When it comes to supporting a loved one, it is ok to overhype them. Everyone wants to make their son, daughter, significant other, mom, dad, etc feel like they are the greatest ever. It’s one thing to buy your dad a “Best Dad Ever” mug, but it is a whole other issue when you have a platform like Megan Rapinoe, and you ridiculously claim your partner is the greatest of all time.
It is even more cringeworthy when you realize that Rapinoe’s partner is WNBA legend Sue Bird. Sure, she wanted to hype her up during the jersey retirement for her at the Seattle Storm’s ceremony honoring the 42-year-old ex WNBA star, but Rapinoe went a bit overboard in her praise, and to say the least, social media had a field day.
Rapinoe delivered a congratulations speech, and proceeded to light the internet on fire by saying:“Congratulations on, like, arguably the best career that anyone has ever had in the history of any sport ever.”
If it were possible to throw a challenge flag and go under the hood, any knowledgable sports fan would list off literally dozens of athletes from different sports, including the WNBA that have had greater careers than Sue Bird. Bird had a stellar career, but she only averaged 11.7 points and 6.1 assists for the entirety of her career. In her own sport alone, Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker both put up numbers that far outpace Bird’s respectable figures.
Let’s not overshadow Novak Djokovic, who at 36-years-old won the French Open over the weekend and set the record for most ever Grand Slam tournaments won. It is hard enough to win one, but 23 is a comically huge achievement in a cut-throat and competitive sport.
Perhaps Rapinoe misspoke, or perhaps it was an extra amount of hyperbole, considering she has to live with Bird, but either way, she could have maybe gotten away with saying she is the greatest female basketball player ever. Likely, few would bother to argue that. However, when you make such a ridiculous claim across all sports, you are going to release the hounds on social media.
One particularly savage tweet read: “Sue bird never once averaged 15ppg in an WNBA season Not surprising coming from the person who cried about “equal pay” after getting the contract they asked for and who lost to 14 year old boys.” Another Twitter user said: “Imagine disrespecting Tom Brady like this.” And yet another put it best when he simply posted: “Flagged for misinformation.”
Everyone gets out over their skis on occasion. Who amongst us hasn’t boasted that our new dog was the “cutest ever,” or the new girl or guy they were dating was “hilarious,” only to be let down by an ugly dog that chews everything and poops on the rug, and new girlfriend that does the same, or worse?
The point is, Sue Bird deserved the spotlight, but thanks to her bombastic fiancé ended up with derision and laughter on what should’ve been her big night. Megan Rapinoe has proven time and again that she doesn’t deserve attention or a platform. Maybe next time Sue Bird can keep her home and spare the world the Megan Rapinoe experience. Watch Rapinoe here:
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