Most people would be happy to have won multiple WNBA championships and Olympics medals but not basketball legends Sue Bird and Candace Parker. Parker and Bird both understand winning isn’t easy; even when everything goes the way it is supposed to, life throws a wrench, which is precisely what happened to them in 2008.
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Parker went on to win three WNBA championships with three different teams during the course of her career. She is also famous for winning the MVP award in her first season in the league. Bird, on the other hand, spent 19 seasons in the league, becoming a 13-time All-Star and four-time champion.
Both stars were able to experience what the air at the top of the mountain feels like. But as true competitors, they still believe they should have gotten there a few more times.
Bird recently appeared on Parker’s Post Moves podcast, where she was asked if there was a year she felt her team should’ve won it all. Before Bird could give her answer, Parker revealed what that year was for her.
“For me, I think 2017,” Parker said. “We lost in Game 5 against Minnesota, and that was one of their championships in their dynasty. And then the last-second shot in 2015. Those are the two years that I look at, and 2008.”
Bird, who had been smiling throughout, let out a grin on hearing 2008, since that is the first year that came to her mind as well.
“Actually, the year for us, I feel that way is 2008. We were in a position where we signed in the offseason, Yolanda Griffith, Sheryl Swoopes, and I think that was Swin’s first year in Seattle,” Bird said.
On paper, the Seattle Storm had a loaded roster. Before their offseason acquisitions, the team still had Bird, Lauren Jackson and Tanisha Wright on the roster. But, of course, talent isn’t the only factor which leads to a title.
“We were figuring it out,” Bird said. “We were sitting in first or second heading into Olympic break.”
Everything was going great for the Storm. Although Swoopes and Griffith weren’t the same players they once were, they still added tremendous contributions to the overall success of the team. Unfortunately, everything changed during the Olympics.
“So, go to the Olympics, and Lauren gets hurt. I just feel like that year we did have enough to make a run, but then the minute Lauren’s out [we had no chance],” Bird proclaimed.
Jackson suffered a right ankle injury, which sounds like a understatement when you realize she had a bone spur breaking off. The ailment was too much for her to bounce back from that season. The Storm simply couldn’t replace Jackson’s production. They still earned a first-round playoff appearance but ultimately, lost to Parker and the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Sparks were able to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. However, their run would come to an abrupt halt as the San Antonio Silver Stars would prevail in three games.
That set the table for a WNBA Finals matchup between the Silver Stars and the Detroit Shock. The now extinct Shock went on to convincingly win their third title in six seasons.
