Who are the tallest wnba players in the world?
WNBA is one of the leading women’s leagues in the world. The league has some of the biggest talents in the basketball world. In addition to great talent, it also showcases some of the tallest players.
Height is more important for basketball than for any other sport. A tall basketball player can do efficiently and better. Often, we actually see a woman with an extra height in everyday life. In WNBA there are many women with extra height. In WNBA history, there has been only one player who can measure at least seven meters in height.
1.Malgrozata ‘Margo’ Dydek (7-2)
Ranking 1st on our list of the tallest wnba players is Margo Dydek. She owns the distinction by becoming the tallest basketball player in the world. Listed at 7-2, Dydek was the 1st overall nominee in the WNBA’s 1998 Draft by Utah Starz. She has played a total of 323 WNBA games in 11 seasons.
Dydek is a full-time WNBA leader with 877 blocks during her career. She has led the league with blocks in all two seasons but in blocks per game for eight seasons. She last played for LA Sparks in 2008 before retiring to coach the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. Unfortunately, Dydek died in 2011 after suffering a heart attack at her home in Brisbane. She was pregnant with her third child.
2. Zheng Haixia – Height: 6’8.5
Zheng Haixia is a former Chinese professional basketball player. In the United States, she played for the Los Angeles Sparks for the WNBA. She is the second tallest women’s basketball player in the WNBA.
Zheng Haixia’s height is 6ft and 8.5inches makes her the second tallest basketball player ever. She was born on March 7, 1967 in China. Her weight is 104kg.
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Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova – Height: 6’8 ”
Growing up, she was called a giraffe and an ostrich by her peers, which offended her most times. But in time, she realized that she was not the only ‘giraffe’ around. Maria Stepanova had been the tallest player in the Russian National basketball team and the 3rd tallest player in WNBA history.
Drafted by Phoenix Mercury with the 8th overall in the 1998, Stepanova played three seasons in the WNBA five seasons from 1998-2005. She represented Russia at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the Beijing Olympics in 2008 where she helped motherland win bronze medals on both occasions.
Stepanova is a Russian female basketball player three times a year and the FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year. As a result, she was Honored Master of Sports in Russia as well as a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Merit to the Fatherland for her achievements in sports.
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Elizabeth “Liz” Cambage – 6’8
Elizabeth also stands at 6’8 tall but is considered to be the fourth tallest female player. She is a professional Australian basketball player. She is famous for her extraordinary height of 6ft 8inches. She is the fourth tallest player in the WNBA. Liz was born on August 18, 1991. She joined the WNBA in 2011 and is still part of the Las Vegas Aces WNBA.
Liz gained attention while playing for the 2009 Australian Under 20 National Championship. It was there that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation called her the ‘next Lauren Jackson’. After playing five seasons in the WNBL, Cambage was drafted by Tulsa. Shock for the 2nd overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft. Her stint with the Shock was short-lived as she only played one season with Tulsa. In addition, she made the 2011 WNBA All-Star team in 2011 and was selected for the WNBA All-Rookie team that year. Cambage traveled to China to sign a $ 400K contract with Zheijang Chouzhou. Currently, she plays for the Melbourne Boomers in WNBL Australia.
5.Lindsay Taylor (6- 8)
She once said that she had a bird’s eye view of everything in the sport and at 6-8, playing women’s basket. She was the tallest female basketball player in the history of UC Santa Barbara’s women’s basketball program.
Her stint at the WNBA was short-lived and she played for four teams. Taylor though having a successful career overseas and continued to play with great success in Europe and Asia. She was the Big West Player of the Year and three Big West Tournament MVP three times in college.
Lindsay Corine Taylor is a retired American basketball player. She is 6ft 8inch tall and is considered one of the tallest women ever to enter the WNBA. Taylor was born on May 20, 1981. She also played in the Turkish Women’s Basketball League and many other professional leagues.
6.Brittney Griner (6-8)
The fifth tallest basketball player in the world, Brittney Griner is also a professional American basketball player. Her height is 6ft 8inches. She plays for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury. She was born on October 18, 1990. From an early age, she was unusually tall. She has decided to become a professional basketball player because of her height.
