"Some fun little fact about my career that maybe some of you know, maybe not: My very first points in the WNBA at Key Arena as a rookie were on a layup," Bird said at the ceremony.

The eighth-ranked Storm fell to the fourth-ranked Mercury 85-82 on Sunday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd of 14,169 at Climate Pledge Arena.

"Sue's legacy isn't just written in championships — it's woven into the fabric of Seattle," Storm president Alisha Valavanis said in July when the organization first announced Bird's statue.