Sue Bird found her voice later in her career, just as WNBA found its voice

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Sue Bird just knows how to win. That’s what she does. It’s what she has always done. Few in sports can rival the success the point guard has had in women’s basketball. Bill Russell and Serena Williams come to mind.

Still, despite decades of success the G-O-A-T narrative is relatively new.

The Greatest Of All Time chatter seemed to pick up traction about the time the 5-foot-8 unselfish floor general stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight a few years ago.

“Sue to me in some ways is an example, or is an illustration of how the league has grown. she came in when it was just a few years old and there was no social media then and Sue was a much more private person then,” Storm owner Ginny Gilder said. “Sue really has found her voice in the last five or six years, and the league has found its voice.”

Bird’s career came to an end Tuesday night with the Seattle Storm’s 97-92 home loss to Las Vegas in Game 4 of the semifinal series. The 41-year-old Bird had eight points and eight assists.

Sue Bird has been more outspoken off the court on various issues, including social justice, LGBTQ issues and women’s rights over the last few years since she started dating her fiancee, soccer great Megan Rapinoe.

“I felt like I was open. Everyone in my life knew. I just hadn’t had this conversation with a reporter,” Bird told The Associated Press in 2018 about her sexuality “I understand now by saying it publicly you can have an impact. That’s what we’re talking about right now.”

People have a history of listening to what champions have to say — Russell won 11 NBA titles and Williams has 23 grand slam tennis titles — particularly when they win the right way.

Bird captured two college national titles at UConn, four