Loyd the year before. With the addition of Stewart and Loyd quickly developing into a star player, the Storm made it back to the playoffs for the first time in 3 years with a 16–18 record. With the WNBA's new playoff format in effect, the Storm were the number 7 seed in the league and faced the Atlanta Dream in the first round, losing the single elimination game 94–85. Bird was also listed in the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary. In April 2017, it was announced by the Storm that Bird had undergone left knee surgery earlier in the month, which caused her to miss training camp. She was ruled out indefinitely. On May 21, 2017, Bird returned after recovering from knee surgery and made her season debut, making her both the oldest active player and the oldest starter in the WNBA. She scored 9 points along with 10 assists in an 81–71 victory over the Washington Mystics. On June 11, 2017, Bird scored a season-high 21 points along with 10 assists in a 94–86 loss to the New York Liberty. Bird was voted into the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her 10th all-star game appearance (tying Tamika Catchings for most all-star game appearances). She had set the All-Star Game record for assists with a performance of 8 points along with 11 assists for the Western Conference All-Stars team in a 130–121 victory. On September 1, 2017, Bird became the WNBA all-time leader in assists with a career total of 2,600 assists, passing Ticha Penicheiro in a 110–106 overtime loss to the Washington Mystics. She finished the game with 19 points along with a season-high of 13 assists. Bird would finish off the 2017 season, averaging a career-high in assists per game as the Storm finished 15–19 with the 8th seed in the league. The Storm would lose 79–69 to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round elimination game. On July 8, 2018, Bird scored a season-high 21 points in a 97–91 victory over the Washington Mystics. During that game she became the Storm's all-time leading scorer, passing Lauren Jackson's 6,007 points. On July 19, 2018, Bird was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, passing Tamika Catchings for most all-star appearances. On July 22, 2018, Bird broke yet another record, this time for the