Given the question: Information:  - The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the predominant men's professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world. It has 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada), and is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by FIBA (also known as the International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. NBA players are the world's best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.  - The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is an annual Women 's National Basketball Association ( WNBA ) award given since the league 's inaugural season , to the player who most `` exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court -- ethical behavior , fair play and integrity . '' This is the same criterion used by the analogous NBA Sportsmanship Award , given by the NBA since its 1995 -- 96 season . Every year , each of the WNBA teams nominates one of its players to compete for this award . From these nominees , a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters vote for first and second place winners of this award . First place selections receive two votes , while second place selections receive one . The player with the highest point total , regardless of the number of first - place votes , wins the award . Since the 2000 WNBA season , the award is named for the late Kim Perrot , who helped guide the Houston Comets to their first two WNBA championships before she died in August , 1999 , after suffering from cancer for seven - month .  - The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the official sponsor.  - The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and won more championships than any other team in the WNBA. The team was folded and disbanded by the league in 2008 because new ownership could not be found.  - The NBA Sportsmanship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court with ethical behavior, fair play, and integrity". It is directly analogous to the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, which has been awarded by the NBA's sister league, the WNBA, with neither award demanding excellence of play.  - Kim Perrot (January 18, 1967  August 19, 1999), was an American basketball player. She played in the WNBA for the Houston Comets.  - The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). League play started in 1997; the regular season is currently played from June to September with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.  - Basketball is a sport that is played by two teams of five players on a rectangular court. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop in diameter and mounted at a height of to backboards at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, who would be the first basketball coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, one of the most successful programs in the game's history.     What entity does 'kim perrot sportsmanship award' has the relation 'inception' with?
The answer is:
1997