This marks the third such honor for Bird (2011, 2017, 2018)
SEATTLE – The WNBA today announced that Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird has been named the recipient of the 2018 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award. This is the third such honor for Bird, who also received the award in 2017 and shared the accolade with Ruth Riley in 2011.
The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is presented each season to a player who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, including ethical behavior, fair play and integrity. The award is named for the late Kim Perrot, who helped guide the Houston Comets to their first two WNBA championships before passing away in August 1999 after a seven-month battle with cancer.
A two-time WNBA champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist, Bird recently capped her 16th active season in the league, all of which have come with the Storm. She averaged a career-best 7.1 assists per game this season to go along with 10.1 points per outing. Bird broke several milestones in 2018, moving to No. 1 in the WNBA in all-time games played (508), minutes (16,171) and All-Star appearances with 11. Bird also rose to seventh on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list, passing former teammate Lauren Jackson (6,007) and bumping her career total to 6,154.
In June, Bird, alongside Megan Rapinoe, became the first same-sex couple on the cover of ESPN’s 2018 Body Issue. The following month, she was listed as the sixth-most important athlete in Seattle Sports history, bringing home two WNBA championships in 2004 and 2010, widly recognized as the face of Storm Basketball.
Seattle tips off WNBA Semifinals Game 1 presented by NHL Seattle today against the Phoenix Mercury at 2 p.m. PT on ESPN2. The Storm will then host Game 2 on Tuesday, Aug. 28, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2. Tickets to the WNBA Semifinals at KeyArena are now on sale and can be purchased by calling (206) 217-WNBA (9622) or by visiting StormBasketball.com.