Shirley Simson, an 84-year-old mother of four, grandmother of 14 and great-grandmother of 10, stood inside the lobby of Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel & Casino on an early January afternoon waiting for her ride. She wore bright pink athletic shorts with the phrase “SPORT DRIP” printed all over, a white single-leg sleeve running down her left side, a white shooting sleeve on her right arm and a white headband with “CANDY” in its center tying back her gray hair. Alongside two of her grandchildren, Shirley planned on making a 20-minute trip to Henderson, Nev., where the Las Vegas Aces are headquartered. She hoped to work out inside the WNBA team’s facility.
Before the trio departed, a teenager — “a young lad,” in Simson’s words — spotted her near the hotel’s entrance and asked for a photo. She had never been stopped like that before. She was surprised, but she obliged anyway.
Simson has lived almost all her life in obscurity. For around four decades, she was a registered nurse in southern British Columbia, Canada. Now retired, she gardens, plays bridge, creates stone sculptures and participates in two book clubs. Despite her age and height — she was once 5-foot-6 but says she’s shrunk to 5-4 — Simson is also a basketball player. Or, rather, she is trying…