She wears 17 (men’s) shoes and has an arm span of 86 inches. Brittney Yevette Griner currently plays for Phoenix Mercury and is the only player in NCAA history to score 2000 points and block 500 shots.
The # 1 overall nominee to be picked in the 2013 WNBA Draft by Mercury, Griner was an outstanding professional player at Baylor University where she recorded the school first ever triple double in 2009. In 2012, she led Baylor to a NCAA record of 40 wins in the undefeated season where they won the NCAA title. That year, Griner was named NCAA Final Four Most and AP College Player of the Year.
Since joining the WNBA, she has led the league in blocks for five consecutive seasons. This two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner WNBA All-star star and is the current WNBA current scoring champion.
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Katharen Ruth “Katie” Mattera – 6’7.5
The seventh tallest wnba player ever to set foot in the WNBA wears size 17 (US) / 53 (EU) shoes. Katie Feenstra Mattera played college ball at Liberty University where she became the tallest athlete in the school and the tallest in the history of the Big Southern Conference.
At Liberty University, Mattera became only the second player in NCAA history to lead the country in field goal percentage in back-to-back seasons (2004 and 2005). She was drafted by the Connecticut Sun with the 8th pick overall at the 2005 WNBA Draft. Mattera played six NBA seasons in the WNBA and was named in the 2005 WNBA Rookie team.
Mattera was a three-time South big Conference’s top player of the year and the South Big Conference All-time shot blocker. She is currently the Head Coach of Cornerstone University’s women’s basketball team and has been so since 2012.
8. Kara Wolters Drinan (6-7)
She was dubbed the ‘Big Girl’ and rightfully so. Kara Wolters Drinan is the tallest basketball player who played for the University of Connecticut and is one of the tallest female basketball players to grace the WNBA.
Standing 6-7, the Wolters were the 3rd round pick (36th overall) of Houston Comets in the 1999 WNBA Draft. Before coming to the WNBA, she played for the New England Blizzards during the last two seasons of the ABL. The Wolters have played four WNBA seasons in total and is one of 10 women to win the NCAA championship, the Olympic gold medal and the WNBA tournament.
In addition to winning the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics, Wolters also played for the U.S. women’s national basketball team that won a gold medal at the 1998 World Championships. She also became the 1997 AP College Player of the Year during her senior year at U Conn.
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Carolyn Moos (6-6)
One of the most prominent WNBA players today is one of the tallest female basketball players in the world. She is a retired professional and played for Phoenix Mercury.
Yes, Carolyn Moos was once engaged to former NBA player Jason Collins, the first public gay athlete to play for any of the four major North America’s pro sports leagues
After playing her collegiate basketball career at Stanford, Moos was drafted in the 4th (53rd overall) 2001 NBA Draft by Phoenix Mercury. She has played only three seasons at WNBA, from one team to another every year. After playing for Mercury in 2001, she moved to Miami Sol in 2002 and also played for the Minnesota Lynx in 2003.
Moos was a member of the U.S. Women’s under-19 basketball team that won a gold medal at the 3rd Junior World Championship in Brazil in 1997. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Communications.
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Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles (6-6)
One of the most prominent WNBA players today is one of the tallest female basketball players in the world. Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles is the current WNBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. She is the third player in WNBA history to dunk in the All-Star game, doing so in the 2009 WNBA All-Star game.
Fowles was the 2nd overall pick selected by Chicago Skye during the 2008 WNBA Draft. The 6-6 LSU standings played seven seasons for Sky before being traded to the Minnesota Lynx in 2015. She emerged in Minnesota to be a defensive midfielder for the league’s top player. She led Lynx to three straight WNBA championship appearance, helping the team to win WNBA titles in 2015 and 2017
Fowles was named Finals MVP between the two years title and most recently, was nominated for the 2017 WNBA MVP. Fowles is also a three-time winner of the Defensive Player of the Year, WNBA All-Star four times, a three-time All WNBA First Team member and a fourth member of the WNBA All-Defensive First team. She also played for the U.S. women’s national basketball team that won the gold medal during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
