Today, most of the high schoolers who wish to someday become professional basketball players choose their schools and colleges accordingly. However, this was not always the case. The WNBA, unlike the NBA, is only 28 years old. Hence, the option to become a professional basketball star only came around then. Still, legends like Sue Bird took the most advantage of the available choice. Here is how the 4x WNBA champion describes her decision to be admitted into today’s basketball powerhouse and how legends like Rebecca Lobo impacted it.

Reminiscing about the same, the Togethxr co-founder sat down with Hank Green in his podcast. She told him all about her journey to enter the WNBA. Also, what all played a role in finally entering the league in 2002 as the first overall pick. “I’m from one of the first classes that was choosing a college, knowing that we had a professional league to play in,” Bird said on the Study Hall podcast. She added how the kids today understand and ask questions during the college interviews about their WNBA career. But things were different for her.

She continued, “UConn, obviously, Rebecca Lobo went there and there were some players who were finishing their senior year as I was finishing up my senior year of high school. That’s when you get recruited. Nykesha Sales was one of them.” Bird understood how UConn was setting up players for the WNBA. Although it was not her first choice for academics, she went there for the sport.

Sue Bird graduated from her high school in 1998. The WNBA was established in 1996 and played its first season in 1997. This meant that the graduation class, that the now 5x Olympic gold medalist belonged to, had a huge opportunity coming their way.

Sue Bird and her relationship with basketball and academics

Seeing how the WNBA had still not made the front-page headlines, Sue Bird was also caring about her educational resume. That’s when her broadcasting major came in handy. She told Green, “Academics and my major and what I was thinking about doing was also very much in the back of my head. I also knew I could probably rely on basketball too. So, it was like both were happening at the same time.”

In fact, Sue Bird shared how once basketball did come in between her studies. According to her, she ruptured her ACL in the freshman season in December. Hence, she could not study. As a result, her GPA dropped to under 3. Still, the Huskies reached the Elite Eight in 1998. Next year, UConn ended their March Madness run in Sweet Sixteen only. However, they won the next time around. In her senior year, Sue Bird became the National Player of the Year and won the National Champion as well. Consequently, she became the first overall pick in 2002. Since then, she has collected a long list of accolades to adorn her resume.

Still, it is definitely a great opportunity for young basketball players who wish to play at professional levels. Even the advent of the ‘Unrivaled’ league and the extension of the WNBA will play a huge role in helping these athletes achieve their goals.

Stay tuned for more such updates. Join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.