SUE BIRD

I stick with all anti-inflammatory foods: tons of veggies, eggs, chicken, and fish. I will have some red meat, but only every now and then.

People continue to put our league down. It's because we're women; that's the fight. And it's a majority of black women; that's the other fight. But we represent America to the fullest. And it's weird to me that people wouldn't want to support that. I don't get it.

Basketball is a short period of time, and you've got to take advantage of it.

I have applied for Israeli citizenship, which makes playing overseas a bit easier.

There's something nice about being part of a trailblazing group. It's hard to look at myself that way because I look at Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoops and Rebecca Lobo and Dawn Staley in that way.

Going into your rookie year, whatever team does take you, and you get to camp, there's going to be a lot of talent in that gym. You're going to walk in a gym - and no matter what - there's going to be a lot of talent.

There was no professional basketball for me in the United States when I was in grade school and middle school. I could look to the Olympics and college basketball, but that was only on TV for the Final Four.

As for Seattle, we are rebuilding - no doubt about it. And in the WNBA, it's not easy to rebuild. You can't dangle millions in front of quality free agents.

Going to Jerusalem was an amazing experience... I spent most of my time in Tel Aviv. Gorgeous.

I was probably 7 or 8 when I went to see the Bulls play and was able to see Michael Jordan.

Be kind. Be nice to yourself. You miss a shot, it's OK.

When I turned 30, the first question I got was, 'How much longer do you want to play?' And I don't see why that can't be when you turn 40. I really don't.

A lot of us players, if you were to ask them, feel like they have to play overseas. Why? 'Why not? Might as well do it while I can.' For a while, I felt that way - I've got to make the most money that I can. Now, do I feel like I could still play overseas? Absolutely. But I don't feel that pressure anymore.

You can control what you put in your body, how you take care of yourself, how much you work. You have to control what you can.

There's been so many stories throughout the league where teams have started off poorly and ended up in the Finals. Or teams starting out great and not making the playoffs.

Nowadays, the difference between athletes is really small, and if you can get an edge, why not take it.

We're going to have a moment. It's coming: just that breakthrough that's going to give us a cool factor, and more people will want to be a part of it. Because that, to me, is the only thing we're lacking - that social thing: 'It's cool to go to a WNBA game.'

Jay-Z, for a lot of reasons, will always be my favorite. But actually, in terms of what I listen to, it bends towards hip-hop, but I like everything. The only thing I don't really love is country, but everything else I'm a huge fan of.

I've been on extremely talented teams that just don't click, and I've also been on team with a little bit less talent, but they clicked, and because they clicked, they did better than other talented teams I've been on.

I think, generally speaking as a player, when I hear the word 'scout,' it's usually, 'The Seattle Storm are playing the L.A. Sparks tomorrow; the assistant coaches are scouting the L.A. Sparks.' And then they come to us and give a scouting report on the players and the team.

I don't know that I'm as conservative as portrayed.

I'm not a good one-on-one player.

I thought that basketball and soccer were hard. And then I went to track practice. It's just running and running and running. And my event was the 400 hurdles. I ended up qualifying for state. But looking back on it, track was hard.

All of the teams in this league that have won multiple championships, they didn't come out the gate winning. Sometimes you have to take those hits to understand what it takes to win.

I've had, like, 10 surgeries in my life: four or so on my knee, my hip and my nose a couple of times.