A tribute to Sue Bird after her epic Game 5 performance for Storm vs Mercury | The Jump | ESPN

Rachel Nichols pays tribute to Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird, on the heels of her epic Game 5, winner-take-all performance in the WNBA playoff semifinals vs Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury. Afterward, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Denver Nuggets guard Isaiah Thomas and Shea Serrano of The Ringer tweeted their respect. Nichols, Fran Fraschilla and Amin Elhassan of The Jump discuss Bird, the future pay structure of the WNBA, and more.
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[@atlbfan4216]

The people who are constantly saying, in the comments section of KZbin videos, that ESPN is trying to force the WNBA down their throats are very interesting. ESPN is not trying to force anything down anyone's throat. No one is forcing anyone to watch these videos. No one is forcing anyone to watch WNBA games. If you do not want to watch these videos do not click on the link. If you do not want to watch WNBA games turn the channel.

[@alices3709]

Yeah I don't get it either. It'd make more sense saying they're forcing men's sports down our throats... it's everywhere, hard to even avoid, unlike content about women's sport, which I, as a fan, sometimes have trouble even finding

[@thetribalthief6330]

Sue Bird is Queen.

[@1960jack]

Sue Bird ROCKS! SEATTLE. Dianna T is Awesome!. Could care less about the haters. I'll bet not one of you could beat a WNBA ball player one on one

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

1960jack i bet i could

[@ejsandersg260]

Some of the worst trash talk ive ever seen...FYI if your playing 1 on 1 you score in the same hoop.

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

Pasta Chocolate i disagree

[@Gonzagafragrance206]

Pulling for Sue, Loyd, and Stewie to bring another championship to Sea-Town.

[@intruda119]

Made it my mission to watch more WNBA and last night was great.

[@chitick732]

RACHEL NICHOLS!!! you’re back, please don’t leave me again.

[@tatechasers2393]

she's too large to leave

[@KG-zp6so]

@Bill Blass facts

[@saiyanroyalty229]

If u watched Game 5 then u get what happened. It was AMAZING obviously LeBron and Kobe agree. But then you look at the comments and u feel bad because everybody wants to be a comedian and the jokes aren't funny or accurate. Put some respect on these women's name smh if not I feel sorry for you

[@tatechasers2393]

have you ever seen a full shot of Rachel, she's huge

[@oilspill321]

We have no Seattle Super Sonics anymore. I'm down with watching the Storm.... It is refreshing to see players that walk a line after the game with the other teams like college teams do.

[@MrUrkel0730]

Came here to give props to Bird and Taurasi.... sees comments.... *sighs*.... never mind....

[@yomammasboo713]

Hold this L simp.

[@allyg2621]

andrew scott U hold this L too simp

[@nicholasmocalis589]

Blatant disrespect after another with complete overestimation of the NBA players abilities. Look the NBA players are better but they are not 10 times better then these women as people in the comments arrogantly assume. When it comes to skill the men are at most only 2 times better based on the weight and height for muscle. These women could compete with the NCAA men's teams but just be mediocre in the NBA at best. The reason why the NBA players are paid more is because the company chose men to market itself first in the 40's and instead of working with the WNBA in the 90's to make the organization a good second option they instead give it less money relative to the players skills, act as if it is nothing and the fan bases rip it to shreds with disrespectful and sometimes misogynistic comments like this one "why are there numbers on their aprons" which got 2,700 up votes.

[@darrengordon-hill]

Don't enable bad behaviour.

[@darrengordon-hill]

@@thatkidAtrayne Err... it's an ASSOCIATION. Clue's in the name. *L*

[@femialexwilliams9571]

Not really a fan of wnba but i watched the last two games and they were fire

[@1Cheytown]

As a Mercury fan that game 5 was tough to watch but I will give credit where credit is due....Sue played lights out that last quarter

[@qarabo4355]

bro rachel is so good at reporting and crafting out stories/reports like this, it's amazing honestly

[@oneloveonebeing]

the future is definitely nba level 100 million dollar contracts i cant wait these ladies have fire, talent great coaches everything

[@keshealm]

SHE WAS AWESOME!!!!!

