“Never Survive That”: Sue Bird Questions NWSL Policy After Facing Repeated WNBA Nightmare

Are you familiar with the “weak link vs. strong link” lingo in sports? For context: in weak link sports, a team is only as strong as its worst player, while in strong link sports, a team thrives off the excellence of its best player. Take soccer—often considered a weak link sport—where even a single underperformer can break the system. Basketball, on the other hand, is viewed as a strong link sport; if one player isn’t particularly skilled or bought into the team culture, a star can usually compensate. Yet for someone like Sue Bird, who’s dominated the basketball courts for decades, this is the least of a concern on her mind.

The WNBA legend instead has a bone to pick with the National Women’s Soccer League—the very league where her partner, Megan Rapinoe, once reigned supreme—to rather address the issue she faced during her playing days. It all comes down to the mid-break that various sporting leagues take during an ongoing international tournament, say the Olympics. For instance, during the 2024 Paris edition, the WNBA paused its entire season until the international competition concluded.

However, that wasn’t the case with the NWSL. Not only did many of its top stars leave to represent their countries at the Summer Games, but the league also continued operating as usual. Imagine the league running without players like Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson for nearly two months. But that’s the nature of the beautiful game—something that leaves Sue Bird more than a little astounded!

“I notice it when they [Soccer] have their FIFA breaks during the NWSL season and their best players are leaving to go play for the national team, their season continues,” said the former Seattle Storm star while speaking on the Ted Audio Collective’s ReThinking with Adam Grant podcast alongside her partner. “We would never survive that.”

To help you understand her point better, let’s break down the 44-year-old’s argument through a simple comparison between soccer and basketball. Consider the game played with feet first. Even if your team features an iconic name like Megan Rapinoe, a lapse in the backline or a midfield that gets overrun and can’t maintain possession can drag the whole team down.

Simply put, you can’t hide weak links for long because every player has to cover significant ground, and the roles are deeply interconnected. After all, you wouldn’t expect Lionel Messi to make a goalkeeping save or sprint back every time to do a defender’s job. Sure, you might counter that with Johan Cruyff’s famous quote: “In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker is the first defender.” But take Rapinoe—or even Messi—out of the equation, and suddenly. There you go—the team feels a lot weaker, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, in the game played with hands, you may expect the likes of LeBron James or Steph Curry to dominate the ball, control tempo, and take over both offense and defense. In that way, a less skilled teammate can be “hidden”, minimizing their liability. This is exactly what Bird insists she has faced throughout her playing career.

“You could never take just one great player off a basketball team for a month, come back to a season, and that team function or survive it. That’s why the WNBA takes a break for the Olympics… We have to,” concluded the Syosset, New York native.

Interesting, isn’t it? But this isn’t the only remarkable factor that sets the two sports apart.

Sue Bird’s partner says soccer has a more ‘powerful culture’ unlike basketball

In a similar segment, host Adam Grant quizzed the power couple which among soccer or basketball has a stronger culture. Without any pauses, Megan Rapinoe kept the beautiful game on the pedestal before adding, “Soccer is less prescribed… There’s a lot of work for the team that needs to be done that just is mostly just running and doing all this s***y stuff that never gets rewarded ever.”

Paris 2024 Olympics – Basketball – Men’s Gold Medal Game – France vs United States – Bercy Arena, Paris, France – August 10, 2024. Former soccer player Megan Rapinoe and former basketball player Sue Bird after the gold medal game. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The former OL Reign star (Now Seattle Reign) insists there are many sacrificial things that often players do on the pitch but hardly get recognized for. Furthermore, the 2019 Ballon d’Or Feminine further added that in basketball, all the players get involved mostly in the “fun part.” Or as simply put, in soccer, there are “less prescribed” situations for players. To which, Sue Bird approved, saying, “I agree.”

Well, chalk it up to the size of the playing surface in each sport—whether it’s a 105 by 68-meter soccer pitch or a basketball court measuring 28 by 15 meters, you get the gist, right? That said, it doesn’t mean soccer overshadows basketball when it comes to the kind of “prescribed” structure Rapinoe previously mentioned. It’s important to recognize that similar work goes into both sports, and neither is greater than the other.

Then again, these are honestly some interesting takes from both Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird. What are your thoughts on this? Share your views in the comments.

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