Simone Edwards, the first Jamaican to play in the WNBA, dubbed her 2017 autobiography ”Unstoppable,” and she seemed to be just that even as she battled an aggressive form of ovarian cancer. Although she died last week, Edwards’s impact lives on in her former teammates, friends, and Simone4Children Foundation, which built a learning center for children in her native Jamaica.
“Simi had this aura of energy,” said Tully Bevilaqua, who played with Edwards on the Seattle Storm in 2003 and ’04. “She was a magnet for children. That showed in the work she did with her foundation in Jamaica. Just an amazing spirit. We all had different roles on the team. They were all important, whether you were playing 35 minutes or not getting on the court. Hers was that she connected the fans and the team together like no other person.”
Although 6-foot-4, Edwards didn’t take up basketball until her late teens, when a U.S. college scout told her about the possibility of an athletic scholarship. She learned the game and achieved her goal of attending college in the U.S., first at a junior college in Oklahoma and then at the University of Iowa.
After her collegiate days, Edwards was signed by the New York Liberty as a developmental player and witnessed the team’s inaugural season firsthand. She made a WNBA roster in 2000, joining the Seattle Storm in its debut season, playing with the team through 2005, and winning a WNBA Championship in 2004.
“Simone was real raw; she was just a great athlete,” said Lin Dunn, who coached the Storm from 2000–’02. “We were thrilled to pick her up, and then we found out what a great person she was. It was more about her energy, her enthusiasm, and her love for the game and for the people. In the early days before Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird became the faces of the franchise, Simone was the one the fans came to watch.
“Even when the team got better and she had a different role, she was still a fan favorite,” Dunn added. “When she made her battle with cancer public, it reconnected everybody to her because not only was she fighting for herself, but typical Simone, she was fighting for others…Thoughtful, grateful, thankful, joyful, positive. Just a wonderful person.”