The Seattle Storm's Sue Bird, who is getting ready for her 18th WNBA season, said Monday she feels "great" and isn't bothered by the knee injury that caused her to miss 11 of 22 regular-season games last year.
Bird, who turned 40 in October, is the oldest active player in the WNBA. She is in training camp preparing for the defending champion Storm's opener on May 15 against the Las Vegas Aces (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
Bird suffered a bone bruise in her left knee in July in the Storm's second game of the season in the bubble at Bradenton, Florida. However, she was able to play in all six postseason games as the Storm swept the Minnesota Lynx and the Aces for the WNBA title, the fourth for the franchise and Bird.
Bird had dealt with other knee issues in her career, which contributed to her sitting out the 2013 and 2019 WNBA seasons after surgeries. But she said last year's issues were not about past issues or wear and tear.
"It wasn't a product of my age; it wasn't a product of anything else other than getting my knee banged and having a bone bruise," Bird said in a videoconference call with media. "And having to deal with that, coming back a little too soon, which was my fault, having to take a little bit more time off.
"I definitely take care of my body. I do what I have to do to be playing at a high level as an athlete. Things happen sometimes, and that's what happened to me in the 2020 season. Knock on wood, I hope things like that don't happen to anybody on this team. But right now, my health is great. I feel great."