SEATTLE — Two years ago, the Storm retired Sue Bird’s No. 10 jersey, which hangs in the Climate Pledge Arena rafters, and last year Seattle city officials renamed a Lower Queen Anne street in her honor.

And on Sunday morning, Bird will soar to even loftier legendary heights, becoming the rare sports superstar to garner a trifecta of timeless tributes — a larger-than-life-size bronze replica of the iconic Storm star, who is the first WNBA player immortalized with a statue by a franchise.

“Incredible?” Bird said during an interview weeks ago. “It’s a little bit surreal, but also such an honor. It means so much to me to be recognized in this way by the franchise and by the city.”

Bird’s undying legacy is literally cemented on the Climate Pledge Arena plaza where she starred for over two decades.

“I like things that are permanent, and I like things that you can’t argue,” said Bird, who played 19 seasons during a 21-year WNBA career with the Storm and won four titles in Seattle. “That’s what I’ve always said about winning championships.

“You can argue about players and who’s better and who’s your preference, but you can’t argue if you won or if you didn’t. And there’s something about this statue that feels similar, albeit different because it’s just marking a career. It’s marking a legacy. It’s marking the impact that I had in the city, and then in return how they feel about me. So, there’s a lot of a lot of good in that.”

Bird, the No. 1 overall pick out of the University of Connecticut in the 2002 WNBA draft, posted a 333-247 record during the regular season and 34-26 in the playoffs with the Storm.

The 5-foot-10 playmaker is widely regarded as the greatest point guard in league history whose 3,234 career assists record may never be broken.

She also ranks first all time in games played (580), second in three-pointers made (1,001), third in steals (724), seventh in field goals made (2,479) and ninth in points (6,803).

“Sue’s legacy isn’t just written in championships — it’s woven into the fabric of Seattle,” Storm President and CEO Alisha Valavanis said in a statement. “Her leadership transcended basketball and helped shape a cultural shift — on that expanded who gets to lead, who gets seen ane who gets celebrated.

“ … This statue is more than a tribute. It’s a promise that what Sue stands for will keep rising, and young people, especially girls, will always see themselves in greatness.”

The initial push to immortalize Bird began after she announced her retirement on June 16, 2022.

At the time, Eric Pettigrew, who was the vice president of government relations and outreach for the Kraken, had the idea to honor her and former Sonics great Lenny Wilkens with a statue.

Pettigrew received support from Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke and his brother Tim, the CEO of Oak View Group, which renovated Climate Pledge Arena, Mayor Bruce Harrell and former Gov. Jay Inslee.

In 2023, Washington state senators Liz Berry, Julia Reed and Noel Frame pushed to secure $412,000 in the state capital budget while Michael Parham and Brad Meyers, who co-chaired the Lenny Wilkens statue project, and Storm co-owner Dawn Trudeau raised funds to cover the additional cost of erecting the two statues.

“These symbols are not only for basketball, but for the community,” Pettigrew said. “I don’t see a lot of acknowledgment or recognition at this level for two people — an African American man and gay woman — who are just not only great athletes, but great community people and have had and will have an impact on this region for generations to come.”

The Storm commissioned acclaimed artist Julie Rotblatt Amrany, who is the co-founder of the renowned Rotblatt Amrany Studio in Highwood, Ill. She met with Bird in August 2024 about a month after working on the statue.

“She’s really a sweet lady,” Rotblatt Amrany said. “Very engaging, forthright, clear-minded and clear about what she wanted and (a) passionate woman. We were lucky enough to have her come to the studio. I made a model of the piece after I received several photos from the Storm. I made a small clay model that Sue could see before I would get to welding the large piece.

“I took more photos of her and measurements. It was a good session. She’s funny, lighthearted, sweet and direct.”

On Wednesday, Rotblatt Amrany flew to Seattle to erect Bird’s statue, which stands a few feet from Wilkens’ statue that created by Rotblatt Amrany Studio sculptor Lou Cella and was unveiled June 28.

“I’m usually very thrilled after I get the piece installed,” Rotblatt Amrany said. “It’s sitting in its home and you can relax a little bit. When the public engages and you see smiles on their faces, that’s when you can really enjoy and the process is complete.”

Bird will get her first glimpse of the 8-foot, 650-pound statue along with what’s expected to be an ample-sized crowd of Storm supporters during Sunday’s 10 a.m. ceremony outside Climate Pledge Arena, which precedes a free fan festival at noon.

The details on the pose remain under wraps until Sunday, but Bird admitted she had to settle on her second choice because her first option would have been difficult to recreate.

“It was really cool because I got to choose which sneakers I’m wearing,” she said. “So, I picked my all-time favorites the (Nike) Huarache 2K. I got to choose the uniform and just chose the last one that I played in.”

And what about her infamous face mask?

“I’m not going to reveal anything,” Rotblatt Amrany said laughing. “I can’t divulge any secrets at all. I know Sue broke her nose five times, but that’s all I’m saying.”

Rotblatt Amrany, who has created over 75 statues including famed works of Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan and former Lakers great Kobe Bryant, takes pride in crafting the first statue of a WNBA player.

“It’s a lot of significance because I’ve been doing these larger sculptors for over 30 years and the majority is men,” she said. “I’m not going to say I’ve not sculpted any women because I have. I sculpted A’ja Wilson for the University of South Carolina, but women deserve notoriety in their field as well and there’s room for everybody.”

Bird joins a shortlist of Seattle sports superstars with statues including Wilkens and Seattle Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, while Ichiro is scheduled to receive a statue next year.

“I don’t know that I can right now,” Bird said when asked to put her statue in perspective. “These are the types of things I think that you don’t really understand it without time. … I think with time, you start to feel the impact of things. In the moment, obviously it feels big. It feels special, but you can’t understand like globally, if you will, how big that impact is until some time goes by.

“Whether it’s the jersey, the street sign and now the statue, for me, I look at these things, and I’m immediately met with so many memories.”

In September, Bird will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

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