Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have been linked for more than two decades, playing together at UConn and then helping the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team win five gold medals.

Now the basketball greats will appear on the cover of the NBA 2K23 WNBA edition video game that will be released on Sept. 9.

Bird called it “really, really cool personally” and said that being part of only the second time women have been on the cover was meaningful and “special in a different way.”

It’s the second straight year that the video game will feature a WNBA athlete on one of its covers; Candace Parker was on it last year.

“The response to NBA 2K’s first WNBA Edition last year was overwhelmingly positive and a testament to the W’s growing audience and prominence,” said Alfie Brody, vice President of global marketing strategy at 2K. “Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have achieved greatness both individually and together, cementing their status as two of the best players in the WNBA’s history.”

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Bird and Taurasi said they played video games a bit when they were younger, but there were no woman basketball players on the games.

“You know you have all these little girls playing basketball, and they can actually start gaming now with, you know, hopefully, two of their favorite players on the cover,” Taurasi said. “It just shows you how far gaming and women’s basketball has come.”

Bird feels that being on the cover and having WNBA players in the video game will help normalize the presence of woman athletes in the lives of both boys and girls.

“Whether it’s girls or boys, whether it’s women, men, it doesn’t really matter, and that’s the beauty of it,” Bird said. “It’s just becoming like a normal part of this ecosystem that is professional sports, and gaming is a big part of that ecosystem, so to be involved in it now, it’s just going to continue to push things forward and just open up more doors and open up more minds.”

NBA 2K is also partnering with the WNBA stars to donate $100,000 to Every Kid Sports, giving young people the opportunity to join youth basketball programs across the country. The donation will cover the registration fees of over 550 girls from income-restricted families.

“Girls are dropping out of sports at an alarming rate, and I think part of it is they’re not always able to dream of what could be a career that could be really easy for little boys,” Bird said. “Whether you make it or not, it’s actually not the point. But it’s really easy for little boys that turned on the TV to see what life could be like if I stayed with my sport.”

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Nothing was said about it on the July 4 television interviews I saw, but among the security experts interviewed during coverage of the Highland Park parade shooting, one face and name had resonance. Crisis management expert and former FBI agent Phil Andrew survived another mass shooting in Chicago’s North Shore suburbs, more than three decades ago.

On May 20, 1988, Laurie Dann—who’d been under care for psychiatric problems—delivered poison-laced snacks to acquaintances, attempted to burn down a Highland Park school, set a house on fire with the family (for whom she’d babysat) inside, and shot six children at Winnetka’s Hubbard Woods elementary school, killing one. Fleeing that scene, she barged into the Andrew home, where she eventually shot Phil, then a 20-year-old college student, and killed herself.

I wondered what Phil Andrew, who went on to become a violence prevention advocate, would say about the fact that, 34 years later, mass shootings have become relatively commonplace. Surely he’d agree with me that no 21st-century civilian needs a gun? As it turns out, not exactly. Here’s an edited version of our conversation.

Deanna Isaacs: What about this latest incident?

Phil Andrew: This is similar to the attacks we’ve seen throughout the country: somebody who has demonstrated dangerous behavior and accessed a dangerous weapon has perpetrated an unspeakable attack. The moment a dangerous person gets hold of the dangerous weaponry that we continue to make easily available, it’s already worst-case scenario.

We now have an estimated 400 million guns in our country. What we need is for us as communities to insist that guns that are kept in private possession be locked up and stowed away from young people and dangerous people.

And we need to ban assault weapons. That is the weapon of choice now for mass violence.

So you’re not saying that we should ban all guns?

No, we should ban the high-capacity military-style assault weapons and we should have universal background checks that dig into youth and mental health records. And we should have red-flag laws to take guns away from dangerous people.  

But the Winnetka school shooter used handguns?

Yes, she bought three handguns legally at a nearby store where the store owner knew it was unusual and actually alerted law enforcement. But at the time Illinois didn’t have a red-flag law; they couldn’t take the guns from her. And that’s where all the injury came from. If you remember that day—she attacked the community with a cyanide gas device, she attacked a family with a fire, she sent poisons around the North Shore. But the only thing that caused death and serious injury were the firearms.

