NEW YORK (AP) Sue Bird understands Caitlin Clark’s initial disappointment at her WNBA losses.
However, Bird has firsthand knowledge of how things could turn around for the highly discussed rookie.
Bird, who is currently 43, played at UConn, where she only lost four games while winning two NCAA titles. Clark became the Division I career scoring leader while leading her Iowa squad to back-to-back NCAA title games.
22 years apart, both were selected with the top pick in the WNBA draft and ended up on bottom-dwelling teams.
After seven games, Clark’s Indiana Fever have only managed one victory. Bird, who went on to win four WNBA championships with Seattle, advises Clark to be patient. She was present when New York defeated Clark and Indiana in front of almost 17,000 spectators at the Barclays Center.
Bird, a former WNBA player, now shares ownership of the Storm with Renee Montgomery of the Atlanta Dream and Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks.
Bird believes that more expensive television rights deals and an enhanced collective bargaining agreement will cause the WNBA to undergo a “dramatic” transformation in the coming years. Better pay, more teams, and a larger roster of athletes are a few examples of that.