Sue Bird bids farewell after final game with Seattle Storm: 'I'm proud of everything we've accomplished here'

SEATTLE — After playing her final game in the WNBA on Tuesday as the Las Vegas Aces eliminated her Seattle Storm from the playoffs with a 97-92 win in Game 4 of their semifinals series, Sue Bird wasn't sure yet how to feel about her career coming to an end.

«I think initially I felt sad about the season and the game,» Bird said postgame. «I then think, as the emotions started to come to the surface, that's also what I know deep down in that, that was my last game. So it was a combination of those two things, but overall it just feels kind of weird.»

A year after Storm fans chanting «One more year!» in the wake of a playoff elimination by the Phoenix Mercury helped convince Bird to return for a 19th season in the WNBA, the sentiment was gratitude after this loss.

Initially, Bird headed toward the locker room with teammates and coaches before reversing course and remaining on the court. Given hugs by all the members of the Las Vegas team and coaching staff, Bird then acknowledged the crowd by raising her hand multiple times through an extended ovation that lasted until she finally headed into the locker room.

«I didn't really want to leave the court,» Bird said. «It felt like that's where everybody was going, so I just followed at first. But I also wanted to kind of have one last moment to say thank you, to soak it all in, because in some ways it is a happy thing.

»I'm proud of everything we've accomplished here. Of course I'm sad, but there's happiness, too, to be able to have a moment like that with the fans, to have them chant the way they did. I know the tears don't look like happy tears, but there's a lot of happiness."

Seattle coach Noelle Quinn, who played alongside Bird for the Storm before becoming her coach, also