When it comes to the sport of Basketball, it is said the tallest players are the luckiest. Well, in that case, Have you heard of any Tallest female basketball players? We’ve always heard of famous Basketball players being Men, but do you know Women also play a major role in the NBA? Well, the Tallest Female Basketball is the way to go. Tall people always get the advantage of their heights to gain those massive slam dunks. Then, when it comes to Women, how tall do you think is good? And are there any of the tallest female basketball players? Well, The answer is definitely YES.
Women’s NBA (WNBA) has seen magnificent tall women honoring the sport of basketball and therefore, we’ve put together this article starting with the tallest female basketball players of all time.
Who is the tallest WNBA player in history?
1. Malgorzata Dydek – 7’2
Malgorzata Dydek was a Polish international professional basketball player best known in the United States as Margo Dydek. The Tallest female basketball player died young, but yet left behind a legacy that will inspire future basketball players for the rest of their lives.
Dydek was known for being the world’s tallest active professional female basketball player, standing 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall, and for her moves on the basketball court. She was a coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. This tallest player played at center for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA. During her course of 23-year career, she played basketball for Polish, Spanish, American, and French teams.
She was the W.N.B.A.’s No. 1 draft pick in 1998 by Utah Starz, the league’s second season, and went on to become its leading career shot blocker. She spent seven seasons with the team before being traded to the Connecticut Sun in the year 2005. A place where she spent three seasons before retiring from full-time basketball and appearing in two games with the Los Angeles Sparks in the year 2008.
2. Zheng Haixia – 6’8.5
Zheng Haixia is a Chinese professional who has retired. She stands 6’8.5 inches tall, making her the second tallest woman in history by barely 0.5 inches. Haixia made her debut at the Basketball World Championship in 1983, finishing third for a Chinese team. Zheng left the Chinese national team in the year 1997 to join the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA in the United States. She returned to China at the end of 1998 and began coaching the PLA women’s team. She is currently working as a coach in China.
Haixia won the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award in 1997, making her the first Asian woman and international player to do so in the WNBA. She had the highest field goal percentage in the WNBA, at .618.
3. Alexandrovna Stepanova – 6’8
Maria Stepanova is regarded as the third tallest female in women’s basketball history, while she stands is 6’8 tall. She was born in Russia and won bronze medals in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. Stepanova is currently a member of the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. During the draft of 1998, she was selected by the Phoenix Mercury in the eighth round.
Stepanova was a member of the Phoenix Mercury from the1998 to 2001 and 2005. Maria Stepanova’s career highlights include three FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year awards and three Russian Gold Basket awards. Stepanova won a bronze medal in the basketball event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Stepanova won a bronze medal in the women’s basketball event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
4. Elizabeth Liz Cambage – 6’8
Liz stands at 203cm (6’8″) and has played for teams all over the world during her 14-year career, mostly in Australia, the United States, and China. In the year 2009, Liz made her WNBL debut with the Bulleen Boomers and was then named to the Australian Women’s Basketball Team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Following extremely successful personal campaigns, Liz was drafted as the second overall pick in the year 2011 by the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA, where her career would blossom, leading to greater international opportunities.
Liz still holds the record for most points scored in a single WNBA game and At the Olympic games, she is regarded as the first female to ever dunk. In Australia, Elizabeth Cambage is famously regarded as one of the greatest female basketball players.
5. Brittney Griner – 6’8
Brittney Griner, a WNBA star, is an American professional basketball player who currently plays as a center for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. She was the first player in NCAA history to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots.
Griner, who stands 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall, wears a men’s US size 17 shoe and has an arm span of 86 in (2.2 m).
In Waco, Texas, she was a Baylor Lady Bears basketball player. In the year 2009, Griner was labeled as the nation’s top high school women’s basketball player. She was also selected for the Phoenix Mercury All-American basketball team in 2009. In 2012, the three-time All-American was named AP Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Griner was a member of the United States women’s Olympic team in the year 2016, and she led them to victory in Rio. She was termed to the US women’s national team for the 2020 Olympics, where she won her second gold medal, in 2021.
Britney Griner is one among only 11 women in history to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship, a Fiba World Cup gold medal, and a WNBA championship.
6. Lindsay Corine Taylor – 6’8
Lindsay Corine Taylor is a former professional female basketball player from the United States. She is 6ft 8in tall and is termed one of the WNBA’s tallest players. Taylor was born on the 20th of May, 1981. She also competed in the Turkish Women’s Basketball League and a number of other professional leagues.
