The WNBA took center stage on Tuesday night as both conference finals went to a decisive Game 5 in a quest for the WNBA Finals. It didn't take long for NBA stars like Kobe Bryant and Andre Drummond to stay glued to the screen, or in Isaiah Thomas' case, the game itself, as Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird scorched the net when it counted most, dropping 14 points in the final 5:48 of regulation to storm back and take over the game.

The oldest player in the WNBA in Bird re-defined aging like fine wine, taking over the game in the fourth quarter and burying trey after trey, going 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep to bury the resurgent Phoenix Mercury 94-84.

The Mercury seemed poised to advance after coming back from an 0-2 deficit to tie the series and getting control of this game by going up 73-69 with 6:06 to go after a Diana Taurasi deep 3-pointer, but Bird was yet to have the final say, as she scorched the net time after time with a devastating 3-point acumen that had NBA players taking notice.

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Thomas recently penned a personal piece in The Players' Tribune, lobbying for more respect and attention for Seattle's only professional basketball franchise. The Storm have won two championships and are now en route for a third after conquering WNBA glory in 2004 and 2010. It is their championship banners that hang beside the SuperSonics' only NBA championship from 1979.

Other stars like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade also took notice, as Bird and the Storm became the only team to eliminate Taurasi, the league's all-time leading scorer, after being a perfect 13-0 in her career.

More and more players are taking notice of the WNBA and its magic, as NBA hoopers can't get enough of the action through this intense postseason.