[@JC-ev2ns]

Rachel Nichols is so good at this

[@striker4life360]

I'm just here for the comments.

[@joshuacahill281]

if you can't get down with good basketball ... girls or boys you don't like basketball

[@allyg2621]

Joshua Cahill hold this L simp

[@joshuacahill281]

xavier ramirez sue bird would break your ankles plain and simple. thats tuff talk from behind a keyboard. Seattle storm gonna win another championship.

[@joshuacahill281]

Nehemiah Howard do you watch or talk

[@joshuacahill281]

y'all act like the NBA is a amazing product lol

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

Joshua Cahill 7 billion dollars vs. 25 million dollars

[@yomammasboo713]

*Rachel blatantly lying to our faces* Ratings are up for the WNBA... Me: 😔

[@dcollins8718]

@NickTheQuick 224 Damn you all over the comments

[@yomammasboo713]

@NickTheQuick 224 They are still losing money though. Ratings go up and down but your product is supposed to make money. WNBA even still today loses money.

[@legodisthebesteversomelege4778]

LeBron will average 100 ppg in WNBA.

[@Randomblackguy32]

It's possible lol

[@legodisthebesteversomelege4778]

Peter Maybe even 200 .

[@usmanioa]

Absolutely true. Just post up every possession. Back em down.

[@dcollins8718]

LeBronna James

[@nikosvault]

the east is only slightly better.

[@ArianChristopher]

WNBA players don’t get the respect they deserve

[@reckopan1152]

They actually do

[@bidenhatesblacksandmexican3362]

wnba is trash

[@dcollins8718]

Complaining about not getting paid the same as their counterparts when the revenue is trash there's no respect for them

[@ArianChristopher]

They never said they should get paid the same as NBA players, they said they should get paid more. The average WNBA player gets 70,000 dollars, they should be paid at the bare minimum 120,000.

[@MrUrkel0730]

@@ArianChristopher thank you

[@Dan-tf9kb]

So glad Rachel is back

[@sendoh873]

Yes VIEWERSHIP and ATTENDANCE is UP DURING the PLAYOFFS but NOT DURING the REGULAR SEASON. They're not telling the full truth here. They are not making profit and the money is not coming in. The WNBA still has a long way to go. BTW, I did not use capitalization to emphasize yelling, only for highlighting the main point.

[@darrengordon-hill]

REALLY?? Cos I'm always TOLD I *am* shouting... beats challenging the actual argument, I guess.

[@sendoh873]

@NickTheQuick 224 Ok, viewership has gone up a bit but attendance for the rest of the WNBA teams' games other than the Seattle Storm are down 12%. Read this article, this one is more recent than the Forbes article. www.google.com/amp/s/www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/storm-attendance-up-wnba-shows-upswing-except-for-fans-showing-up-at-games/%3famp=1

[@sendoh873]

@NickTheQuick 224 And for the record, I hope the WNBA does continue to flourish and grow and I hope the ladies get the pay they deserve. I'm a Sparks fan. It sucks the ladies have to play at least 10-11 months out of the year (even though they play less games than the men) just to earn close to if not a little over a million dollars and most of the months are playing overseas.

[@sendoh873]

@NickTheQuick 224 3 total teams out of the 12 to be correct, not 3 others including Seattle. Not good and 1.37 million views compared to 2 million in the early 2000s, that's down 32%. Significant difference. But hopefully more will attend next year (for regular season games and not only just playoffs). And the Liberty move, that's only because James Dolan and MSG want to sell the team. I feel bad for the Liberty

[@happycamper9300]

The real thing is that they can get paid more overseas. The WNBA has been slowly growing in acceptance and audience. The league take a chance investing in this league. Anyone know that you have to invest and take risk to get profit. Now is the time to go a step further and increase the salary a little bit at a time to get better players and a better show.

[@NM-ev7pu]

There won't be any show if players get, let's say twice, when the best of them miss dunks during practice...

