Looking back at Sue Bird's First WNBA Finals
What has changed and what hasn't in between Sue Bird's first title in 2004 and her fourth in 2020
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“Now I’ve won a WNBA championship and there’s still next year!”
A joyful 23-year old Sue Bird said that after winning her first WNBA Championship in 2004. The article that contained the quote talked about how a Seattle Storm dynasty could be on the horizon with Bird and 2003 MVP Lauren Jackson in their early 20s. All eyes, including Bird’s, looked to the future, to the greatness that awaited her, the Storm, and the WNBA.
16 years later, Bird’s perspective is very different. The almost 40-year old didn’t mention what’s ahead in such concrete terms after winning the 2020 WNBA title, despite the Storm’s future being just as bright as it was in 2004. On court after the victory, Sue told Holly Rowe that she couldn’t believe that she was there. She talked about the buy-in required to win a championship and how Jewell Loyd/Breanna Stewart represented the present and future generation of women’s basketball. Then, Bird said she intended to play next year but left the door to retirement ajar.
“The way I feel right now, if I can go through my offseason and continue to build on that in a good way, I don’t see why I won’t be playing next summer. I’m not trying to be like elusive, but as I’ve always said, things happen. That’s what the last two years have taught me. Anything can happen. So I’m just like, you know, cautiously optimistic I guess.”
The change in focus and tone isn’t odd. Obviously, Sue’s first championship came at the beginning of her career while her fourth came close to the end of it. I think it’s notable because of how different everything around Sue Bird is now. Yet, Bird remains largely the same player that was so excited after her first title. So I went back to 2004 and watched the decisive game 3 of the WNBA Finals. I was pretty surprised to find more similarities than differences, but not shocked to see the same Sue Bird.
The Seattle Storm came into 2004 with high expectations, but not necessarily championship expectations.
Lauren Jackson became the youngest player ever to win the WNBA MVP in 2003 and Bird had just finished an All-Star season. However, Los Angeles with Lisa Leslie (who would MVP in 2004) and defending champion Detroit were the preseason favorites to win it all. Jackson and Leslie had beef from the 2000 Olympics, but I’m guessing that the Storm still didn’t want to see the Sparks in the playoffs after LA’s ruthless sweep of Seattle in 2002.
The Storm had the league’s best offense and best net rating despite finishing in second place in the standings (to the Sparks). Sue and LJ both made the All-WNBA first team. 2004 actually marked Bird’s best season ever in terms of player efficiency rating and win shares. The Storm, under the second-year Head Coach Anne Donovan, turned the corner in 2004 and became a real contender.
Seattle turned up the defensive pressure in the playoffs to beat Minnesota, in the Lynx’s first playoff appearance ever. Luckily for Seattle, Los Angeles lost in the first round to Sacramento (shouts to Yolanda Griffith and Ticha Penicheiro!). After dispatching the Monarchs in 3 games, the Storm made it to the WNBA Finals for the first time against fellow first-time participant, the Connecticut Sun. Sue Bird played the entire Semis and Finals with a broken nose after she caught an elbow from Minnesota’s Teresa Edwards. She wore a mask to protect her nose and created the legend that is masked Sue Bird.
After Connecticut’s Katie Douglas and Wendy Palmer demolished the Storm in Game 1, Seattle righted the ship. Sue stopped turning the ball over and Betty Lenox caught fire. The Storm cruised to a decisive game 3 win and Lenox grabbed the Finals MVP. The late great Anne Donovan became the first woman to coach a team to a WNBA title and first WNBA head coach to reach the finals with two different teams. Bill Laimbeer, Dan Hughes, Brian Agler, and Mike Thibault have since joined that list. At 23, Sue Bird had her first title largely by relying on her teammates, making big plays in clutch situations, and doing exactly what the team needed her to do. Sounds familiar huh?
Interestingly, the 2004 Storm seem pretty similar to the 2020 Storm
Sue’s game has changed to be sure. She was a bit faster and more likely to push the pace in 2004, but also more likely to turn it over and not quite the pull-up threat she is now (although she was pretty close). Still, Sue Bird has always been Sue Bird.
Lauren Jackson’s game resembles Breanna Stewart’s game more than I expected as a relatively new WNBA fan. Both are dominant centers who can score from anywhere with LJ’s outside game being more robust when she needed it. Stewart’s spot-up ability remains unmatched and the sturdier Jackson posted up much more than Stewie. But certainly, they do some of the same stuff.
