American basketball legend Sue Bird’s career has ended amid acclaim as the Las Vegas Aces advanced to the WNBA Finals with a 97-92 win over her Seattle Storm in Game 4 of their semi-final series.
The Aces will get the spotlight in the Finals. On this night, the aftermath of the result was all about 41-year-old Bird and the conclusion to her two decades as a pillar to the WNBA and the Storm franchise, where she won four titles since being drafted as No.1 in 2002.
Five-time Olympic gold medallist Bird stayed on the court after the final buzzer, receiving hugs from the entire Aces roster. She wiped away tears while the crowd cheered and cried along with her at the end of career.
The oldest player in the league, Bird started the year thinking this would be it, but brought finality to the decision midway through the regular season.
Las Vegas spoiled the party in Seattle’s home regular-season finale when Bird was honoured by the franchise and the league for her 21 seasons with the team and 19 as a player, missing two seasons with injury.
And it was Aces that finally eliminated Bird and the Storm after four tense and stressful games filled with big shots and big performances.
The Aces won the best-of-five series 3-1, all the games tense, pressure-packed and filled with spectacular shot-making. The Aces ended up making more, most notably Chelsea Gray, who made five of six shots down the stretch and scored 12 of the final 20 points for the Aces.
It will be the third Finals appearance in franchise history for Las Vegas. The Aces lost to Seattle in 2020 in the WNBA bubble played in Florida, and the franchise reached the Finals in 2008 while still in San Antonio, losing to Detroit.
Breanna Stewart tied the WNBA playoff record with 42 points, just the fifth player to score 40 or more in a postseason game, and Jewell Loyd added 29. But Seattle failed to find a third scorer and the Aces had an answer for every charge Seattle made after Las Vegas surged in front early in the second half.
Discussion about this post