[@i.a.9849]

welcome back Rachel! missed you

[@thetribalthief6330]

Sue Bird is bae ❤️💓

[@elai3147]

until someone can put together a team that can realistically challenge the warriors, the wnba is more watchable than the nba if you enjoy competition

[@GusTorres21]

How you gonna give her first half stats when she missed 8 and try to lift her up bc she made a few at the 4th quarter? I was like... about time you made some!! I give her props, but her game was a little weak through most of the game... I ride with the Goat.

[@5lim.0]

Right? It kills me they never wanna admit when a player was trash through 30 mins of a game

[@greyFCB]

wait, the WNBA played last night?

[@darrengordon-hill]

Blinked and missed it

[@boohere2]

they will play Sunday game 2. better watch it!

[@dearshomy]

It's interesting that female basketball pays more in Europe than in the USA, how so and how can this change? I believe they could do more to grow the game, it probably needs to go through the growth process the NBA went through.

[@dearshomy]

so they need to fix it right? but what about the 50s nba?

[@bbobe2692]

Part of the growth process of the NBA was that it developed the flashiness that you started to see with the Celtics having Bob Cousy at the point and their Celtics inventing the fast break. That was the first sign of flash in the NBA, then when Dr. J came along with the merger in 1976, the NBA had even more flash. The NBA was doing okay money-wise, (better than the WNBA now), but it wasn't until the marketing miracle of Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird came along which caused the league to just explode with popularity, then Jordan took it even further. I'm pretty sure NBA players in the 50's didn't get paid that much. It wasn't until partway into Bill Russell's career that the league recognized the Players' Association, which as I understand is basically the labor union for NBA ball players, and their rights and all that, which helped lead to them getting paid more. Put together with that, the growth of the popularity of the league is the main thing that led to the multi-million dollar salaries that NBA players get today. Out of the people who like basketball but don't have interest in the WNBA, I split them into 2 sub-groups: the people who are respectful, and the people who are totally disrespectful. Out of the people who are respectful, the main criticism I hear is, "It just isn't as flashy as the NBA. They don't jump quite as high, it's not as fast, they're shorter, there's very little dunking. I just can't get into it." So if the WNBA were flashier, it probably would be a lot more popular. But I don't know if that can happen. I think the WNBA will have to try to figure out a different way to market the league. I don't know what that is. If they have SOMETHING about the league that people will love to watch, it's going to grow - even the haters would start to warm up to it. But I don't know what that "something" is. It's a pretty difficult game to figure it out. If I knew the solution, I should be working for the WNBA front office. But I don't know the solution. It hard to figure out; that's what they haven't done so yet.

[@RudieObias]

Rachel's back!!!

[@VenomHernandez]

I see Rachel Nichols... I must click

[@abortionismurderfetalheart2785]

She's ugly.

[@yomammasboo713]

I see Rachel, I click dislike.

[@allyg2621]

VenomKnight lol the nba players gotta be hittin

[@joshualyons512]

Sue bird is a stud lmao

[@johnnyboyfunny]

They didnt even put a hand up on her smh 🤦🏿‍♀️🤦🏿‍♀️🤦🏿‍♀️

[@legodisthebesteversomelege4778]

Sue BirGoat>>Taurisa

[@kang6914]

Maya Moore > Sue Bird

[@bugzmccarthy8416]

This series u right

[@mailriabaria7470]

Hof sue bird alltime great

[@MalikEmmanuel]

How can they get a greater share of revenue when the league is not profitable as is? How does that not equate to a larger handout from the NBA? On the other hand, this is the visibility they have been asking for so let’s see if it helps. Rachel’s monologue makes it sound exciting, you can tell she’s a great writer, but when the highlights play.....

[@aylwardcasey5072]

GOAT

[@clydemeans781]

FEEL LIKE SHE BEEN PLAYING SINCE I WAS IN HIGHSCHOOL IM 37

[@rjaymontoya8395]

Finally you're back

[@Rmasters08]

Who’s joining my fantasy WNBA league next year? Lol

[@geowilson242]

Uconn women caries the WNBA. CT

[@CadenWebb88]

It's not reasonable for WNBA players to expect equal revenue share when most teams aren't profitable and they're still being subsidized by the NBA. Build the business and then share the returns as the business grows.

