives us a little bit of an edge,” Bird first commented on the differences between Women’s and Men’s Team USA when playing abroad.
She hasn’t only been successful on the Olympic stage, but Sue Bird was also able to capture several gold medals in the FIBA Women’s World Cups: 2002, 2010, 2014, and finally 2018.
“When I was playing in the Olympics it was based on X amount of teams from certain regions. For the World Cup, it opens for the best teams. A lot of times in the Olympics you might see some really good European teams not qualifying, whereas in the World Cup they are there. It was really difficult, it always made the World Cup a little more challenging,” she commented.
“It’s really hard not to say winning gold medals isn’t my favorite memory. It’s not about which one, they were all special because we had that pressure and we were excited to win, every time we did it really was so satisfying and gratifying,” she touched on her best memories from such a winning adventure.
However, there is also one bronze medal in Sue Bird’s national team career, occurring at the 2006 FIBA Women’s World Cup played in Brazil, as Team USA lost to Russia in the Semi-Finals.
“People like to remind me of the one bronze. At times, that’s the one that stands out, it’s the one I remember because it’s actually the one that I think started the streak you’re seeing now. That loss really informed and energized us in a way that we never wanted to lose again,” Bird commented.
Full interview with Team USA legend Sue Bird:
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA