This NBA usher is more inspiring than the players - New York Post

The pride of the Brooklyn Nets won't actually be suiting up for tonight's match against the Sixers.

Instead, she'll be lording over sections 24 and 25, greeting guests with her trademark smile.

Sharon Spencer, the guests services employee —who is both an amputee and cancer survivor— will be honored in a pre-game ceremony for her fighting spirit and contributions to the organization.

The recognition comes on the heels of another impressive accolade: On January 8, NBA commissioner Adam Silver awarded the 51-year-old with the annual NBA Values of the Game Award, which goes to one individual (out of the 30 teams) who exemplifies the values of the league.

"I've seen [Silver] a million times giving out awards," Spencer tells The Post. "Never in a million years did I think I would be standing up and getting an award."

But it's difficult to think of a more deserving human.

"Sharon has overcome so many obstacles in life but continues to come in with a smile, diligence and a work ethic that you very seldom see," says Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment CEO Brett Yormark, who nominated Spencer for the league honor.

Before Spencer became a model of resilience, she was a happy-go-lucky single mother. In 2006, she was planning her 40th birthday when she received results from a routine mammogram.

"I never smoked or had a family history of breast cancer. But four days after my birthday, I was diagnosed," says Spencer.

The following months were a blur of grueling surgeries, including a mastectomy and numerous stays in the hospital due to chemotherapy complications.

Finally, she was declared cancer-free — but soon after, Spencer faced an even more harrowing ordeal.

In 2008, she was leaning on a friend's car and chatting when a drunk driver plowed into the vehicle. Spencer — whose son Aaron was attending Syracuse at the time—would lose her right leg above the knee. Between her cancer and the accident, she would undergo 22 surgeries.

To add insult to injury, her longtime employers at a music publishing firm informed her that they wouldn't be able to hold her job.

Over the years, Spencer has become an inspiration and an icon to Nets fans.Patrick Dodson/Brooklyn Nets

"I had no more fight left in me. I said, 'I will leave it in God's hands,'" Spencer says.

But the spunky Brooklynite wasn't quite ready to give up. In 2012, her brother got a job at the newly opened Barclays Center and encouraged Spencer to apply for the usher position.

In her role, she'd be directing guests throughout arena, escorting them to their seats and fielding questions. In other words, she'd be spending long hours on her new prosthetic leg.

Undeterred, she applied — and landed the gig.

'In life, things are going to happen … You have to make the decision, what kind of life you want to live?'

"In life, things are going to happen, whether it's cancer or the death of a loved one. You have to make the decision, what kind of life you want to live? Do you have to sit around and feel sorry for yourself? I hate pity, so I had to dig deep down and make a choice."

She knew she'd have to be physically fit for the job, so she put in some old fashioned sweat. "I got on the treadmill for 45 minutes to an hour every day," she says. "It was rough in the beginning."

During her first day at work, her brother wept when he saw her standing and in uniform.

Today, she's a star in the arena.

"For the fans who sit in Sharon's section at Barclays Center, she has become synonymous with the game experience," says Yormark.

When she learns friends or family of her regulars have been diagnosed with cancer, she visits them to impart her wisdom and help cheer them up with her original poetry.

"It's different when somebody has gone through what you've gone through," she says. "You can connect with them."

Besides finding a new family at Barclays, she's also developed quite an appreciation for hoops — particularly, for forward Rondae Hollis Jefferson.

"He's always so nice to me, that one. He always goes out of his way to be nice. I like his personality. I am now a basketball fanatic."

But hoops aside, she'll have to focus on keeping her emotions in check tonight.

"It's still surreal to me. I can't believe I'm working again period. It means a lot for me to be here."

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