Sue Bird, a two-time NCAA champ, four-time WNBA champ, and 13-time All-Star, has, by any measure, had one of the greatest careers in women’s basketball history. However, not many may know that she also worked for about a year with the Denver Nuggets.
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Back in 2018, Bird was hired by the Nuggets as a Basketball Operations Associate. This was a unique role that allowed her to attend front office meetings and share her unique perspective while still being an active player. She was, in fact, fresh off winning a WNBA title and a gold medal in the FIBA World Cup at the time.
Bird appeared with current Nugget Cam Johnson on the latest episode of The Young Man and the Three, and shared some interesting details on what her time in Denver was like and how it came to be in the first place.
“I had just finished the 2018 season, we had won, so you’re just on TV more, you’re around more,” said Bird, recalling how it was one of the many high periods of her career when the Nuggets stint came about.
“Fast forward a month, maybe less, I get a text from Caron Butler. I went to Connecticut with Caron. ‘Hey, my guy Tim Connolly, he’s the president of the Denver Nuggets, he was wondering if he could talk to you,'” Bird added.
At the time, she had no idea what the call would be about. And she was pleasantly surprised when Connelly asked her to come visit the team facility and see if they could find a role for her that would be mutually beneficial.
Bird took a tour, met the players, met the coaches, and then was given the choice of where she wanted to work. “They really let me choose in a sense, like ‘Do you want to be more involved with coaching staff stuff, do you want to be more in front office meetings?'” she said.
“I chose the front office because I don’t know the inner workings of a coaching staff. But as a player, I kind of understood what that life was,” Bird added.
“So while I probably could have learned a lot more X’s and O’s from Mike Malone, I didn’t know anything about front office work. And I actually don’t know in the moment that I ever wanted to go into coaching, I still don’t know that,” the former WNBA champion elaborated.
Bird’s natural curiosity paid off. She got to sit in front office meetings and learn the inner workings of an NBA franchise. She’s thankful for her time with the Nuggets, but said there was one day in particular that she enjoyed the most.
“They have a day where all the scouts come into town, all the people that work that you don’t see on a day-to-day, they all come into town, a huge meeting. It was right before the trade deadline, kind of just going through the state of the Nuggets, the state of the league, trade deadline stuff,” recalled Bird.
“That was by far… Tim must have gotten up and taken like 20 calls in that meeting, because the trade deadline was the next day. So that was fascinating,” added Bird, the excitement of that day still exuding in her words.
“I have a special place for Denver because of my experience there,” said Bird, who still closely follows the NBA.
