Losing Her First Game vs Team of Angel Reese and A’ja Wilson’s Coaches, Sue Bird Remembers Her First WNBA Defeat

It is quite challenging for basketball players to transition from college to professional level. Some of them do it with very little effort, but for others, it becomes a quest of self-discovery all over again. The pressure that comes with it takes a huge toll on their mental capacity to handle this transition, especially if they are a generational player like Caitlin Clark. Her emergence in the WNBA is proving to be the opposite of what she was at Iowa. In her first game, she toiled the game with all of her strength yet faced defeat. Interestingly, the incident reminds the WNBA giant, Sue Bird of her initial days at the WNBA.

Taking a walk down memory lane, the 4x WNBA champion talks about the first-ever game she played in the WNBA and what went on in her head after having tough luck at that one.

Sue Bird recalls her first WNBA game

It was the year 2002 when the WNBA legend, Sue Bird played the first game of her professional career. Fresh out of college, the former Husky had lost only a handful of games throughout her collegiate career. However, her WNBA debut speaks of a different tale.

“I remember the first game we lost the first game of the season. We actually played the New York Liberty and they had Teresa Weatherspoon and Becky Hammon at the time. We lost to them and uh, you know I’m in the locker room having a little bit of a fit, right a little bit of a tantrum. I’m not used to this. And, everybody’s like oh where you guys want to go to dinner tonight, and it took me a second to understand that that was also part of pro sports. You got to kind of bob and weave and deal with it,” says Sue Bird, reminiscing how she felt after losing at her WNBA debut to Teresa Weatherspoon, Becky Hammon, and the New York Liberty altogether.

Weatherspoon and Hammon are the Hall of Famers coaches to the WNBA teams, the Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces, respectively.

As a rookie, she averaged 14.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6 assists, 0.1 blocks and 1.7 steals per game. However, it was a rough patch for Bird, initially. But, she eventually got a hang of things and got better at her game on the professional level. By the end of the season, she had become the honoree of multiple awards, including All-Star, All-WNBA First Team, 2002 Rookie of the Year Award runner-up, and Sportswomen of the Year.

Developing oneself into a professional athlete is an ongoing and ever-changing process, which requires a great deal of patience to endure defeat and pain, however, rise through relentless efforts. Shedding some light on this, Sue Bird shares insights on how it all goes.

Talking from experience

With her whimsical moves and stellar feats, Caitlin Clark made herself a household name. She surpassed numerous milestones set by legendary players in their time in college. Hence, fans just flock after wherever Clark is about to set foot, creating a phenomenon known to fans as the Caitlin Clark effect, associated with her winning charisma.

However, this effect has posed quite a burden on Clark’s shoulder of delivering a standout performance in every game she plays. But she too is a human and needs some time to understand the specifics of being a full-time pro.

Giving insights on the same, Sue Bird says, “Let’s not forget that she probably has arguably the most pressure that any, you know, woman’s basketball player has ever had coming into the WNBA. I mean sometimes it feels like the weight of the WNBA is on her shoulders. Um, that is both, like I said earlier, a compliment and warranted in a lot of ways. But, also maybe a little bit unfair to put so much on her and then to not play up to her abilities in this early part would would be frustrating.”

“She’s not even really getting that many Great Looks again some of that is the other team’s defense so so credit she’s played two of the top defensive teams in the league but some of that is figuring it out and it takes time too, right?” Sue Bird adds while emphasizing the importance of time, “In every sport, a lot of times you have these teams put together and people want to see it click right away it always takes time.”

Hence, it is too much that the fans are keeping great expectations of her making a blast in the initial days of her pro career. It’s Caitlin Clark, the shooting point guard who will eventually figure it out.