 And that continues to be the case in the United States, where firearm violence is the leading cause of death among children. It continues to take about 16 veterans a day due to suicide, and mass violence is driving our consciousness and our fear in public places.

We’re the only industrialized country that tolerates this, allowing an industry to sort of self-regulate, an industry that makes guns to have disproportionate influence. In the end this is about money and greed driving the public safety discussion.

Phil Andrew Courtesy Phil Andrew

By self-regulating, you mean through influence?

Yes. The NRA before the 1970s actually sponsored a lot of firearm violence prevention legislation, recognizing that they were really there to promote safety and conservation. But in the mid-70s, the NRA was taken over by the gun industry. And ever since then the leadership has had an extremist agenda, promoting easy access to firearms despite its public safety threat.  

Wasn’t there a federal ban on assault weapons at one point?

There was a federal ban, and it proved very effective. And then it sunset, under the second Bush administration, and that’s when we started seeing greater use of assault weapons in these mass violence scenarios.

But I think we’re seeing a turning point. It’s not just a few people—the polling data, the election cycles are showing that this is an important issue to the American people, that we need to deal with gun violence.

But it seems that shootings are only increasing.

We had a pandemic. We had about 20 million more firearms infused into the system over these last two years, and we had a number of restrictions pulled back. And, unfortunately, we’ve got a Supreme Court that’s out of step with the jurisprudence, public opinion, and public safety.  

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Nothing was said about it on the July 4 television interviews I saw, but among the security experts interviewed during coverage of the Highland Park parade shooting, one face and name had resonance. Crisis management expert and former FBI agent Phil Andrew survived another mass shooting in Chicago’s North Shore suburbs, more than three decades ago.

On May 20, 1988, Laurie Dann—who’d been under care for psychiatric problems—delivered poison-laced snacks to acquaintances, attempted to burn down a Highland Park school, set a house on fire with the family (for whom she’d babysat) inside, and shot six children at Winnetka’s Hubbard Woods elementary school, killing one. Fleeing that scene, she barged into the Andrew home, where she eventually shot Phil, then a 20-year-old college student, and killed herself.

I wondered what Phil Andrew, who went on to become a violence prevention advocate, would say about the fact that, 34 years later, mass shootings have become relatively commonplace. Surely he’d agree with me that no 21st-century civilian needs a gun? As it turns out, not exactly. Here’s an edited version of our conversation.

Deanna Isaacs: What about this latest incident?

Phil Andrew: This is similar to the attacks we’ve seen throughout the country: somebody who has demonstrated dangerous behavior and accessed a dangerous weapon has perpetrated an unspeakable attack. The moment a dangerous person gets hold of the dangerous weaponry that we continue to make easily available, it’s already worst-case scenario.

We now have an estimated 400 million guns in our country. What we need is for us as communities to insist that guns that are kept in private possession be locked up and stowed away from young people and dangerous people.

And we need to ban assault weapons. That is the weapon of choice now for mass violence.

So you’re not saying that we should ban all guns?

No, we should ban the high-capacity military-style assault weapons and we should have universal background checks that dig into youth and mental health records. And we should have red-flag laws to take guns away from dangerous people.  

But the Winnetka school shooter used handguns?

Yes, she bought three handguns legally at a nearby store where the store owner knew it was unusual and actually alerted law enforcement. But at the time Illinois didn’t have a red-flag law; they couldn’t take the guns from her. And that’s where all the injury came from. If you remember that day—she attacked the community with a cyanide gas device, she attacked a family with a fire, she sent poisons around the North Shore. But the only thing that caused death and serious injury were the firearms.

 And that continues to be the case in the United States, where firearm violence is the leading cause of death among children. It continues to take about 16 veterans a day due to suicide, and mass violence is driving our consciousness and our fear in public places.