[@mianthony4340]

What's up with the thumbnail i thought she was dead? Lmao

[@clydecavalieri4511]

I never watch WNBA but I knew everyone she was talking about because I follow UCONN women basketball.

[@SpecificPT]

if they want more notoriety and money then the media should show more of their stories instead of repeating pointless 'what if' stories about Lebron

[@brettshepherd5240]

I love the wnba..no shame

[@dariusmaye]

If they are not asking for what the NBA players are getting and they are aware of the interest difference. Can they please stop comparing WNBA to the NBA then. Calling NBA players bums and criticizing NBA players contracts.

[@NM-ev7pu]

Harrison Barnes would average Wilt-like numbers...yes, there are overpaid players, but you cannot blame the palyers for their contract. Blame GMs and owners.

[@dariusmaye]

Marco I wasn’t blaming the player. I was responding to Racheal point. The WNBA know they can’t get what the NBA players getting but why keep comparing your league to theirs. Why criticize players contracts. Racheal seem wrong because they are basically asking for what the NBA players are getting.

[@NM-ev7pu]

@@dariusmaye Yes I know. My statement was just a general one. Don't criticize the players for their contract, because why the hell are they at fault?

[@dariusmaye]

Marco oh I see what you were saying.

[@ANTTEAMSMOKE]

Rachel: Sue bird is a stud I thought she was a fem

[@MalikEmmanuel]

I couldn’t get shots that wide open in an empty gym!

[@colinskov9474]

So u want more of ur leagues revenue yet ur league isnt making any revenue. Well i mean compared to the amount they are spending each year on it. These players asking to get payed more but that would just kill the buisness faster as you would be pumping way more money into this league yet the quality of the games wouldnt be getting any better. I dont want to sound harsh here but stop trying to sell us a product that 99% of the people dont want.

[@toan19812]

I feel like Isiah Thomas is trying so hard to stay in the news, his tweets are not genuine.

[@mailriabaria7470]

Sue bird the Israelian American born ballplayer a legend in Connecticut and in seattle, we got next, watch us work, a great basketball town, key arena, wnba and nba needs franchises back in the sleepless in Seattle area, would be great for the wnba and nba, get on the job commissioner adam silver

[@redonslaught3020]

Niggas really saying how strong she is for playing through a broken nose??? Look at Steve Nash when he played with a broken nose. Foh

[@jefm3598]

Lower the rim, shrink the court, shorten the game-time. Make the game more fast paced. Not everyone wanna watch lay-ups and slow games.

[@Ainttrippin]

Lowered rims makes a bigger barrier for women to play basketball. How you gna be playing on normal rims your whole life and then switch to a lowered rim to go pro.

[@rom116kjv]

The ball is already smaller, meaning the rim is a lot larger meaning they should be able to hit more shots....

[@bbobe2692]

lowering the rim might help, but the cost of managing the facilities for ALL wnba and ncaa women's teams would be enormous. it'd be quite a risk, and one that may or may not even pay off.

[@NerdDrunk]

Should've gotten the tech. Dee would've been ejected.

[@albertoleitao94]

I have been trying to follow wnba but its fucking hard for me that am not an american. You guys have all this shows about nba which I watch and apreciate, but I would love for show like this to talk about the wnba more. The games, the strat, the players, all the thing you talk about for the nba. And instead of talking about some useless personal twitter of LeBron, you guys could use that time to talk more about the wnba. SIDE note: ONLY americans care this much about what an athlete says in social media. Sorry for the English, this stupid cellphone kept trying to autocorrect to my language.

[@bigdrew3007]

Ima be real I don’t even watch wnba

[@Ainttrippin]

Most people don't. I certainly do. League Pass is $20 for the whole season to watch the best players in the world play.

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

Coach JG if i wanted to watch wnba talent i’d head over to my local high school

[@dcollins8718]

Who???

[@boohere2]

go look her up.

[@Kabaselefh]

I thought WNBA season ended.

