Former U.S. player Sue Bird has become the first athlete in the history of the Women’s National Basketball Association –WNBA– to be honored with a statue. The figure was unveiled on Monday outside the home of the Seattle Storm, the Climate Pledge Arena, where Bird spent her entire professional career.

In the NBA, paying tribute to legends with statues outside arenas is already a tradition. According to the league, nearly twenty players have received this recognition, and several universities have also honored historic basketball figures with sculptures on their campuses. Compared to that well-established custom in men’s basketball, the tribute to Sue Bird marks a significant step for the WNBA, which is beginning to embrace this kind of recognition for its icons.

A unique career in service to Seattle

At 44 and three years into retirement, Sue Bird built her entire career in Seattle. Drafted No. 1 overall in 2002, she captured four league titles —matching the WNBA record— and was selected to 13 All-Star games.

She is the Seattle Storm’s all-time leading scorer with 6,803 points and also holds the WNBA’s all-time assists record with 3,234. She added five Olympic gold medals with Team USA, and the franchise retired her No. 10 jersey.

Sue Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this past April, and now her statue ties her to Seattle forever, both literally and symbolically.

Words from the legend herself

During the unveiling, Sue Bird said: “The city has given me a home, a place where I could have a career, a place where I felt welcome. In a lot of ways, I really grew up here.”

She added: “This is really exciting, I don’t even know if ‘honored’ really covers it because it’s a bronze statue that will be there forever. And, it feels different when you think of it that way.”