Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi on cover of NBA 2K23 WNBA edition
Sue Bird #10 of the Seattle Storm smiles during the first half against the Minnesota Lynx at Climate Pledge Arena on May 06, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have been linked for more than two decades, playing together at UConn and then helping the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team win five gold medals.
Now the basketball greats will appear on the cover of the NBA 2K23 WNBA edition video game that will be released on Sept. 9.
"Is is really cool personally, and I also think — being that we’re women and it’s now the second time they’ve had women on the cover, it’s special in a different way," Bird said.
It’s the second straight year that the video game will feature a WNBA athlete on one of its covers; Candace Parker was on it last year.
"The response to NBA 2K’s first WNBA Edition last year was overwhelmingly positive and a testament to the W’s growing audience and prominence," said Alfie Brody, Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy at 2K. "Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have achieved greatness both individually and together, cementing their status as two of the best players in the WNBA’s history."
Bird and Taurasi said they played video games a bit when they were younger, but there were no female basketball players on the games.
"You have all these little girls playing basketball, and they can actually start gaming now with, hopefully, two of their favorite players on the cover," Taurasi said. "It just shows you how far gaming and women’s basketball has come."
WNBA legend Sue Bird announces retirement after this season
Bird, 41, re-signed with the Storm this offseason and acknowledged the possibility this year would be her last with the team. While the decision wasn't made prior to the start of the season, Bird said confirmed her decision to call it a career after this year is over.
Bird feels that being on the cover and having WNBA players in the video game will help normalize the presence of female athletes in the lives of both boys and girls.
"Whether it’s girls or boys, whether it’s women, men, it doesn’t really matter, and that’s that’s the beauty of it," Bird said. "It’s just becoming a normal part of this ecosystem that is professional sports. And gaming is a big part of that ecosystem, so to be involved in it now — it’s just going to continue to push things forward and open up more doors, open up more minds."
NBA 2K is also partnering with the WNBA stars to donate $100,000 to Every Kid Sports, giving young people the opportunity to join youth basketball programs across the country. The donation will cover the registration fees of over 550 girls from income-restricted families.
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"Girls are dropping out of sports at an alarming rate, and I think part of it is they’re not always able to dream of what could be a career," Bird said. "Whether you make it or not, it’s actually not the point. But it’s really easy for little boys that turn on the TV to see what life could be like, if I stayed with my sport."