Sue Bird gave Diana Taurasi honest advice amid rumors about her retirement

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will both go down in history as two of the greatest female basketball players of all time.

The two legends have won a total of seven WNBA championships and eleven Olympic gold medals with the US team. During their shared successes this century, Bird and Taurasi have built a close bond and appear to be the best of friends.

Bird, now 43 years old, retired at the end of the 2022 season. While Taurasi, 42, has not publicly stated that she will retire after this season – which could happen as early as Wednesday for her team, the Phoenix Mercury – there are good reasons to believe so.

The topic of Taurasi’s potential retirement was discussed on Wednesday’s episode of the podcast “A Touch More” with Bird and soccer legend Megan Rapinoe. And Bird sent a clear message about an important decision a player must make when announcing his retirement.

“The advice is you have to do what’s right for you,” Bird said. “That’s the only advice that matters. There’s no one size fits all here. It’s got to feel good to you, period, period. Whether you announce it early in the season, whether you announce it mid-season or whether you just literally walk away. When you go to sleep at night, it’s got to be what feels good to you.”

Bird then went on to weigh the difference between someone announcing their impending retirement before the season or during the season (as she did in 2022) or someone simply walking off into the sunset after the season ends without informing the public beforehand.

She explained that MLB icon CC Sabathia once told her that announcing retirement early was also good for fans because it allowed them to say goodbye and hand out flowers (literally).

“Oh, I did it for the fans, but in the end I won,” Bird concluded of her decision to announce her retirement in advance.

It sounds like she’s pushing Taurasi to do the same, but if this 2024 season does indeed mean the end of Taurasi’s legendary career, that train has already left the station.