The Denver Nuggets have added an 11-time All-Star to its front office.
On Friday, the Nuggets announced that three-time WNBA champion Sue Bird is joining their team as a Basketball Operation Associate.
“We are very excited to have Sue join our organization,” said President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly. “Her resume certainly speaks for itself and as a still active player she will offer an extremely unique perspective.”
Bird was the No. 1 pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft. In addition to three WNBA championships and 11 All-Star appearances, she is a five-time member of the WNBA All-First Team, a three-time member of the WNBA All-Second Team and the WNBA's all-time assists leader.
Bird also has two NCAA championships and four EuroLeague championships to her name.
Bird just wrapped up her 16th season in the WNBA with averages of 10.1 points, 7.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game. She led the Seattle Storm to its third championship in franchise history with averages of 10.0 points, 6.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game in the postseason.
Bird told ESPN that she sees some similarities between the Storm and the Nuggets. After winning 15 games in 2017, the Storm finished with the best record in the league in 2018. The Nuggets are hoping to have similar success this season, going from missing the playoffs by one game last season to competing in the Western Conference this season.
"I just think what they have going is really exciting to be a part of," Bird said. "It's somewhat reminiscent to what I've actually gone through first-hand in the last couple years. The Storm was rebuilding. Not that Denver was rebuilding, but all of a sudden you blink, and a couple of years go by, you've got this great young core, talented group that's trying to make noise."
"With that, you've got that elder player. Obviously, that was me for the Storm. For Denver, it's Paul [Millsap]."
