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Tallest Female Basketball Players in the World (WNBA)
The tallest WNBA players are not the best, however, they have captured the hearts of many with their amazing heights. Read about them here!
It may not be out of place to count the tallest female basketball players in the world as part of the world’s wonders. Female basketball players who are very tall often come as a shock to many, unlike their male counterparts.
Over the years, however, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has recorded some of the tallest women in the world as part of the association. Having highlighted the tallest NBA players (male category), RNN will further highlight the tallest WNBA players to have walked the earth.
Who is the tallest Female Basketball Player of All Time?
The tallest WNBA player of all time is Małgorzata Dydek (popularly known as Margo Dydek). Dydek was a professional basketball player of Polish descent. She was a center for various teams during her lifetime before becoming a coach. She was 7’2 ft (2.18 m) tall.
Now let’s see the tallest WNBA players on our top 10 list!
Top 10 Tallest Female Basketball Players of All Time
10. Carolyn Moos
Height- 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Carolyn Moos is known for being a player at WNBA’s Miami Sol. Prior to that time, she won a gold medal playing for her country, the United States in the Junior Olympics in Brazil.
After completing her B.A at Stanford University, she lived in France where she played professional basketball. Some of her achievements include:
- 1997 Nike/WBCA All-America
- 2000 Honorable Mention All-Pac-10
- 1997 Gatorade Central Region Player of the Year
- 1997 Naismith National Player of the Year Finalist
- 1996 Associated Press Minnesota Player of the Year
9. Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles
Height- 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles (born October 6, 1985) is a 36-year-old American former professional basketball player. During her career in the WNBA, she played for the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx. Fowles is popular for leading the Lynx to win the WNBA Championship in 2015 and 2017. In the year 2020, she overtook Rebekkah Brunson to become the reigning WNBA career rebound leader.
Some of her awards and honorary mentions include:
- 2005 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year
- 2010 WNBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award
- EuroLeague Women 2010–11 All-Star MVP Award
- 2011, 2013, 2016- WNBA Defensive Player of the Year
- 2021: The W25 (top 25 WNBA players of all time)
8. Kara Wolters Drinan
Height- 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Kara Wolters was an American collegiate and professional basketball player who was active in the game from 1997 to 2003. Being over 2 m tall, Wolters is the eighth-tallest female basketball player of all time. In the history of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball though, Kara Wolters is still the tallest player ever.
While her career lasted, she was an NCAA national champion in 1995, WNBA champion in 1999, and FIBA world champion in 1998. Wolters is not just one of the tallest, but she was also the best at her game with several honors and awards to her name. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Here are some other awards/honors that the retired athlete has bagged.
- Gold Medal: 2000 2000 Summer Olympics.
- Gold Medal: 1999 U.S. Olympic Cup.
- Gold Medal: 1998 World Championship.
- Gold Medal: 1997 World University Games.
- Gold Medal: 1996 R. William Jones Cup.
- She was the only collegian named to the USA World Championship Team that won the bronze medal in 1994.
7. Katharen Ruth “Katie” Mattera
Height- 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
39-year-old Katharen Ruth Mattera may not have ambiguous records like some other female basketball players on this list, however, she still maintains 7th place on the list of the tallest WNBA players of all time. No one has been able to beat her record yet!
Mattera is an American former WNBA player who is now a college basketball coach in her country. She was a center-position player at Connecticut Sun from 2005 to 2009. She has equally played for other teams such as San Antonio Silver Stars, Detroit Shock, Atlanta Dream, San Antonio Silver Stars, and Chicago Sky.
She is currently an assistant women’s basketball coach at Liberty University.
6. Lindsay Corine Taylor
Height- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Lindsay Corine Taylor is a former professional basketball player of American descent. She played in several associations like the WNBA, KBSL, LFB, WKBL, WCBA, Polish Women’s League, and Angola Women’s Basketball League.
Taylor played the center position and was usually the tallest on the team. The professional and experienced player equally made a name for herself, playing in Europe and Asia, notably in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA).
Taylor retired from professional basketball in 2015 and became an assistant basketball coach at Hamilton High School. She is the 6th tallest female basketball player in the world at the moment.
5. Brittney Griner
Height- 6 ft 8 in (203 cm)
Brittney Griner is an American professional basketball player for WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Asides being one of the tallest WNBA players in the world at the moment, Griner is the first and only NCAA basketball player to both score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. She is one of the 11 female stars to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship, a WNBA championship, and a FIBA World Cup gold medal.
In 2009, Griner was named America’s No. 1 high school women’s basketball player as named by Rivals.com. In 2012, she received the Best Female Athlete ESPY Award, and in 2013, the player signed an endorsement deal with Nike. She is currently imprisoned in Russia.
4. Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Cambage
Height- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Elizabeth Folake Cambage is an Australian professional basketball player who has a gold medal to her name. She holds a current title as the player with the WNBA single-game scoring record. Cambage achieved this feat with a 53-point performance against the New York Liberty in July 2018.
She last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. Between 2009 and 2021, Cambage played for the Australia national team, the Opals. For the team, she won a gold medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a silver medal in the 2018 World Cup, and a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics. Cambage is the fourth on the list of tallest female basketball players in the world.
3. Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova
Height- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova is a Russian professional basketball player who played for Phoenix Mercury in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the U.S.
Stepanova used to be the tallest member of the Russian national team until she was overtaken by Ekaterina Lisina. Amazingly, the professional player wears size 15 (US) / 48 (EU) shoes. Some of her honors include:
- Honored as Master of Sports of Russia.
- Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 1st class (2 August 2009).
- 3-time FIBA Europe Women’s Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2008)
Stepanova is the third on the list of the world’s tallest female basketball players of all time.
2. Zheng Haixia
Height- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Next on our list of the tallest female basketball players in the world is Zheng Haixia. She is a Chinese professional women’s basketball player for the WNBA and the China women’s national basketball team. Although she is now retired, Haixia had many wins to her name including leading the Chinese team to the fifth position in the 10th World Championship in 1986. She equally led her national team to 1st position in the Asian Games, and 2nd in the World Championship in the same year.
In 1992, the FIBA Hall of Famer equally inspired her teammates to win the silver medal in the Barcelona Olympics. She won the 8th National Games with the PLA team in 1997. Haixia definitely retired as a legendary player.
1. Malgorzata Dydek
Height- 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
Małgorzata Dydek is the tallest WNBA player of all time. Interestingly, she is the only female basketball player who attained 7 ft. Although she passed on as a 37-year-old in 2011, Dydek was famous for being the tallest professional player in the world of female basketball.
She played the center position for various teams in the WNBA and she was the famous coach of the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League.
Dydek was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame eight years after her death (2019).
Top 10 Tallest Female Basketball Players of All Time
Here’s a list of the top 10 tallest WNBA players of all time as highlighted in this article.
- Malgorzata Dydek- 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
- Zheng Haixia- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Maria Alexandrovna Stepanova- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Cambage- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Brittney Griner- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Lindsay Corine Taylor- 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
- Katharen Ruth “Katie” Mattera- 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
- Kara Wolters Drinan- 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
- Sylvia Shaqueria Fowles- 6 ft 6 (1.98 m)
- Carolyn Moos- 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)