Sue Bird Names Caitlin Clark As Her 'Current' WNBA Rookie of the Year

Madison Williams | Jul 22, 2024

Aug 12, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird (10) holds up the trophy after defeating the Connecticut Sun during the Inaugural WNBA Commissioners Cup Championship Game at Footprint Center. / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The WNBA Rookie of the Year award has been one of the hottest topics of debate recently as Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese are neck-and-neck competing for the honor.

Various basketball legends have given their opinion on which player they believe should receive the award, and former Seattle Storm star Sue Bird recently shared her "current" pick, even though she admitted she doesn't like giving out mid-season awards.

“Currently—first of all, I hate doing mid-season awards, right. Honestly, I’ve felt this way about MVP forever. People would say someone was MVP in the first two weeks and then in a weird way, it kept them in that conversation no matter what they did," Bird told Sarah Spain on Good Game with Sarah Spain, an iHeartPodcast. "So I've never been [a fan of mid-season awards], but currently Caitlin Clark.”

Sue Bird (@S10Bird) says Caitlin Clark is currently her Rookie of the Year

Q: Who is your Rookie of the Year pick so far?
A: Currently… Caitlin Clark#WNBA pic.twitter.com/0HKn3GVc2l

— Women’s Basketball Tweets (@WBBTweets) July 19, 2024

Bird praised Clark's game during her podcast appearance, giving multiple examples as to why the Fever rookie stands out in comparison to many other players. One example, Bird argued, is Clark's three-point shots.

“From a basketball standpoint, I think Caitlin in particular, her long distance threes," Bird said. "I always said this, we finally got the antidote to dunking. All we heard our entire existence was, ‘You guys are boring. You don't dunk. Oh, maybe you should lower the rims. It would be more exciting.’ And the thing about the long three is it is what it is. The distance is the distance, it goes in or it doesn't. It's the same for everybody. So in a sense, I think she snapped people out of this trance that was very negative towards women's basketball and now she's brought this huge group.”

Clark and Reese are gearing up for their first All-Star Game appearances this weekend. Bird was a 13-time All-Star before she retired after the 2022 season.