Taylor enrolled at UC Santa Barbara in 1999, where she played center for the women’s basketball team. She graduated from Santa Barbara in the year 2004. Then became one of the highly regarded rookies for the 2004 WNBA draught, the place she got selected by the Houston Comets before being traded to the Phoenix Mercury. In the 2004 WNBA draft, she was selected in the second round. Taylor has played for four WNBA teams: the Houston Comets, the Phoenix Mercury, the Seattle Storm (twice), and the Washington Mystics.
7. Katharen Ruth “Katie” Mattera – 6’7.5
Mattera is one of the WNBA’s tallest players. At 6 feet 7.5 inches (2.02 m). Katharen Ruth Mattera is a former Women’s National Basketball Association player and college basketball coach in the United States (WNBA). Mattera, who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, went on to star on the women’s basketball team at Liberty University, where she majored in physical education.
She was a three-time Big South Conference Player of the Year, as well as a nominee for the Wade Trophy, the John R. Wooden Award, and the Naismith Award. She graduated from Liberty as one of only two players in NCAA history to lead the nation in field-goal percentage in consecutive seasons (2004, 2005)
In the 2005 WNBA Draft, at first, Mattera was selected by the Connecticut Sun but was quickly sent to the San Antonio Silver Stars in exchange for Silver Stars player Margo Dydek. Her name was there in WNBA All-Rookie Team in the year 2005.
8. Kara Wolters Drinan – 6’7
Kara Elizabeth Wolters is a former collegiate and professional basketball player from the United States who is now a sports broadcaster. Standing at six feet seven inches and nicknamed “Big Girl,” she is the tallest player in the University of Connecticut women’s basketball history and one of the tallest women to ever play in the WNBA. During her playing career, she won the NCAA national championship in 1995, the FIBA world championship in 1998, the WNBA championship in 1999, and the Olympic gold medal in 2000, making her one of only 11 women to have done so.
Wolters went into broadcasting after finishing her professional playing career. She began her career as a radio color commentator for women’s basketball on WTIC (AM) and has been the in-studio analyst for women’s basketball on SNY since 2012. In Connecticut, she also runs the Kara Wolters Dream Big Basketball Camp. In the year 2017, The Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inducted Kara Wolters.
9. Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles – 6’6
Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles is an American professional basketball player for the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Minnesota Lynx (WNBA). Fowles, who joined the Lynx in July 2015, was the 2015 WNBA Finals MVP, the 2016 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for the third time, and the 2017 WNBA MVP.
Fowles surpassed Rebekkah Brunson to become the WNBA’s career rebound leader in 2020. The Chicago Sky selected Fowles second overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft. During the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game, Fowles dunked on her second attempt while representing the Eastern Conference, after everyone on both teams cleared out of her way.
She is the third WNBA player to dunk in an all-star game, a player who stands 6 feet and 6 inches tall, had joined Michelle Snow and Lisa Leslie in the year 2006. In September 2014, Fowles declined a contract extension offer from Sky, while she requested a trade, but no trade offers from other teams were sufficient for her. Fowles would be the focal point of the Lynx’s offense in 2017, leading the team in scoring. Fowles has also won a total of 7 WNBA all-star games.
10. Carolyn Moos – 6’6
Carolyn Moos is the WNBA’s tenth-tallest female basketball player. She is a former professional who played for the Phoenix Mercury. She is 6’6″ tall and from the United States of America. Moos, a player standing 6 feet and 6 inches tall won a gold medal for the United States in the Junior Olympics. She lived in France for a time after finishing her B.A. at Stanford, where she played professional basketball. She was a member of the Miami Sol in the WNBA in the year 2002.
Moos holds an M.A. from USC and works as a nutritionist and personal trainer. In the year 2001, she was termed as the 53rd overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth round. Moos spent the 2001–2002 season playing professionally in France for the FIBA. She was a member of the Miami Sol during the 2002 WNBA season.
List of the Tallest Female Basketball WNBA Players
| Rank | Player | Height |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malgorzata Dydek | 7’2 |
| 2 | Zheng Haixia | 6’8.5 |
| 3 | Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova | 6’8 |
| 4 | Elizabeth Liz Cambage | 6’8 |
| 5 | Brittney Griner | 6’8 |
| 6 | Lindsay Corine Taylor | 6’8 |
| 7 | Katharen Ruth “Katie” Mattera | 6’7.5 |
| 8 | Kara Wolters Drinan | 6’7 |
| 9 | Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles | 6’6 |
| 10 | Carolyn Moos | 6’6 |
Read also: How many WNBA teams are there currently?
CONCLUSION
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