UConn Huskies’ Geno Auriemma might be the toughest women’s basketball coach we have ever seen, but even he has a softer and fun side reserved for his best students. Auriemma provided fans with a great example of that last year when he appeared on Welcome to the Party Show. There, he evaluated Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi’s differences on the court with his signature blunt humor. On September 2, Bird finally saw that clip and couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you’re out and you’re trying to evaluate Sue and D, something comes up, and you say, ‘Listen, D, like we got to, we got to kill that team, we got to kill that guy.’ She goes out on the court, walks right up to the guy, chokes him, and stabs him right in the heart. And the game didn’t even start yet. Okay, it’s dead. ‘All right, coach, what else you want me to do?'”

“Sue, we really need to kill that guy. ‘All right. Hey, listen, can we get together for lunch or dinner or something? I really want to talk to you about some things for the game.’ And then, while the guy’s having dinner, while she’s having dinner, having a glass of wine, a nice meal, they don’t even feel it. The knife goes right in the side, and the person’s dead. And Sue walks out and goes, ‘That was a lot of fun.’ So like, you got two people (Bird and Taurasi) at completely different styles, but at the end of the day, you’re both dead.”

Sue Bird could barely control her laughter at that point. So when hosts Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy asked the basketball legend what she thought of Auriemma’s assessment, she said, “Honestly, I hate that I couldn’t agree more. I’m like, ‘Is that a compliment?'”

Auriemma’s rather outlandish example makes perfect sense, as Taurasi was always known as an aggressive, high-scoring powerhouse with loud energy during her actions on the court. Meanwhile, Auriemma completely flipped the script when talking about Bird, and this is where the Seattle Storm legend completely lost it.

Considering how Sue Bird has been more of a calm, cerebral floor general who focuses more on passing and control of the game, Auriemma’s interpretation of two of his best students is top-notch. While Taurasi and Bird go about things in a different manner on the court, in the end, both finish their job. And that is what Auriemma was trying to point out.

Bird and Auriemma’s legendary player-coach relationship started in 1998, when she played for UConn and won two national championships. There, Bird was the unanimous national player of the year in 2002 and lost only four games under Auriemma’s tutelage. And to this day, Bird still holds UConn’s record for three-point (45.9) and free-throw percentages (89.2).

Sue Bird was eventually inducted into the Naismith and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame last year, and did not forget to thank Auriemma and his staff for helping her become the player she went on to be with the Storm.

“The UConn coaching staff that’s there now is actually the same one from when I was there back then,” Bird said, per the Hartford Courant’s Emily Adams.

“You assisted me in ways that went far beyond X’s and O’s. You developed my character. Coach Auriemma, you taught me that basketball is not a game of how to, it’s a game of when to, and that wisdom became my North Star both on and off court.”

Bird and Taurasi won five consecutive Olympic gold medals together, two of which came under Auriemma’s coaching. Naturally, Sue Bird also spared some kind words for Taurasi in her speech, which just goes to show the decades-long bond the trio has with each other.

“The teammate that was on all the teams, Diana Taurasi, our friendship goes way beyond basketball. You’re family,” Sue Bird said about Taurasi during her Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech.