NEW YORK – Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird has been named the 2018 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award recipient, the WNBA announced today.  This marks the third such honor for Bird, who won the award in 2017 and shared it 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.

Bird received 16 votes from a national panel of 38 sportswriters and broadcasters.  The Chicago Sky’s Courtney Vandersloot finished second with five votes, while the Washington Mystics’ Elena Delle Donne, the Connecticut Sun’s Jasmine Thomas and the Atlanta Dream’s Elizabeth Williams tied for third with four votes each.

Bird, the WNBA’s all-time assists leader, has spent her entire 16-year career with the Storm, which selected her with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft.  Bird was named an All-Star for the 11^th time this season, surpassing Tamika Catchings for the most selections in league history. She also eclipsed DeLisha Milton-Jones for career games played (508).

The two-time WNBA champion averaged 10.1 points and a career-high 7.1 assists to help Seattle claim the best record in the league (26-8) and the No. 1 overall seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs.

Bird finished the 2018 season ranked seventh in WNBA history in scoring (6,154) and fifth in steals (652). She has led the league in assist average three times (2005, 2009 and 2016).

Below are the voting results for the 2018 WNBA Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award and a list of all-time winners.