Storm retire Sue Bird’s No. 10 jersey in emotional ceremony

SEATTLE — In an emotional ceremony that lasted approximately three hours after the Seattle Storm‘s 71-65 loss to the Washington Mystics on Sunday, Sue Bird saw her No. 10 Storm jersey raised to the Climate Pledge Arena rafters.

“I’ve got to give my sister [Jen] the ‘line of the night’ award,” Bird quipped to the media afterward. “I walked in the back with my family. I was like, ‘Was that too long?’ My sister was like, ‘You played here for 21 years. They can listen to you for an hour.'”

Actually, Bird’s speech was more than an hour and a half, as she apologized for during the midst of it. But there was understandably a lot of ground to cover for a player who retired last fall as the WNBA’s all-time leader in games, minutes and assists during a career that spanned more than two decades — all of it played in Seattle.

“I didn’t anticipate it being that long, but the truth is, I don’t know that I could have taken anything out,” Bird said. “That’s what this has meant to me. It was just so important for me to say names and point people out and tell them what they’ve meant. I’m already thinking of things I wish I would have said.”

Before Bird took center stage, she heard from a variety of key figures in her career about the impact she had on them. Bird’s fiancée, USWNT star Megan Rapinoe, co-hosted the event with Seattle rapper Macklemore.

Storm co-owners Lisa Brummel and Ginny Gilder both spoke, followed by former teammates Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson, Bird’s agent at Wasserman — Lindsay Kagawa Colas — and former coach Jenny Boucek.

Jackson, who flew in from Australia with eldest son Harry specifically for the event, called Bird “the true GOAT” with the help of AI chatbot ChatGPT, which helpfully pointed out that Bird’s position of point guard is the most important in basketball. Given her four WNBA championships and five Olympic gold medals, plus a record 13 All-Star appearances, there’s little debate that Bird retired as the greatest point guard in women’s basketball history.

“Sue’s legacy to Seattle, to [USA Basketball], to the WNBA and to our beautiful game is one that I don’t think will ever be matched by anyone,” Jackson said.

As an active player, Bird stole the show with her speech at the retirement of Jackson’s No. 15 jersey in 2016. Now the pick-and-roll partners, who played together from Bird’s selection as the No. 1 draft pick in 2002 through injuries forcing Jackson’s retirement from the WNBA after the 2012 season — winning a pair of titles — are reunited.

“The one thing I really wish I would have said — it just kind of escaped me — was how amazing it’s going to be in the rafters, yes, but it’s going to be even more amazing to be next to her,” Bird said.

After Jackson, Rapinoe took the…