We’re the only industrialized country that tolerates this, allowing an industry to sort of self-regulate, an industry that makes guns to have disproportionate influence. In the end this is about money and greed driving the public safety discussion.

Phil Andrew Courtesy Phil Andrew

By self-regulating, you mean through influence?

Yes. The NRA before the 1970s actually sponsored a lot of firearm violence prevention legislation, recognizing that they were really there to promote safety and conservation. But in the mid-70s, the NRA was taken over by the gun industry. And ever since then the leadership has had an extremist agenda, promoting easy access to firearms despite its public safety threat.  

Wasn’t there a federal ban on assault weapons at one point?

There was a federal ban, and it proved very effective. And then it sunset, under the second Bush administration, and that’s when we started seeing greater use of assault weapons in these mass violence scenarios.

But I think we’re seeing a turning point. It’s not just a few people—the polling data, the election cycles are showing that this is an important issue to the American people, that we need to deal with gun violence.

But it seems that shootings are only increasing.

We had a pandemic. We had about 20 million more firearms infused into the system over these last two years, and we had a number of restrictions pulled back. And, unfortunately, we’ve got a Supreme Court that’s out of step with the jurisprudence, public opinion, and public safety.  

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Of all the bands to emerge from the mid- to late-aughts “shitgaze” explosion in Columbus, Ohio, I loved Times New Viking the best. Despite breaking up a decade ago, they still get plenty of rotation on my home stereo. This lo-fi, no-frills trio’s records are hyperactive, sloppy, and noisy as hell—at times they’re unintelligible, but somehow their melodic pop genius shines through the cacophony. When Times New Viking called it a day, the members took on other projects, often detouring far from their prior band’s sound: guitarist Jared Philips formed challenging experimental indie duo Counter Intuits with Columbus punk legend Ron House, while lead singer and drummer Adam Elliot linked up with his brother Kevin to form the catchy yet conventional indie-pop outfit Connections. 

Adam’s latest project as a vocalist is Long Odds, and on their new full-length, Fine Thread (released May 31 on Bandcamp), he gets back in touch with the obtuse, damaged catchiness of Times New Viking. Long Odds aren’t as shambolic or as reckless-sounding as TNV, and they flesh out their sonic palette with pianos, dual guitars, and a thoughtful production style that that contrasts dramatically with TNV’s blown-out, lo-fi aesthetic. But much like their home-state heroes Guided by Voices, Long Odds make songs that are raw, honest, sad, desperate, simple, and beautiful. Even with a more reined-in and subdued approach, Elliot can still capture his untouchable hooks through a fractured lens.

Long Odds’ Fine Threads is available through Bandcamp.

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Of all the bands to emerge from the mid- to late-aughts “shitgaze” explosion in Columbus, Ohio, I loved Times New Viking the best. Despite breaking up a decade ago, they still get plenty of rotation on my home stereo. This lo-fi, no-frills trio’s records are hyperactive, sloppy, and noisy as hell—at times they’re unintelligible, but somehow their melodic pop genius shines through the cacophony. When Times New Viking called it a day, the members took on other projects, often detouring far from their prior band’s sound: guitarist Jared Philips formed challenging experimental indie duo Counter Intuits with Columbus punk legend Ron House, while lead singer and drummer Adam Elliot linked up with his brother Kevin to form the catchy yet conventional indie-pop outfit Connections. 

Adam’s latest project as a vocalist is Long Odds, and on their new full-length, Fine Thread (released May 31 on Bandcamp), he gets back in touch with the obtuse, damaged catchiness of Times New Viking. Long Odds aren’t as shambolic or as reckless-sounding as TNV, and they flesh out their sonic palette with pianos, dual guitars, and a thoughtful production style that that contrasts dramatically with TNV’s blown-out, lo-fi aesthetic. But much like their home-state heroes Guided by Voices, Long Odds make songs that are raw, honest, sad, desperate, simple, and beautiful. Even with a more reined-in and subdued approach, Elliot can still capture his untouchable hooks through a fractured lens.

Long Odds’ Fine Threads is available through Bandcamp.

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