UConn standout Sue Bird is considered one of the most respected figures in the basketball community, with no documented controversies or relevant disciplinary issues surrounding her. Due to her calm demeanor and uncanny shotmaking ability down the stretch, she’s been called with various nicknames, including “Sue Brid,” “Birdie,” and “DB” (short for “Die B***ches).
However, one rare case in which emotions prevailed over her discipline during her time at UConn paved the way for an assistant coach to call her an infamous nickname that became one of her least favorites.
What Was the Nickname Sue Bird Claimed She Couldn’t Stand?
In her “Bird’s Eye View” podcast, posted on Saturday, Sue Bird was asked by a fan which nickname she liked the most and which she liked the least. She disclosed that “SueBird” spelled out as one word was among her favorites. But one moniker that stood out as her least favorite originated in a game where she committed something she’d least likely do.
Bird recalled the time when she was playing with the UConn Huskies and her shot was blocked. She went mad over the blocker and felt that her soul was crushed after the block. At the other end, when the player who blocked her was a bit of a step ahead of her, she cut across the back side and clipped her leg intentionally.
“When I was in college, I was playing in a game, I had my shot blocked really badly. I was mad about it. On our way back down on defense or my way back down on defense, the player who had blocked my shot was running a little bit ahead of me,” Bird said. “And in a ‘I went black kind of moment,’ I just cut across like the back side of her and clipped her leg on purpose. I’m owning it now I tripped her.”
One of UConn’s assistants that time, Jamelle Elliott, saw what Bird did to the player and asked her if she did it on purpose. She took responsibility for the act, and Elliott called her “Sue Beast.”
“So it was no longer Sue Bird it was Sue Beast,” she said. “The funny thing is like a year later, I clipped somebody’s leg but totally by accident and she obviously double down on. She didn’t believe me but I swear I’ll own it when I do it.”
Sue Bird went on to have a great career where she won two national titles with the Huskies in 2000 and 2002, four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm, and five Olympic gold medals. She was also a Naismith Player of the Year in 2002, a 13-time WNBA All-Star, and a five-time WNBA First Team and three-time Second Team awardee, as well as a three-time WNBA assists leader.
Her exploits as a women’s basketball star had her jersey retired by the Seattle Storm, and she was part of the 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th Anniversary teams. She was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on April 5, 2025.