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The vast network of UConn alumni in the WNBA remains a close-knit community, even as they compete with each other professionally. While maintaining a friendly relationship off the court, Sue Bird will never forget an awkward moment when Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles confronted her and Diana Taurasi during a Team USA women's basketball meeting.
As three of the best women's basketball players of all time, Bird, Taurasi and Charles engaged in countless high-pressure battles throughout their decade-long overlap in the WNBA. While talking to Charles on her podcast, Bird recalled a specific moment when the center confronted her and Taurasi for telling Team USA women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma that she does not pass enough.
“You were like, ‘Yeah, I'm on the team,' but then you were like, ‘But Coach Auriemma told me you two said I don't pass enough,'” Bird said on the ‘Bird's Eye View' podcast. “I was kind of just like frozen a bit, and D went into like word diarrhea. She was like, ‘Oh no,' trying to cover it up. I've never in my life felt the way I felt in that moment, because it was true. We did say that. But the fact that you just came straight to us.”
Ironically, the podcast episode dropped while Charles is currently averaging a career-low 1.4 assists per game with the Sun. Charles, 36, is well past her prime, while Connecticut continues to struggle with a 3-16 record through 19 games.
Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles' overlapping careers
Bird, Taurasi and Charles each dominated at UConn before entering the league as the No. 1 pick of the WNBA Draft. Bird and Taurasi overlapped at UConn, but Charles did not arrive in Storrs until five years after both had left. Charles briefly played with both guards in 2022, but the three otherwise spent the majority of their careers on rival teams. The three only allied with Team USA, where they won three gold medals together in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Charles is the only one of the three still active, with Bird retiring in 2022 and Taurasi hanging it up after the 2024 season. All three are in the top 10 of the WNBA's all-time leading scorers. Taurasi leads the way with 10,646 career points, while Charles sits in second with 7,990 points and counting.
Charles has not yet hinted toward retiring, but acknowledged the end is near. By signing with the Sun in the 2025 offseason, she rejoined the team that initially drafted her in 2010.
