Women's Fastbreak On SI

Sue Bird Alludes to Old Bill Simmons 'Cocktail Dress' Comment to Note WNBA's Growth

Sue Bird alluded to a questionable Bill Simmons comment about her from the past when discussing his recent praise about the WNBA.

Grant Young

Jul 12, 2023; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former WNBA player Sue Bird arrives on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jul 12, 2023; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former WNBA player Sue Bird arrives on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Popular sports media personality Bill Simmons has come around to the WNBA.

This is made clear by his using Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark as an example of what the NBA is currently lacking during a December 17 episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast".

"What [the NBA is] missing ironically, is what women's college basketball, what the WNBA had, where Caitlin became somebody that people just wanted to watch," Simmons said.

"And that’s why I think you could really make the case she’s more valuable than anyone the NBA has because she’s the only must-watch basketball player right now other than the old guys in the NBA," he continued.

Women's basketball legend Sue Bird conveyed why she's glad to see Simmons' recent WBA praise during her December 20 appearance on "The Young Man and The Three" podcast.

"When I saw Bill Simmons... on his own show, talking about how the WNBA should have gotten a better deal on their viewership, that actually meant something for me," Bird said.

"Because Bill, famously, has said some not-so-great things about the WNBA in the past, specifically about me and my looks (you can give it a Google)."

Bird is alluding to a 2005 comment from Simmons back when he was a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN The Magazine.

His comment read, "Then again, maybe these realities don't matter as much as one would think, because Sue Bird is downright adorable... and I wouldn't watch 10 minutes of a WNBA game because of her.

"If Sue was walking around at the ESPYs in a cocktail dress, I'm watching. If she's running a pick-and-roll with Lauren Jackson, I'm flicking channels. And according to sagging attendance, I'm not alone," he continued.

While this was nearly two decades ago, Bird is certainly within her rights to feel a certain type of way about what Simmons said about her and the WNBA.

Although she doesn't seem to hold a grudge, as she continued, "Here was a guy who, 15 years ago, had one opinion, but now is talking about it in a totally different light. And I actually think that means something in terms of what I was saying, that cultural cache."

Clearly both Bird and Simmons are willing to forgive and forget their past opinions.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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