Sue Bird, WNBA Star And Syosset Native, May Sit Out Next Season

SYOSSET, NY — Sue Bird has been a WNBA star for the Seattle Storm since entering the league in 2002. The 11-time All Star missed just one season in 2013 due to injury and helped her team win the title in 2018.

But Bird, a 38-year-old Syosset native who played high school ball at Christ the King Regional High School in Queens, may not take a shot this year.

And it has nothing to do with injury.

WNBA players who are drafted and make teams earn about $50,000 a year, according to The Associated Press. The average WNBA salary is about $75,000 and veteran players earn around $110,000 a year.

Those numbers are far lower than those who play in the NBA, which is part of the reason the players in November terminated their collective bargaining agreement after the 2019 season.

Bird, who is vice president of the Players Association, told Newsday she may not take the court next season if there isn't a deal.

"The reality is that we have to make a living," Bird said.

She pointed to the fact that players have to play for other teams in the off-season to make ends meet.

"It’s going to take people sitting down at the table and figuring out how to do it so players aren’t exhausting themselves and getting beat up," said Bird.

Bird's comments come after her girlfriend, Megan Rapinoe, a star on the World Cup-winning U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, called for equal pay in her sport.

Rapinoe is among more than two dozen people who filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation accusing the organization of gender discrimination.