10 años junto a Lauren Jackson

A lo largo de estos 10 años, Sue Bird ha estado acompañada de Lauren Jackson. Las dos números 1 del draft, ambas superestrellas en su posición, se han convertido en muy buenas amigas fuera de pista, ya que además pasaban prácticamente todo el año juntas cuando coincidieron en el mismo equipo en Rusia. Lo divertido de la relación es que antes de conocerse Lauren confundió a Sue con otra compañera de equipo.

"I thought Sue was Adia (Barnes)," confiesa Jackson. "I was coming to training camp a couple of days late and I walked on to the court and they were training. I thought Adia was Sue."

Jackson consiguió diferenciar a las dos jugadoras, pero la amistad entre ella y Bird tardó algo más.

"I'm shy now but I was really shy when I was younger," explica Jackson. "Sue and I probably didn't say a word to each other for a little while."

Bird señala que la química entre ella y Lauren se notó inmediatamente cuando empezaron a jugar juntas, quienes se complementan a la perfección. Un gran porcentaje de las 1,726 asistencias totales de la carrera de Bird han sido a Lauren Jackson, quien retorna el favor elogiando a la base.

"I think she is the best point guard in the world, flat-out, no doubt," dice Jackson. "There's nothing more I can say about her. She blows me whenever she makes passes, when she makes clutch shots."

No fue hasta su Segundo año jugando juntas, en 2003, cuando Jackson y Bird se empezaron a conocer fuera de la cancha.

"After we sort of both started talking to each other and hanging out a little more, it made our lives a lot easier," dice Jackson. "Getting to know each other off the court definitely helped our on-court relationship. We started going to the Kangaroo and Kiwi. Once that happened, we've been very close ever since."

Ahora Jackson dice que no se puede imaginar cómo podría haber sido su vida a lo largo de esta ultima década sin Bird.

"For me, she's been there through thick and thin, literally," explica Lauren. "She's just a loyal, fun-loving kind of girl. I can go to her house from two o'clock in the afternoon to two o'clock in the morning and just sit there talking. She's just really easy to hang out with. 

"She's very level-headed and calm. I know that when I get flustered or upset about something on the court or off the court, she calms me down. I do the same for her. It's nice that I have that sort of relationship with her and trust her.”

"Now that we're well and truly vets, it's a lot different from 10 years ago. It's great to have grown up with her and now we'll go through adulthood as close friends too, after this is long gone."

Más info: Una década con las Seattle Storm