the honors keep arriving<\/a> (jersey retirements, statues, Hall of Fame enshrinements) for Sue Bird. Each moment, a reminder that she is still the best point guard in WNBA history.<\/p>\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
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Who is Larry Bird?<\/p>\n
Once in a while, a guy shows up looking like the guy next door, and then becomes the first non-center in NBA history to win three straight MVP awards. For the Boston Celtics, that guy was Larry Bird. Drafted sixth overall in 1978, Bird transformed a struggling franchise into a dynasty. He led them to three NBA championships and five Finals appearances in the 1980s. He turned Boston Garden into a nightly sellout and gave basketball one of its greatest rivalries with Magic Johnson.<\/p>\n
What set Larry Bird apart, though, was the swagger of a man who would call his shot, tell opponents exactly how he\u2019d beat them, and then deliver. It\u2019s how people remember him and not just by the accolades: 12 All-Star nods, two Finals MVPs, nearly 22,000 career points. By the time back injuries ended his career in 1992, Larry Bird had already etched himself into the game\u2019s mythology as the ultimate embodiment of \u201cCeltics Pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are Sue and Larry Bird Related?<\/p>\n
Yes, the two legends are related \u2013 at least, that\u2019s what a young Sue Bird used to say. Despite sharing the same last name, Sue Bird and Larry Bird have no family ties. But as a kid, Sue leaned into the coincidence of a shared surname and talent. She made some playful fibs that connected her to the Celtics\u2019 icon.<\/p>\n
On Thanasis Antetokounmpo\u2019s Thanalysis Show, Sue laughed as she admitted: \u201cWhen I was in kindergarten, I used to lie and tell people he was my uncle all the time.\u201d It wasn\u2019t just a one-off joke either. Back in 2006, she told WNBA.com: \u201cTotally. Since I\u2019ve been five, people asked me if we\u2019re related. It is usually the third question in the line of questions. What\u2019s your name? Sue Bird. Oh, what do you do? I play basketball. Are you related to Larry Bird? That\u2019s how it goes. I guess it could be worse, though, since he is a legend and all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story eventually made its way to Larry himself. When the two Birds filmed a March Madness commercial together in 2022, Sue finally confessed. She told Business Insider: \u201cSo I told the story and I was like, \u2018Yeah, so you\u2019ve been an honorary member of my family, you just didn\u2019t know it.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018I\u2019m honored. That\u2019s an honor.\u2019 I was like, \u2018Thanks, Larry.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Is Sue Bird married?<\/p>\n
No, but as she took her place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the loudest cheer came from the front row, from her fianc\u00e9e, Megan Rapinoe. In July 2017, Bird sat down with ESPNW and shared two truths at once: \u201cI\u2019m gay. Megan\u2019s my girlfriend.\u201d She explained that it was never about hiding, but about timing: \u201cThese aren\u2019t secrets to people who know me. I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve not lived my life. \u2026 People assume if you\u2019re not talking about it, you must be hiding it. That was never the case for me.\u201d Though they\u2019d already been dating since 2016, that was the moment the world officially met the power couple.<\/p>\n
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Rapinoe\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 mirrors Bird\u2019s in impact and brilliance. A California native, she dazzled soccer fans with her vision, creative playmaking, and signature free kicks. She played in more than 200 international matches, winning Olympic gold in 2012 and two World Cups with Team USA. In the NWSL, she became the face of OL Reign, earning multiple honors and cementing her place as one of the most iconic players in women\u2019s soccer. Off the pitch, she\u2019s a fearless activist for LGBTQ+ rights, penned the memoir One Life, and, fittingly, co-hosts a podcast with Bird.<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s bond then deepened in October<\/a> 2020. It was when Rapinoe proposed poolside, and a photo of her down on one knee, with Sue Bird smiling, quickly went viral. That engagement made headlines worldwide and was celebrated as one of sports\u2019 great love stories. Since then, they\u2019ve become fixtures at each other\u2019s milestones, from championships to public advocacy campaigns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes the game of basketball gives us an extra twist: two icons sharing the same last name. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-139010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}