Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird honored with street named after her

one of the greatest stars in Seattle sports history has now been immortalized on Seattle streets the new subber court it's on a portion of Second Avenue North between Denny Way and Lenny Wilkins way in your climate pledge Arena Mayor Bruce harell made the official Proclamation along with unveiling the new street sign bird joins Larry Wilkins and Edgar Martinez and an elite group of Seattle athletes with stream streets named after them it's really special it speaks to this city as a sports town and how much they value that and I think as a woman being probably one of the first I don't know about ever but definitely in Seattle I mean that's that's really special I've done a lot of first tier um and I'm adding this to the L I'm excited about it bird was joined by her fiance rain Legend Megan rapino the couple is celebrating a big weekend just last night rapino was honored in a jersey retirement ceremony at Lumen field it's really hard to narrow down what to say about Sue she brought four championships to Seattle three of those with Jenny Lisa and I forc 10 Hoops where we got the wonderful opport to get to know her Stellar character Su was a generational talent that sea was fortunate to get a front row seat to she brought gravitas to our franchise and she did this at a time when female athletes faced incredible headwinds fighting for resp respect and acknowledgement Sue will always be a storm icon whose jersey proudly occupies our Rafters but I'm obviously highly invested in Sue and her Legacy so I thought I'd ask some longtime fans to respond to give me a word or two that exempli Sue's contribution to Seattle and these are some of the responses that I got for me Sue is the epitome of excellence in women's basketball embodying leadership skill loyalty and a deep sense of connection to her community all while being known for her friendly and approachable demeanor Sue is Seattle Sue is just a Bedrock a beacon for so many people when I think of Seattle now she's a core part of this place just as much or more than when she was playing what Sue meant to Seattle we could count on seeing her play for and represent our city she was the constant rock around which the team and the fans would gather when she went to the Olympics she took Seattle with her Sue is foundational pioneering pivotal unparalleled Sue is the gold standard how many players bring their city4 championships how many athletes play their whole careers with only one franchise that is a rare Comm to a city and Sue bird will now deservedly have a permanent Court in Seattle commemorating her contributions I'll end with my favorite fan response when I think of Sue I want to be a better version of me a better athlete operate with more grace be more inspirational handle pressure with confidence and competence all with a grounded authenticity putting ego aside and just doing the work thank you sue for helping us all aspire to be better versions of our ourselves now it is my great pleasure to introduce our honorable Mayor Bruce Harold we thank you mayor Harold for your enduring support for the storm and for championing renaming a street for Sue thank you Don hey Don when you introduced me you have to emphasize that word honorable because that gets lost in the discussion sometimes you know I I jokingly showed Sue Subert a quote that I wanted to make sure uh is true because we always look for a record you know politicians like looking for a record lawyers like looking for a record quote from Sue bird Seattle is my home unquote want to make sure that you make a you can have some summer houses somewhere but home is home this ismer all right you know across our country all of us have sort of witnessed when an ath of a certain stature becom synonymous with the city Michael Jordan in Chicago or Kobe Bryan in Los Angeles we know in Seattle it's Sue bird and I say that as a big fan but also as a former athlete and just looking at what athletes can do if given the opportunity to inspire somewhere right now there's a little girl right now Bas bouncing a basketball saying I'm going to be Sue bird and they're going to do better in school because they want to make sure they're eligible to play and they're going to be a little more empowered because they're going to have a sense of self-confidence that's what a person like Su suit does when they're not only great athletes but great people today we're here to celebrate that kind of Legacy for a true local Legend statistics she spent her in as Don said her entire 21y year career with the storm retired in 2022 as wnba's all-time leading assist leader with with 3,234 career assists what that means is for Gunners like me that was a joke I couldn't even play I played we like playing with players who like to give assists she won five Olympic gold medals four WNBA championships two NC 2A championships and five Euro League titles during her basketball career that's the data by renaming the streets permanently renaming the subd Court Street we are cementing her Legacy into very fabric of Seattle and that's why this is more than symbolism you're this is home the other thing I'll close with by saying this is this is sort of cool on a good day you got us all looking good and honoring you you put in the work you got to put in that kind of work this stuff doesn't come easy you play through adversity you played through pain you played through haters I know something about that people giving you discouraging words after a game you could have won and it just fell up fell short that's that kind of inspiration that we all rally around so we honor you not just for your records but for your Relentless pursuit of excellence in everything that you do renaming this street is in honor of that kind of relentlessness that kind of heart that kind of commitment and as mayor I'm just glad to be at the right place the right time and we do this and I can't wait to unveil it I think we're going to do that and we're going to hear from the Legend herself Sue bird [Applause] [Applause] out hi everybody um first I just want to thank everyone for being here today um of course a big thank you to you mayor really appreciate this um where did it even begin the ownership group with the storm we've got Lisa bruml here Jenny G Gilder um Alisha valanis also part of the storm I see you Lynn I see you Leslie I see you TSA um my friends and family who are both here but also the ones that could make it I know uh they're with me in spirit um a special thank you to you Don Chau for God putting this all together for making this happen um I know you've been in the weeds of logistics and that's that's a tough place to be so I'm really just so thankful and appreciative um I've always loved and cherished playing here in Seattle um you know when I think back there's there's just so much I can discuss I won't be here long though I promise I think um that's what makes this honor for the city to recognize me in this way it makes it such an honor it's so special because of all those memories and I think you know a lot of times in sports you talk about records you know are made to be broken and and that is true 100% but when I think back on my time I think about the people I've met I think about the memories we've made I think about the impact our franchise has had off the court and then of course I think about the Championships that we won on it and something about those achievements is they don't come and go they don't get broken they last forever and I think that's what makes today so special I get to add to that list of something that's going to last forever and um you know Seattle is very much a part of me and I a part of it a part of the fabric and again that's what this represents and that's why I'm just so excited about it um the city will forever be a part of me and to now have a street named after me it's kind of I can't even get it out of my mouth um to now have a street named after me is really just a celebration of that of us being synonymous um so again I'm so thankful I'm so honored and I appreciate everybody coming out thank you