• Slug: SPORTS-Giffords Mercury, 500 words
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By BROOKE COLTELLI
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Gabrielle Giffords walked toward center court, arm in arm with her husband, Mark Kelly, during halftime of the Phoenix Mercury’s game against Los Angeles.

As she made her way cross the floor, fans stood up, clapping and cheering for the former congresswoman from Tucson who survived an assassination attempt in 2011.

On Thursday, Ann Meyers Drysdale presented Giffords with the 2017 BBVA Compass Bright Futures Woman of Inspiration Award. The Mercury vice president and Suns broadcaster also gave her a jersey that read “Giffords” across the back with an “11” underneath her name. Smiling, Giffords gave a simple but powerful piece of advice to women.

“Fight, fight, fight every day,” she said.

On Jan 8, 2011, Giffords was shot in the head during a meeting with constituents. The bullet penetrated the left hemisphere of Giffords’ brain. She underwent multiple surgeries, and spent more than six months in the hospital.

In the six years since her the shooting, Giffords has become an advocate for the fight against gun violence. In 2013, she and Kelly, a Navy captain and retired astronaut, founded Americans for Responsible Solutions and spoke before Congress about the issue that became all too personal for her.

Giffords continues to be in the public eye. On August 5, she attended a rally in Tucson urging citizens to thank Sen. John McCain for his vote against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

“I want to make the world a better place,” Giffords said.

In June, the Navy commissioned the USS Gabrielle Giffords, making her the first living woman since Martha Washington to have a navy vessel adorned with her name.

“The opportunity to host someone who’s done as much as Gabby has done, and someone who’s overcome as much as she’s overcome, and someone who is taking a situation and not only making the best of it, but doing a lot of good with it, was something we couldn’t pass up,” Mercury COO Vince Kozar said. “We’re super grateful she and her team and her husband were able to make the time to be here tonight.”

Kozar said he felt the night, part of the WNBA’s Inspiring Women platform, was fitting for a team that he believes is filled with inspirational women.

“We will be heard,” is the Mercury’s motto. Center Brittney Griner frequently engages in conversations about social issues and recently donated $5,000 to a Phoenix LGBTQ youth center that was damaged by arson. Earlier this year, point guard Danielle Robinson initiated “The Sole Project,” an effort to collect new and used shoes to give back to those in need.

For Kozar, and the Mercury, their sights are set beyond the game of basketball.

“A lot of the things we do are bigger than this. Our league isn’t just about sports and entertainment, though that’s where it starts,” Kozar said. “It really is about providing an example and providing role models.

“That’s one of the things that Gabby has done, and that’s why she was a perfect selection.”