This past November the Denver Nuggets announced that they would be adding Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird to their front office. Bird will serve as a Basketball Operations Associate, according to the Nuggets.
“I’m really excited to join the Denver Nuggets organization,” said Bird. “I’m thankful for the opportunity and look forward to learning from some of the best.”
The apprenticeship with the Nuggets will allow her to “develop her off-the-court skills in basketball operations.”
“We are very excited to have Sue join our organization,” said Nuggets’ President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, who began his NBA career as a basketball operations intern in 1996 with the Washington Wizards. “Her résumé certainly speaks for itself and as a still active player she will offer an extremely unique perspective.”
Bird this past September that she would be indeed returning to the Storm for her 17th season. During her time in Seattle, Bird has helped lead the Storm to three WNBA Championships.
The Nuggets are in town to take on the Dallas Mavericks, unfortunately, Bird does not travel with the team, but after the morning shootaround I asked Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone what it was like having Sue Bird:
“I’ve gotten that question a couple of times and to be honest, I haven’t seen Sue Bird all year. She’s not doing anything with the coaching staff and our team. I do know it’s been a huge benefit for Tim Connolly and the front office, which is what her role is. She’s out there scouting. She’s going to games, she’s looking at players and the one thing that is a consistent thing for us is anytime you can add anybody, Sue Bird or anybody else, that has had the amount of success that she’s had, you’re only going to benefit from that. Sue has won at every level high school, college, WNBA and for Team USA. I think it’s great that Tim Connolly brought her along. She’s a part of our family, but I’d be lying if I said that she’s been with us and doing a lot. It’s more front office, more scouting and I think that it’s been a great addition to our group,” Malone told me.
