after the 2022 WNBA season. Her season ended on September 7, 2022 with the Storm's playoff loss to the Las Vegas Aces. Early life Bird was born in Syosset, Nassau County, New York, on Long Island to Herschel and Nancy Bird. She has one sibling, an older sister named Jen. Her father's ancestry is Russian-Jewish, and their original last name was "Boorda". She is also an Israeli citizen since 2006, on account of her Jewish father and paternal grandparents, but she represents her birth country, the United States, in international competitions. Bird was interested in sports from an early age, which was partly influenced by her athletic older sister. Besides basketball, she played soccer and tennis and ran track. Bird started playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball in the sixth grade. While only 11 years old, she played during halftime of a St. John's basketball game; her play was so impressive that a security guard asked for her autograph. High school Bird played her freshman and sophomore years at Syosset High School, but wanted more competition. She therefore enrolled at Christ the King Regional High School in Queens, New York. Bird spent two seasons at Christ the King, and the Royals went 24–3 her junior year. In the second season her team finished undefeated and won the New York state championship, and the national title. Bird won many awards, including the New York State Player of the Year, and the New York Daily News Player of the Year. Bird was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association High School All-America Game, where she scored 11 points. College Bird was recruited by a number of teams including Stanford and Vanderbilt. She considered UConn the favorite, but she began to waver when Keirsten Walters and Brianne Stepherson, both point guards, announced commitments to UConn. She worried that there might not be room for her to play. However, when Stepherson changed her mind and committed to Boston College, Bird committed to UConn. In addition to increased opportunity, UConn was close to home and "felt right" to her. Eight games into her freshman season, Bird suffered a torn ACL. Since she had played more than 20% of team's games the 1998–1999 season, she was not able to redshirt. In her sophomore season (1999–2000), she came back to lead the team to a 36–1 record, the Big East Championship, and the