Sue Bird has a knee injury and the storm seems totally screwed

Reigning champion Seattle Storm will have a hard time repeating itself in 2019. Not only will the reigning MVP Breanna Stewart miss this year after tearing up his Achilles, but now veteran leader Sue Bird will be out for most, if not all, of the upcoming season, as the team announced today it will undergo a left knee surgery.

Stewart's injury to her Russian team was already going to be a blow for the Storm team, who beat 26-8 last year. At 38, Bird was clearly in the last act of his career, and the loss of the leader may not be as serious as literally losing the most valuable player in the league. However, Bird's return in 2018 gave a sense of unlimited potential, and the fact that he would probably not have the opportunity to perform a recall performance was a blow for Seattle and the WNBA as a whole.

Holding the Storm offensive, they not only won the title, but also their first playoff games since 2012, and Bird recorded a career high of 7.1 assists per game last season, surpassing his previous record 6.6 from the previous season. And while his 10.1 points per game was at the lowest point in his career, Bird was by far the most frightening distance shooter in Storm, as she showed in the deciding game of the Conference Finals against Phoenix. Bird's late dagger series in Game 5 was undeniably the most exciting moment of the Seattle season.

When their season begins Saturday with a rematch against the Mercury, the Storm will also lose head coach Dan Hughes, who underwent a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor earlier in the month and who has no schedule to be respected. To remain competitive in the field, Seattle will have to rely on secondary scorers such as Natasha Howard (who made a big leap forward after being traded to Seattle last year) and Jewell Loyd to carry out their attack. . But in a Western Conference that has already been shaken by the rise of Aces, they are no longer the biggest threat of the season.