| KIM WE LOVE YOU AND YOU WILL BE MISSED!!!!!!!!! | ||||||||||||||||||
| THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO COMETS FAV. GUARD KIM PERROT | ||||||||||||||||||
| WE WILL MISS HER VERY MUCH HERE IN HOUSTON AND ALL OVER THE WORLD. MANY FANS AROUND THE STATES WERE STUCK TO FIND OUT SHE PASSED AWAY TODAY AUGUST 19, 1999 KIM WAS ONE OF THE STRONGEST PEOPLE I'VE EVER KNOWN SHE WAS NEVER SCARED OF HER ILLNESS WE WILL MISS HER DEARLY | ||||||||||||||||||
| THIS WAS WRITTEN by Lisa Hyman, WITH WNBA.com | ||||||||||||||||||
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A Short but Bright Life by Lisa Hyman, WNBA.com Kim Perrot, the diminutive starting point guard for the two-time champion Houston Comets, died from complications due to lung cancer on Thursday, August 19, peacefully surrounded by family and friends at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Center in Houston, Texas. She was 32. "The entire WNBA family is devastated by this tragic loss," said WNBA President Val Ackerman. "We will always remember Kim as a woman of great heart and indomitable courage, who refused to be daunted by any challenge. She has been an inspiration to countless people within and outside the basketball community, and our hearts go out to her family and the Comets' organization." Perrot, well-known for her role as her team's endlessly energetic, spiritual, and positive floor general, joined the Comets as a developmental player in the spring of 1997 after being chosen by Coach Van Chancellor in an open tryout. Despite her small size (just 5-5 and 130 pounds), she had little trouble distinguishing herself in a field of hopefuls. So on June 19, 1997, Perrot was activated to the team's roster. She never looked back. Perrot quickly won the heart of her coach, who became a committed admirer and champion of her never-quit attitude. When the spotlight focused solely on the team's Big Three -- Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson -- during the league's first two seasons, Chancellor was always on hand with compliments and kudos for his diplomatic point guard. After winning the WNBA Championship trophy for a second time, Chancellor said of his surprise star, "The Big Three are going to get all of the publicity, but poor, old Kim is always there. I told her, 'Kim, just get me one rebound.' And she got me three among all of those giants. That's coaching right there. That's listening. I didn't ask for but one." To Chancellor, Perrot was the quintessential team player. Kim Perrot's portrait from the 1997 WNBA season. Perrot was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1967. After high school, she stayed close to home by attending Southwestern Louisiana. In her four years as a Ragin' Cajun, she posted six of USL's top seven all-time scoring performances and continues to hold 26 school records. She currently stands as USL's all-time leading scorer, assists leader, and steals leader, and holds the NCAA record for the second-highest scoring performance in a single game with 58 points against Southeastern Louisiana in 1990. After college, Perrot moved on to the professional game, playing in France, Israel, Germany, and Sweden before heading back to the U.S. to try her luck in the WNBA. But it wasn't just luck that got Perrot a job with the Houston Comets. During that first season with the WNBA, Perrot endeared herself to the city of Houston and the community of WNBA players by rising from relative obscurity with her huge heart and a will of steel. Her scrappiness and emotion on the floor, as well as her tenacity and determination off of it, led fans -- not just in Houston, but across the world -- to believe that they, too, could do anything they set their hearts on. "A lot of people said I couldn't play at a high level," said Perrot, of her struggle for recognition. "I knew the Good Lord blessed me with so much talent and I have a message. That message is to all the young athletes, whether short, tall, lightweight, heavyweight, whatever it is, if you put your mind to it in sports, you can do it." Diagnosed with lung cancer in January of 1999, Perrot fought as valiantly for her life as she did for the ball. Nothing less could be expected of a true champion. She is survived by her mother, three brothers, two sisters, and her Houston Comets family. PLEASE VISTI WWW.WNBA.COM FOR ALL THE TRIBUTES TO KIM AND HER FAMILY LOOK FOR KIM'S PLACE TO BE BUILT SOON | ||||||||||||||||||
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