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Sue Bird has been struggling. After posting her second double-double of 2007 in Tuesday's win over L.A., Bird is averaging 10.4 points and 5.0 assists per game, the latter mark good for second in the WNBA. Those numbers earned her a fifth straight trip to the WNBA's All-Star Game as a starter.
However, Bird will not be on the court in Washington a week from Sunday. Instead, she has traveled to Connecticut for arthroscopic surgery, scheduled for tomorrow, to remove loose particles from her left knee.
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Storm Head Coach 
Anne Donovan agreed, saying, "You can tell she's not 100 percent. She doesn't run the floor fluidly. She doesn't have both legs completely balanced - she favors it."
Bird began experiencing swelling and soreness in her left knee a month ago, but was able to play through pain without missing any game time. Her preferred doctor, Connecticut team physician Dr. Michael Joyce, was on vacation and it took some time before the Storm's medical staff was able to fill him in on the situation.
Dr. Joyce, who had performed the two previous surgeries on Bird's left knee (to repair a torn ACL during her freshman season at UConn and a microfracture procedure following Bird's second WNBA season), informed her that while she could play on, the condition of her knee might continue to deteriorate.
"Playing on it one extra week wasn't the end of the world," explained Bird. "Playing on it another two and a half, three months, that could have been a problem."
Bird opted to have the surgery done now by Dr. Joyce in order to use the All-Star break to rehabilitate. The typical recovery time for an arthroscopic surgery of the kind Bird is having is about two weeks. At minimum, she will miss the Storm's four remaining games before the All-Star break. Her hope - and the team's - is to return after the break on July 17 against Phoenix, but the Storm's July 20 game at Connecticut could be a more realistic timetable.
"Two weeks seems like a long time," said Bird, "but hopefully I only miss four games, maybe five games. I'll try to be back as soon as possible."
The Storm went through a similar stretch two seasons ago, when Bird broke her nose in early June. She missed four games, and the Storm's only replacements were rookies Francesca Zara and 
Tanisha Wright. Zara came up with a big game in Detroit in her first career start, while Wright led the team's defense in a subsequent game at Charlotte as the Storm went 2-2 without Bird.
Now Wright, who is more experienced, will have the primary task of replacing Bird. Wright is currently the only other point guard on the Storm's roster, but the team is expected to sign a free agent in the near future to fill the roster spot that opened up when center Tye'sha Fluker was waived on Monday.
After getting through this stretch, the Storm will get a healthy Bird back in time for the stretch run of the season and the postseason.
"The thought process behind this is playoffs and the latter part of the season," said Bird. "Don't get me wrong - I know four games in this league is a lot of games to miss. If it was up to me, I wouldn't miss any games and I'd play the rest of my life with no problems. But the bottom line is I don't feel 100 percent and I'm hoping in these two weeks, if I can recover fully and get back to 100 percent, that I'll help my team even more come the end of the season."
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