Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

Kim Perrot dead at age 32

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Posted: Friday August 20, 1999 12:45 AM

As a motivational speaker, Kim Perrot told young women there was nothing they could not achieve. Elsa Hasch/Allsport

HOUSTON (AP) -- Kim Perrot, the popular Houston Comets point guard who was the heart and soul of the two-time WNBA champions, died Thursday of lung cancer. She was 32.

Perrot died peacefully with friends and family by her side at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the team said.

Perrot, diagnosed with lung cancer on Feb. 19, had been seeking alternative treatment in Tijuana, Mexico after undergoing surgery Feb. 24 to remove tumors in her brain, where the lung cancer had spread.

"The world is not as good as it was before 3 o'clock today," said Carroll Dawson, the executive vice president for basketball for the Comets.

The Comets were in Los Angeles on Thursday preparing for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Sparks. Dawson said the team planned to play the game.

"They thought she would want them to play, and I can guarantee you that she did. She would be kicking their tails if they didn't play," Dawson said.

Coach Van Chancellor said even though he knew Perrot's condition was grave, news of her death still caught him off guard.

"I was just totally unprepared when they called me. I thought I would be ready for it but in no way was I ready," Chancellor told Houston television station KRIV.

"The entire WNBA family is devastated by this tragic loss," WNBA president Val Ackerman said in a statement. "We will remember Kim as a woman of great heart and indomitable courage who refused to be daunted by any challenge."

Her condition worsened during her second trip to Mexico. She returned to Houston last Saturday.

"It's totally changed my life," Perrot told Houston television station KTRK shortly after disclosing her illness. "I've never been really sick or injured and now I'm faced with life or death. It's just tough. All I can do is put it in the hands of the Lord."

The Lafayette, La., native arrived in Houston three years ago, fresh off the professional women's circuit in Europe. She was signed as a developmental player for the fledgling Women's National Basketball Association franchise here.

Despite her 5-foot-5 frame, Perrot quickly became a starter and crowd favorite noted for ferocious play that helped the Comets clinch championships in 1997 and 1998, the league's inaugural seasons.

Last year, Perrot averaged 8.5 points and 4.7 assists and made 84 steals in 30 regular-season games and was second in voting for WNBA defensive player of the year.

During the offseason, Perrot began suffering headaches. After conducting several tests, doctors delivered the startling diagnosis of lung cancer for Perrot, a nonsmoker. The cancer already had spread to her brain when it was detected.

"I have the will to win. I won't accept anything less than winning." she told the television interviewer. "With this type of illness I'm facing now, I take the same approach. I won't be defeated. I just feel confident this is just a challenge, just a trial for me. ... I work really well under pressure."

After brain surgery, Perrot entered radiation treatment to attack tumors in her head. She went to Mexico for alternative medical procedures rather than submit to chemotherapy prescribed by her Houston doctors.

"Her fight off the court against cancer was heroic and brave," Houston Mayor Lee Brown said. "Although she lost her battle, she leaves the legacy of a winner."

Perrot played four seasons at Southwestern Louisiana. She scored 58 points against Southeastern Louisiana in 1990, the second-highest total in NCAA history.

Perrot set 26 other school records, including the career scoring mark of 2,157 points.

She played six years in Europe for pro teams in Sweden, Germany, Israel and France, returning to the United States in 1997.

In one of her last public appearances, on June 22, Perrot accepted her second championship ring during a Comets home game.

"Who would have thought Kim Perrot would be a two-time WNBA champion?" she said. "When no one else believed in me, my teammates and the fans stuck with me."

Despite her illness, Perrot made about 100 public appearances as a motivational speaker, often at schools. In one of her last regular columns for the Houston Chronicle's teen supplement "Yo!," she told young women there was nothing they could not achieve.

"It's such an exciting time to be a female athlete in the U.S.A," she wrote. "I encourage you young women to follow your dreams. It will take a lot of hard work and determination, but there are no limits to what you can do."

Survivors include her mother, Consuella Perrot; two brothers, Craig Perrot and Kevin Perrot; and a sister, Loretta Perrot, all of LaFayette, La.

 

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