The Best Women Basketball Players that you’ll be reading about today, include some of the top 10 Best Female basketball players from all around the world. The 10 best women basketball players are: 1. Carol Blazejowski, 2. Lisa Leslie, 3. Diana Taurasi, 4. Maya Moore, 5. Tamika Catchings, 6. Candace Parker, 7. Lauren Jackson, 8. Cynthia Cooper, 9. Elena Delle Donne, and 10. Lindsay Whalen.
Well, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has gained a lot of popularity throughout the past years but certainly not as much as the men’s counterpart NBA. These best female basketball stars are role models for all the ladies out there as they also, act as motivation for many girls to pick up this amazing sport to grow and shine on the field.
The question that arises now is, How can we rank players such as Cynthia Cooper who is a four-time champion and was 34 when the league began in the year 1997 and played for only a few seasons, against someone like Breanna Stewart, who at the age of 27 already had gained two titles and grew up with the WNBA as her goal?
In this article, you’ll find the ranking based strictly on how the players’ performed on the court. Well, The ranking includes the past best female players, as well as 10 players who are currently active.
A Little of history to the Women’s National Basketball Association. It was founded in the year 1996 and started to function and play in the year 1997 as a counterpart to the NBA. It was said that the WNBA proved to be a valuable part of the American sports landscape. Therefore, it became home to the best women’s basketball players in the world, since the time of its inception.
Announcing 10 Best Women Basketball Players Of All Time
1. Carol Blazejowski
Carol Ann Blazejowski is an American who retired as a professional women’s basketball player and as the former president and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Blazejowski was introduced in the inaugural class at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the year 1999.
Well, back in the time when Carol used to play she would be spotted as the best player on the court from miles away, as she used to score 40 points in every game. Blazejowski was the main scorer when the US national team won the world championship in the year 1979. Well, Carol Blazejowski never played for the WNBA but was still considered one of the all-time best women’s basketball players.
2. Lisa Leslie
Lisa Deshaun Leslie is a former professional basketball player from America. At the moment she is the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league. For the Orlando Magic broadcasts on Fox Sports Florida, Leslie is a studio analyst.
Leslie played at the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Her achievements in her line of career were tremendous as she is a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medal winner. She was picked number seven in the inaugural of the 1997 WNBA draft.
Well, before retiring in the year 2009, she followed her career path at the University of Southern California, while gaining eight WNBA All-Star selections and two WNBA championships for 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Leslie played for USA Basketball in an international competition. She also won four Olympic gold medals and two FIBA World Championships in her entire WNBA career. Leslie was the first player to dunk in a WNBA game too. Leslie was introduced into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and also the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the year 2015.
3. Diana Taurasi
An American professional basketball player, Diana Lorena Taurasi plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Taurasi also won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in the year 2004.
She led a chain of achievements starting with three WNBA championships, and a historic five Olympic gold medals. She also won the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the year 2009. Also two WNBA Finals MVP Awards five scoring titles, and three FIBA World Cups. The ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams selected her to be a part of the team. She was also got selected as the league’s greatest player of all time In the year 2020.
Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer along with being the first player to surpass a total of 9,000 points. She is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. She earned herself the nickname “White Mamba”, invented by Kobe Bryant as she always had the tendency of scoring in crucial situations. Taurasi is one among 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World cup gold, and a WNBA Championship, therefore listed in the top 10 best women basketball players.
4. Maya Moore
Maya April Moore is one of the famous WNBA players who has been named the Sports Illustrator’s inaugural Performer of the Year and has been a part of UConn women’s basketball teams that have won back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010.
In the history of women’s basketball, Moore was the greatest winner as they named her the inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017. She led Connecticut to an undefeated national championship and thereafter was selected as the John Wooden Award winner in the year 2009. She then directed Connecticut to its second straight national championship soon after the first time and continued its overall undefeated streak at 78 in the 2010-11 season. To end with Moore’s humongous achievements she also led the Huskies in extending that streak to an NCAA both-gender record of 90.
