Sue Bird didn’t stay off the TV grid for long.
Just six weeks after ESPN shelved The Bird & Taurasi Show, Bird has landed on her feet, joining NBC and Peacock’s WNBA coverage this season, the network announced Wednesday. She’s expected to work as a studio analyst alongside lead host Maria Taylor, while also hosting a slate of feature stories throughout the year.
“I’ve been circling broadcasting for a long time now,” Bird told The Associated Press’ Doug Feinberg. “Given NBC’s history and legacy and where the WNBA is now, I am excited to be part of it.”
ESPN’s decision to shelve one of the more successful alternate broadcasts in women’s sports came with the network “reimagining” its approach, pivoting toward a more conventional courtside-driven format featuring Jess Sims, Ilona Maher, Natisha Hiedeman, Courtney Williams, Chelsea Gray, and Katie Feeney.
That left Bird, one of the show’s defining voices, without a clear on-air home, or at least temporarily.
Since retiring from an illustrious WNBA career in 2022, Bird has become the managing director of the USA Women’s Basketball National Team and has taken a part-ownership stake in her former team, the Seattle Storm. She also has two podcasts under the Vox Media Podcast Network umbrella: A Touch More, which she co-hosts with her wife, Megan Rapinoe, through her media company Togethxr, and Bird’s Eye View.
Front Office Sports reported last month that NBC has finalized its slate of play-by-play announcers as the WNBA returns to the network that aired its first-ever game in 1997. Noah Eagle will reportedly expand his portfolio to include the WNBA starting this summer, while Michael Grady will continue to work for both NBC and Prime Video during the WNBA season after doing so this NBA season. Zora Stephenson will get her first opportunity in a full-time pro play-by-play role calling WNBA games this season.
Bird would slot in alongside that group.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.