Sue Bird's next 25 years - Coach, analyst, ownership, advocacy? It's all on the table for the WNBA star

The 19-year-old who had just scored 19 points to lead her team to the national championship game sat in the locker room appearing neither nervous nor overconfident. She just looked ready.

Sue Bird wasn't new to the spotlight: She had played for high school powerhouse Christ the King in New York City and was a sophomore for the UConn Huskies, although she had lost most of her freshman season to a knee injury. But the 2000 women's Final Four was her biggest stage yet: in coach Geno Auriemma's Philadelphia hometown with a title-game matchup between UConn and the Tennessee Lady Vols when their rivalry was at a zenith.

As a media throng enveloped Bird to ask her to put it all in perspective after UConn's semifinal win, she did just that. So well, in fact, that a reporter summed up the feelings of others walking away: «Whatever 'it' is, that kid has got it.»

She still does. If that was «how it started,» this is «how it's going»: Bird is in her 19th and final WNBA season with the Seattle Storm, a future Hall of Famer seeking a fifth league title to match her five Olympic gold medals. She is the league's all-time leader in assists (3,202) and games played (575, not counting 54 in the playoffs). She will play her final regular-season home game Sunday (3 p.m. ET, ABC).

But Bird won't disappear. If anything, she might become an even larger presence in the sports world after her playing career. She is not a ride-off-into-the-sunset type. While she will take some time to rest, relax and reflect, there are many things she can and will pursue. That might be team management and ownership, or in coaching, broadcasting and media. Fashion and product endorsement? Social activism? Likely, it could be a combination of all of the above, and