The www.lovewomensbasketball.com site is reporting that former UConn star Sue Bird will not play for UMMC Ekaterinburg in the upcoming EuroLeague playoffs.

No, Bird is not sidelined with an injury but looks to be caught up in a EuroLeague rule which stipulates that each team can only have two active non-European players. Ekaterinburg has three members of the gold-medal U.S. Olympic team in Candace Parker and fellow former Husky Diana Taurasi.

The report cites another player stating that Ekaterinburg has made the decision to play Parker and Taurasi in the playoffs meaning Bird can not suit up. Ekaterinburg put up a statement on its official site confirming the report.

As the story linked above explains, the original plan was for Parker to only play through January with Bird taking her spot on the roster but obviously Parker had a change of heart.

In EuroLeague play Bird has 17 points, 20 rebounds and 20 assists in three games. Parker had 149 points, 85 rebounds and 27 assists in nine games.

Ekaterinburg earned a spot in the EuroLeague quarterfinals after posting an 11-1 record during the regular season. Seven first-round best of three game series will begin a week from today to determine the rest of the quarterfinalists.