STORRS — Years before she ever had an offer to play for the UConn women’s basketball team, YouTube highlight reels made Nika Muhl a Sue Bird fan.
Growing up in Zagreb, Croatia, college and WNBA games were rarely accessible on television, and media coverage was far more limited than it is today, so Muhl’s primary window into the game outside of Europe was through clips she dug up on the internet. Bird’s were some of the most readily available, and Muhl studied the Huskies great, trying to mimic her moves with dreams of someday playing in the NCAA.
Muhl committed to Bird’s alma mater in 2020, but she had no idea that she was taking on the legendary point guard’s jersey when she decided to wear No. 10 at UConn. She’d adopted the number by chance during her days playing youth basketball, but once she arrived on campus, she quickly began to understand the profound history tied to the digits.
“The coaches are always talking, making examples of our alums, and they made a lot of examples of Sue and just the way she approached everything she did,” Muhl said. “You definitely hear a lot of stories. Her name is on the wall, so it’s looking at you every single day. The standard is there that she built.”
Muhl’s story isn’t unique among the current generation of athletes, even though most are too young to have watched Bird live in her prime. When Bird’s No. 10 was officially retired at Gampel Pavilion ahead of UConn’s game against DePaul on Sunday, there wasn’t a single active player on the floor who was alive during the Hall of Fame point guard’s college career. But when the Huskies donned the throwback white jersey UConn wore from 1998-2002, coach Geno Auriemma said they referred to them as the “Sue Bird uniform.”
“She wasn’t the only player that played on those teams, but that’s how it became synonymous (with her),” Auriemma said. “Her legend, I think, lives even in these young players. Her activities off the court I think are also a big part of it, but I hope that young players do take the time to go and watch some of the games she played and the way she played. They could learn a lot from that.”
It’s fitting that Muhl, an exceptional point guard in her own right, was the last player to graduate from UConn wearing No. 10 before it was retired. Muhl broke Bird’s program record for single-season assists in 2022-23 as well as her senior class assists record in 2023-24, and Muhl finished as the Huskies’ career assists leader where Bird currently ranks seventh all-time.
“If somebody had told me that I would have (broken Bird’s records), I would have laughed at the beginning of my career at UConn,” Muhl said with a grin. “She probably would have laughed too … I know how hard I had to work to break those records, so I have even more respect for her and how she got to those numbers. It’s a special thing, and I’m glad I had her to set the standard for me in that way.”
Bird’s legacy carries a special weight for the players who come through Storrs, where her name is woven through so much of the program’s foundation. Sophomore point guard Kayleigh Heckel, who grew up just a few miles north of Bird’s hometown of Syosset in Port Chester, New York, calls Bird her favorite player of all time and considers her a role model. Huskies star Azzi Fudd was attending camps with Stephen Curry and receiving awards from Elena Delle Donne as a teenager, but she said she still got starstruck around Bird until this spring after they spoke on a panel together at the Business of Women’s Sports Summit.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to really understand the impact that she’s had on the game on and off the court and what she’s doing, what she’s been able to build for herself and just how impressive that is,” Fudd said. “Doing that panel with her made me kind of be like okay, yes it’s Sue Bird, but she is a normal person.”
It’s easy to explain Bird’s greatness through the laundry list of accolades she collected over four years at UConn and 20 in the WNBA with the Seattle Storm. She was a two-time NCAA champion, a three-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner and the unanimous national player of the year as a senior in 2002. She led the Storm to four WNBA championships, earned a WNBA-record 13 All-Star selections and became the league’s career assists leader. She helped USA Basketball to five consecutive Olympic gold medals plus four FIBA World Championships.
But the aspect of Bird’s game that almost every young player says they aspire to replicate most is her leadership. In his speech before Bird’s jersey was unveiled at Gampel Pavilion, Auriemma called her “the greatest point guard in the history of basketball,” and that title extends far beyond her ability to run an offense.
“Very rarely is someone identified by on-the-court excellence as a player, but (also) the intangible part as a leader, and her leadership was on and off the court,” Auriemma said. “I think more than anything there was this level of trust that the coaches had, that the other players had, and it never wavered … (She’s) just legendary. One of one.”
STORRS, CT; 1.12.99: With 6 minutes left on the clock the starters were on the bench cheering their teammates. They are Tamika Williams, Svetlana Abrosimova, Sue Bird, Shea Ralph, Asjha Jones, Kelly Schumacher and Kennitra Johnson. (DIGITAL) Courant Photo Michael McAndrews
Bird’s off-court leadership, particularly during her professional career, had an immeasurable impact that is still felt well after her retirement. She spent her last five seasons in the league serving on the executive committee of the WNBA Players Association, and she helped negotiate the groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement in 2020 that paved the way for the players’ current push to overhaul their salary structure under a new CBA in 2026. Bird was also deeply involved in the league’s social justice activism amid the 2020 bubble season.
“Her voice is just so loud. She’s an advocate for so many players, and for the league itself, so I just think it’s so cool,” Huskies guard Ashlynn Shade said. “It’s really cool that I get to be a part of something like this, that we get to see her jersey being retired, because she’s just such a special person and player.”
Muhl said it’s strange to think that UConn will never have another No. 10, but it also feels correct that the jersey belongs to Bird alone for posterity. Since being drafted by the Storm in 2024, Muhl has grown accustomed to looking up at Bird’s No. 10 jersey hanging in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena where it was retired in 2023, and she always knew the number would also take its rightful place in Gampel Pavilion’s rafters some day.
“We were all just waiting for it to happen,” Muhl said. “I’m glad to be just a little, small part of it. I hope I lived up to that jersey just a little tiny bit. I’m super grateful and very proud of her.”
Dom Amore: What’s in a number? UConn women raise the perfect ’10’ to the rafters at Gampel Pavilion