[@SasukeEver]

give em more of the pie that they are not making, i agree

[@TheKingJason3]

Sue Bird > Stephen Curry That's not even a debate. Don't @ me either.

[@bbobe2692]

I'm a WNBA fan but I spy a troll. I'm poking the bear. Have at it.

[@julianbashir8277]

Lmao she said its been fun watching these WNBA finals. No ones watching that shit. And stop that lieing that the ratings are up. Lmao

[@Greg_Deep]

Don't care

[@bigdog9507]

The fact that the WNBA season started in May and the only topics about it have been about the only game one of these espn shows covered was the last conference finals games just goes to show how ESPN knows people don't care.

[@oMaJoJ]

I'm waiting for them to pretend to care about baseball's attendance issue next month.

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

wnba will never be relevant

[@kingcollazo8376]

zee boo neither will u bitch

[@benjoseph6669]

guess you don't follow lebron or kobe on twitter

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

Ben Joseph if i wanted to watch wnba level talent i’d walk to the local high school

[@jeffreymerlino4613]

boring nerd Stan i’m saying the best women in the world play about as well as the average high school basketball team

[@benjoseph6669]

wow, super sick comeback dude! you got me there!

[@storminmormn6283]

If Javale Magee could be the MVP in your league 10 seasons in a row, maybe you league shouldn’t be on national television.

[@King-de6ks]

Not tryna come off as a dick but wen did the wnba season start,and do ESPN only cover them during the championship?

[@oMaJoJ]

WNBA season starts in mid May. ESPN is trying to cover the WNBA like they do any other sports league that's not the NBA and the NFL (to a lesser extant); at the most competitive time in the season. Watch for ESPN to pretend to care about baseball in a couple of weeks. My theory for the increase in coverage is the potential for stories concerning the upcoming bargaining agreement. It is an interesting issue but most people will them out simply because it's the women's basketball league.

[@matthewbouchard3589]

Kevin Durant ruined the NBA finals.

[@nikosvault]

Stop with the crying. Lebron tried. Durant did it.

[@1p4p_akqb99]

Just bring back the real nba, this is some bullshit

[@kanyeeast4162]

#1P4P_Akq B it's just one 6 minute segment during the NBA offseason lol

[@kingcollazo8376]

#1P4P_Akq B THEN DON’T WATCH AND SHUT UP

[@boohere2]

you sexiest idiotic male pig. This is not bull shit. If you say that then your IQ is the lowest ever.You didn't even watch this previous last game nor do you watch any of the WNBA, so who are you to say that. Maybe you are just jealous that these ladies are better athletes then you will ever be. Sue Bird was dropping those 3's like Steph Curry or Klay. Catch and release.

[@ejsandersg260]

Why is some one sexist because they dont like the WNBA? And why do you feel as though you need to belittle peoples IQ in every comment, it shows... lack of IQ, as does consistently not being able to process peoples opinions and not being able to string a sentence together. Why not present an argument that is A; coherant, B; insightful and C; might change or challenge someones opinion, instead of 'lowest IQ ever' 'IQ so low'.

[@mvpmvp2980]

lol

[@jav-0003]

Who?

[@storminmormn6283]

If I could get a group of my high school buddies together and beat a WNBA team in a 5 game series, I’m sorry I won’t watch that sport.

[@taehead5927]

Diana is not the goat. More like Moore.

[@SonicJaneStooge]

*yawnnnnnnnsssss*

[@tomdrake3787]

Are these college teams?

[@boohere2]

No...real women's national basketball league. they get paid more money then you ever will see in your life time

[@mvpmvp2980]

breaking news: wnba experienced a 20% viewer increase this year, as the average audience increased from 100 people to 120.

[@sld1776]

Who is this non-entity no one watched live? Bleh.

[@NM-ev7pu]

Yeah, go on strike. Good idea if you have no leverage...

[@oMaJoJ]

Many players go overseas during the winter to make more money. Top players make a lot more overseas. Diana Taurasi sat out one WNBA season and wound up making $1.5M playing in Russia that year, while her WNBA contract would've topped out around $100K. I think they be have a bit of leverage to get a bigger piece of the pie, maybe not 50-50, but definitely more than (allegedly) 25.

