Sue Bird’s Net Worth in 2024: The WNBA Legend Is Flourishing

Following her retirement in 2022, the league icon is not slowing down in the slightest.

Sue Bird / Monica Schipper/Getty Images

With SI Swimsuit’s Net Worth Series: Empowering Equal Pay, our goal is to shine a light on incredible athletes while examining income disparities and promoting equal pay across industries.

A legend of the WNBA, Sue Bird played her entire career with the Seattle Storm after being the first overall pick to the Washington-based team in the 2002 draft. The Olympic athlete has five gold medals to her name and competed in as many Olympic games before her retirement from basketball in 2022. Bird has won four WNBA Championships and is the league’s all-time assists leader.

Outside of her sport, Bird is an SI Swimsuit legend and two-time brand model, cofounder of production company A Touch More and cofounder of media commerce brand TOGETHXR. Mattel recently created a Sue Bird Barbie doll in honor of the athlete’s success both on and off the court. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time.

Sue Bird / Steph Chambers/Getty Images

How did Sue Bird get her start?

The 43-year-old New York native first started playing basketball at the age of 11. In addition to basketball, Bird was an athletic child and also participated in soccer, tennis and track.

As a teen, Bird attended Christ the King Regional High School, where she competed on the basketball team. She and her teammates won the New York state championship in her senior year, when Bird was also declared an All-American.

Sue Bird college career

After high school, Bird enrolled at the University of Connecticut, where the guard suffered a torn ACL during her freshman season in 1998-99. By her senior season, the UConn Huskies were undefeated and Bird received the Naismith Award for College Player of the Year.

Though she was recruited by many other schools, including Stanford and Vanderbilt, Bird has stated that UConn felt right from the start.

Sue Bird / NCAA Photos/Getty Images

“To be honest, when I look back on my recruitment, it was always UConn,” she has said. “They were always kind of number one. They were always the ones that interested me the most, that felt right ... And Coach [Geno] Auriemma, on the day that I was going to decide, I called him up and he asked me, you know, what are you thinking? And I was like, oh, I’m thinking my heart says Connecticut, but my head is a little confused ... And he basically was just like, oh, I hope you follow your heart. Those were his final words and obviously I did follow my heart—thank goodness.”

After being the first round first draft pick in 2002, Bird spent her entire career in Seattle until her retirement 20 years later. She averaged 11.7 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game and 5.6 assists per game.

Sue Bird / Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Sue Bird 2024 salary

When she signed a one-year contract extension with the Seattle Storm for the 2022 season, Bird’s contract guaranteed her $72,141. Prior to that final season, she reportedly earned $60,000 per year in the beginning of her time in the league, before her salary was increased to roughly $134,000 per year with a five-year contract starting in 2016. In 2021, she signed a one-year contract for $215,000. Throughout her time in the WNBA, Bird earned an estimated $2.4 million through salary and brand endorsement deals.

Sue Bird endorsement deals and brand partners

Throughout her time in the WNBA, Bird inked deals with major brands like Nike and American Express. More recently, Bird and her partner, fellow SI Swimsuit legend Megan Rapinoe, partnered with Vox Media to relaunch and expand their production company, A Touch More.

“What started out as endless convos about our shared lived experiences has finally turned into @atouchmore,” Bird wrote on Instagram when the brand launched in late 2022. “It has been a labor of love building this with @mrapinoe, and I couldn’t be more proud and excited to share this with the world.”

Sue Bird / Elsa/Getty Images

Sue Bird net worth

Overall, Bird has an estimated net worth between $8 and $10 million, talking into account her WNBA salary and various endorsement deals and brand partnerships over the years, in addition to her lucrative career moves post-retirement.

Sue Bird retirement

Bird confirmed her retirement on June 16, 2022, and ultimately revealed that she would step away from basketball at the end of the season. “I’ve decided this will be my final year. I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first,” she wrote on social media platform X at the time alongside a photo of her younger self.

She played her last game for the Seattle Storm ever that September during the WNBA playoffs. In June of 2023, Bird’s jersey, No. 10, was retired by the Washington-based team.

Sue Bird / Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Sue Bird’s net worth compared to NBA superstars

Steph Curry, a point guard drafted to the Golden State Warriors in 2009, has an estimated net worth of between $160 and $180 million. Chris Paul, a point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, was drafted in 2005 and also has an estimated net worth of approximately $160 million.

Despite being regarded as the best guard in the WNBA’s history, it’s clear there is still a major pay discrepancy when it comes to female and male athletes, as illustrated by Bird’s expertise and lower net worth.