Then, the rest of the starting lineup features players with analogous roles to the 2020 squad. Betty Lenox and Jewell Loyd are high-scoring shooting guards who got hot in the playoffs. Alysha Clark and Sheri Sam are super wing role players, albeit with strengths on opposite sides of the ball. The 2004 and 2020 teams both featured a defensive-minded big playing down at the 4 in Kamila Vodichkova (whose nickname is Vodka!) and Natasha Howard.
Also, the basketball was not that different in the WNBA 16 years ago, especially when compared to the slugfest going on in the NBA at the time. Obviously, offenses have evolved with, for example, the pick and roll becoming much more prevalent and defenses have become more complex to combat that. But Seattle still got out in the break, whipped the ball around, and found open cutters. Just with a lot more action happening within the three-point line. I’ll put it this way: the 2004 Seattle Storm look about as similar to the 2020 Seattle Storm as the 2020 Las Vegas Aces do.
The biggest difference I noticed in researching this season is in the marketing of the league.
Of course, WNBA marketing and commentary in the early 2000s was much more overtly sexist than it is now. You had the Best Damn Sports Show bringing Sue Bird on to tell her how pretty she was, along with the Hartford Courant saying that Sue seeming uncomfortable at that is part of “her fresh-faced, girl-next-door appeal.” In 2004, Bill Simmons said some EXTREMELY sexist shit because he had to watch clips of women playing a sport he supposedly loves during (M)NBA games.
But the league also failed in its marketing by trying to get the attention of men in the worst way possible. That’s not a hyperbole, the Storm’s VP at the time said bringing in the male audience was a goal in that Courant article linked above. The WNBA’s “This Is Who I Am” campaign may have had good intentions, but led to pictures like this of Sue Bird.
Sue looks great. For the star of a RomCom about a surf star-turned-sports-agent who falls in love with her biggest client. But she does not look like one of the greatest basketball players of all-time. I think we can all agree that the women of the WNBA should promote themselves however they damn well feel. But the league needed/needs to promote these women as athletes. I think the league took a swing and “went a little overboard” as several players featured in the campaign later said. But the bigger problem was the WNBA misunderstanding what they were selling. You need fans that want to watch the game because they love the game, not how the players look playing it. I think we have come a long way since then and the league is reaping the benefits of it now.
However, the TV presentation was fantastic
Unlike the outside noise, ESPN2 did a great job of focusing the game on, well, the game. The intro promo for Game 3 featured Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson, Lindsey Whalen, Nykesha Sales, and Katie Douglas talking about how much the game meant to them. Douglas said “if they have to wheel me off the court, that’s how hard I’ll play.” SPORTS BABY!
While it was a bit ham-fisted, I did enjoy that the promo was for the great basketball we are about to watch rather than who was playing the game. Obviously, the social justice messages in 2020 take precedent over the sport. But too often, I think the WNBA is marketed or talked about as “these are WOMEN playing basketball” rather than “these are some dope basketball players playing.”
Also, the broadcast team was also extremely solid. Pam Ward, Nancy Lieberman, and Geno Auriemma did the pre-game with Doris Burke on sidelines and Ann Meyers doing color with Greg Anthony. At one point, Anthony said that Connecticut rookie Lindsey Whalen was overwhelmed by the moment. It would be the last time anyone said that, I’m sure. Also, Meyers mentioned that some people claimed that Lauren Jackson wasn’t tough or physical enough. Proving that sports fans don’t need twitter to be complete idiots.
The league is in a much different place than 2004, but the Seattle Storm remain champions largely because of Sue Bird
Everything around Sue Bird’s Seattle Storm has changed. The league has come to understand what it is selling and gotten stronger because of it. The world has also became more open to the WNBA and is recognizing the great basketball product it has. The country, itself, has been to great heights and great depths (while seemingly finding new depths everyday!).
But one thing has remained the same: Sue Bird is the leader of the Seattle Storm and the Storm are championship-caliber. Sue has not done it single-handedly, but she’s been this franchise’s stabilizing force for 17 years now. Things will continue to change, especially considering what has happened in 2020. But as long as Sue plays for the Storm, you can believe in their championship chances.
If you liked the newsletter, subscribe, check out some of other stuff. On the WNBA side, I made some hilariously wrong Finals predictions based on history and wrote about the 7 teams in WNBA history to make the semifinals with a losing record. If you want to branch out, check out our podcast on the 2020 Miami Heat or this article about Arkansas finally winning an SEC game.
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