Lakers News: Winner of the 2024 Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award Announced

This was a well-deserved honor.

The 2024 Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award winner is Ann Meyers Drysdale, becoming the third honoree of the accolade alongside Chris Paul (2022) and Pau Gasol (2023). She will be presented the award Sunday evening during the All-Star Game. 

Meyers Drysdale has become one of the most iconic figures in women's sports, becoming the first high school basketball player to ever make a U.S. national team, the first to receive a full athletic scholarship to UCLA and the first to be named an All-American in four consecutive seasons. She signed an NBA contract, becoming the first woman to do so, with the Indiana Pacers in 1979. 

To suggest that Meyers Drysdale is deserving of the award is an understatement, as her continued commitment to excellence not just in women's sports – but in sports as a whole represents the broader goal of the Advocacy Award. 

Here's what Vanessa Bryant had to say about it (per Alexa Philippou of ESPN): 

"Annie has been a force inspiring young girls on and off the court -- something she, Gianna and Kobe shared and cared about deeply," Vanessa Bryant, chair of the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, said in a statement. "I'm happy Annie is receiving this award in Kobe and Gianna's memory -- she is so deserving."

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert added: 

"Annie Meyers Drysdale is a pioneer who has had a profound impact on our game and influenced generations of athletes...she has worked tirelessly to elevate girls and women's basketball during her decorated career as a player, executive and broadcaster. Presenting this advocacy award to such an inspiring leader is a wonderful way to honor the legacy of Kobe and Gigi Bryant, especially as we recognize the 45th year anniversary of Annie being the first woman to sign an NBA contract."

As arguably the driving force for women's basketball, Meyers Drysdale is indisputably deserving of such a great honor.