One of the greatest players in WNBA history is getting the doc treatment. Now underway, “Sue Bird: In the Clutch” follows “the final chapter” of the Seattle Storm player’s 19-year career in basketball, per Variety. “Promising full access, the film will document her record-setting fifth Olympic gold medal, the 2022 WNBA season, life with fiancé Megan Rapinoe, advocating for social justice, and her post-retirement plans.” The doc hails from Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Jay Ellis’ Black Bar Mitzvah.
Bird was drafted first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft and has since landed four WNBA championships. She’s also a five-time Olympic gold medalist.
Directed by Sarah Dowland (“The Prosecution: The Million Dollar Man”), “Sue Bird: In the Clutch” will “incorporate never-before-seen footage from her 2021 season and the Tokyo Olympics. Interview subjects will include Rapinoe, Diana Taurasi, Bird’s teammates on the Seattle Storm, and NBA stars as well as celebrities and political leaders,” according to the source.
“We’re excited to give this once-in-a-generation athlete the send-off she deserves,” said Gibney. “It’s an amazing opportunity to explore the impact of Sue and the wider WNBA — not just on the game of basketball, but on social justice, activism, and women in sports.”
“People ask about legacy all the time. The one thing I’ve learned about that question is that they probably aren’t asking you about your legacy if you haven’t already done a lot of cool shit,” Bird told GQ in 2020. “I feel like my basketball legacy will take care of itself.”
Bird was featured in “144,” Jenna Contreras and Lauren Stowell’s ESPN doc about life in the WNBA bubble during COVID-19 that explores how social justice activism, and the Black Lives Matter movement specifically, transformed the league.