5. Tamika Catchings
An American retired professional basketball player, Tamika Devonne Catchings. She played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
In the year 2012, Catchings won a WNBA championship and an award for WNBA Most Valuable Player. She also won WNBA Finals MVP Award in the same year and five WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. In addition to that, Tamika also won four Olympic gold medals and the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in the year 2002. Catchings also received an Olympic gold medal being one of the first women to attain it.
She was selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-WNBA teams, and 12 All-Defensive teams. In the year 2011, Catchings became one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time. During the future of Catchings’s career, she served as President of the WNBA Players Association from 2012 to 2016. Later in the year 2020, She was introduced to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
6. Candace Parker
The Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) had one of the best female basketball players Candace Nicole Parker, an American professional basketball player. In the year 2008, the Los Angeles Sparks selected her as the first overall pick WNBA Draft.
Parker is an all-rounder player, as she plays mainly for the forward and center positions. While she was in high school, Parker won awards for Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. She was the second junior and the only woman to receive an award twice in two consecutive years. Parker was a two-time consensus national player of the year.
She also led a team towards two consecutive national championships while being a college player for Tennessee. Later in the events of her career, she became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and also the first woman to dunk twice in a college game.
7. Lauren Jackson
Lauren Elizabeth Jackson is an Australian-based professional basketball player. The AIS team that had won the Women’s National Basketball League championship was led by Jackson in the year 1998.
For the 1999 season, Jackson had joined the Canberra Capitals. She played with the team when she turned 18 and won four more WNBL championships. From the year 2010 to 2016, Jackson played with the Canberra Capitals. She played with them during the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) offseason while she continued playing with the WNBA.
Jackson had formed the Australian under-20 team when she was only 14 years old. She was the first one to be called up to the Australian Women’s National Basketball Team when she was 16 years old. The 7th best female basketball player in the world has a third ranking in player efficiency rating. The 6 foot 5 inches tall player is also the second in career win shares.
8. Cynthia Cooper
An American basketball coach and former player Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke has won championships in college and the Olympics, and also in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). So, therefore, She has been termed as one of the greatest basketball players.
In the year 2011, because of the votes by Cooper-Dyke fans she was termed as one of the Top 15 players in the history of WNBA. She played for the Houston Comets from the year 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals for all four seasons after playing for Houston Comets.
Then she returned to playing again in the year 2003 and therefore, Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for gaining the most Finals MVPs. Later in her career, she became the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team. She held the position of a coach in the 2012–13 season. After that season, she also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and also for Phoenix Mercury. So, to conclude, Cooper-Dyke was then enlisted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the year 2009.
9. Elena Delle Donne
An American professional basketball player, Elena Delle Donne played for the Washington Mystics of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was inducted by the Chicago Sky as the second overall pick in the WNBA draft of the year 2013. The Sky to the WNBA finals in the year 2014 was led by her were defeated by the Phoenix Mercury. In the year 2019, Delle Donne led the Washington Mystics to their first WNBA championship.
Delle Donne was the first WNBA player to join the 50-40-90 club. Her selection to six All-star teams led her to also win two WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards. In the year 2021, her name came to the W25, the league’s list of the top 25 players of its first 25 years.
10. Lindsay Whalen
Lindsay Marie Whalen is termed to be the head coach of the University of Minnesota’s women’s basketball team. Her ability to coach in the best way possible gives her the 10th rank among the top 10 best women’s basketball players.
She started her professional career with the Connecticut Sun of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a point guard. Whalen has come a long way with a couple of achievements down the line and has won World titles and two Olympic gold medals with the United States women’s national basketball team. She has also won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame drafted Lindsay in the year 2022.
She took over coaching duties at the University of Minnesota, while she continued to play for the Lynx in the WNBA in the year 2018. As the WNBA’s career leader in games won, she retired from playing professional basketball at the end of the 2018 season. So, Several events led to Lindsay Whalen being one of the top 10 Best Women Basketball Players.
Read also: Top 15 Absolutely Hot WNBA Players In The World Now
Conclusion
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