[@Samuelx123x]

WNBA stands for Waiting for the NBA..

[@mossdef6574]

HEY ESPN.... NO ONE CARES!!!

[@cibida1]

Moss Def I do.

[@kingcollazo8376]

Moss Def BITCH SPEAK FOR YOURSELF DUMBASS

[@davesize2222]

Yet here you are leaving a comment. Eye-row-knee

[@boohere2]

Moss- if you didn't care you wouldn't have watched the video.you would have shut it off right away and not even comment. what do you do? you watch the full video and comment. FYI---you do care.it's okay. Be a man own up to it.

[@chrollol690]

Idk what’s more cringe Rachel or the WNBA

[@freestylez3]

Bron alone would win the WNBA championship, 1v5 every single team. Let’s be honest here, the WNBA is a business and they just ain’t making enough money to pay the players more.

[@boohere2]

just like Lebron won the title for the cavs back in 2016. had he not played at all--i am sure the warriors win that year.

[@uc95nu51]

Ramona shelbourne musta lost a few pounds since i last saw her.

[@kylelindsay6390]

Sue Bird is a Stud.....🤣🤣🤣

[@sleeve9097]

No one cares

[@MrNewktrane]

.......and yet you are here. Amazing!

[@vinukwickramasinghe4256]

He came to demolish the WNBA. That chamber path of a league...

[@boohere2]

If no one wanted to watch the WNBA they would not host it on TV at all. they would say rating are terrible bye. That's not the case. People going to the actual games, they are watching and care. This last game stadium was packed. You are the liar James. It's just you don't care to watch, so don't. Let others enjoy the WNBA and respect that.

[@Thealltimegreat1]

WNBA players should be hired for looks not talent. And booty shorts should be mandatory after that. 1000% increase in viewership.

[@boohere2]

Only a sexiest pig male would want the booty shorts. Congrats you are one! what about if we make men wear that instead?

[@bbobe2692]

i don't agree that they should do this, but if the NBA wardrobe were the same as it was in the 1970's, and the WNBA started existing with shorts as short as the NBA shorts used to be in the 70's/80's, I guarantee you WNBA viewership would be WAY higher than it is now, though it would be for the wrong reasons... but that's why you see women's volleyball broadcast on national TV. the men like to watch girls they think are hot. that's just the way the US viewerbase is

[@davidtoomalatai5622]

No one cares about WNBA, talk about what we watch the show for, NBA, Stuff WNBA #Boring

[@boohere2]

People do care.Do you see all the fans in that stadium on this youtube video? PEOPLE CARE. In the playoffs and finals, stadiums are crowded with fans. Those fans CARE. It's just for some reason, you don't care.

[@BladeRunner20999]

Sue bird isn't even better than the worst NBA player in the league right now.

[@iskindersam4899]

With this 8 misses now I know why the WNBA is gonna fold soon.

[@boohere2]

Houston Rockets--NBA--missed 27 straight 3's in the western conference finals 2018. That's the whole team.lol. you think by Sue missing just 8 that's bad? you're joking right???

[@robertlesure9397]

Less viewers... no revenue... inferior product... stop.

[@alleneng]

6 mins talkin about the wnba? slow day in sports i guess

[@boohere2]

watch sunday's game WNBA

[@michaelcheng4985]

Sorry, but I don't really care...

[@joelapka3094]

yawn yawn yawn...who cares? Rachel Nichols...roll my eyes...who did she marry?...must watch tv...give me a break...I'm sure that was discussed in the pregame meetings...our ratings are down...what happened to espn...haven't they figured it out that nobody wants to listen to Rachel's thoughts as well as her colleagues...we need more Nick Saban's snapping back at every stupid pregame halftime and post game questions that are asked...nobody cares and how much do you get paid to parade around the sidelines to be a pain in the ass...

[@rickytyson2054]

Why is time being wasted for this terrible show

[@dulla93]

Boring