Margo Dydek Explained

Margo Dydek
Height Ft:7
Height In:2
Weight Lbs:223
Birth Date:1974 4, df=yes
Birth Place:Warsaw, Poland
Death Place:Brisbane, Australia
Draft League:WNBA
Draft Year:1998
Draft Round:1
Draft Pick:1
Draft Team:Utah Starzz
Career Start:1998
Career End:2008
Career Position:Center
Career Number:12
Years1:
Team1:Utah Starzz / San Antonio Silver Stars
Years2:
Team2:Connecticut Sun
Team3:Los Angeles Sparks
Highlights:
Wnba Profile:margo_dydek
Fiba Hof Player:Margo-Dydek

Małgorzata Teresa Dydek-Twigg, also known as Margo Dydek (28 April 1974 – 27 May 2011),[1] was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing tall, she was famous for being the tallest professional female basketball player in the world.[2] She played center position for multiple teams in the WNBA and was a coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League.[3] She was awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit (1999).[4]

She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2019.

Early life

Margo Dydek was born 28 April 1974 in Warsaw, Poland, to a 6inchesft7inchesin (ftin) father and a 6inchesft3inchesin (ftin) mother.[5] She had two sisters; her elder sister, Katarzyna had played for the Colorado Xplosion of the now-defunct ABL. Her younger sister,[6] Marta, graduated from the University of Texas–El Paso where she played basketball, and played professionally in Spain in the 2000s.[7]

WNBA career

Dydek made her first trip to the United States in May 1998 for WNBA pre-draft camp. Dydek was drafted 1st overall in the 1998 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz (the franchise was subsequently transferred to San Antonio).

On 16 April 2005, during the 2005 WNBA draft, the San Antonio Silver Stars traded Dydek to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for the Sun's first-round draft pick, Katie Feenstra from Liberty University.

Records held:

On 3 June 2008, Dydek signed with the Los Angeles Sparks, following time away from basketball due to her pregnancy. She had given birth to her son, David, in April that year.

European career

Dydek played for Olimpia Poznań from 1992 to 1994, before playing for Valenciennes Orchies in France from 1994 to 1996, where she met her future husband, David. She then moved to Spain and played for Pool Getafe from 1996 to 1998, and moved back to Poland to play for Fota Porta Gdynia starting with the 1998–99 season. She continued to play with the club through several sponsorship changes; since then, the club has taken the names Polpharma and Lotos.

In 1999–2000 she averaged 18.5 points and 10.7 rebounds for Gdynia in FIBA EuroLeague play. She was named Most Valuable Player of the Polish League Finals of the 1999–2000 season. In 1999, she was also named the best female basketball player in Europe by the Italian sports magazine La Gazzetta dello Sport. Dydek was chosen as Poland's Sports Woman of the Year and was a member of the Poland women's national basketball team until 2007, winning the EuroBasket Women 1999. She helped lead Gdynia to runner-up finishes in the FIBA EuroLeague in 2002 and 2004.[8]

Career statistics

WNBA

Source:[9]

Regular season

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1998| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| style="background:#D3D3D3"|30° || style="background:#D3D3D3"|30° || 28.0 || .482 || .143 || .732 || 7.8 || 1.8 || 0.5 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|3.8° || 3.6 || 12.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1999| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| style="background:#D3D3D3"|32° || 28 || 22.9 || .498 || .350 || .857 || 6.4 || 1.8 || 0.4 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|2.4° || 2.8 || 12.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2000| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| style="background:#D3D3D3"|32° || style="background:#D3D3D3"|32° || 24.2 || .445 || .143 || .796 || 5.5 || 1.6 || 0.6 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|3.0° || 2.6 || 9.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2001| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| style="background:#D3D3D3"|32° || style="background:#D3D3D3"|32° || 30.3 || .440 || .400 || .798 || 7.6 || 2.0 || 0.8 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|3.5° || 2.8 || 10.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2002| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| 30 || 27 || 29.2 || .436 || .250 || .844 || 8.7 || 2.4 || 0.8 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|3.6° || 3.2 || 13.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2003| style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio| style="background:#D3D3D3"|34° || style="background:#D3D3D3"|34° || 27.2 || .451 || .000 || .723 || 7.4 || 1.7 || 0.6 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|2.9° || 2.4 || 11.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2004| style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio| style="background:#D3D3D3"|34° || 24 || 20.1 || .433 || .500 || .759 || 4.9 || 1.8 || 0.6 || 1.4 || 1.9 || 6.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2005| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| 31 || 30 || 21.6 || .537 || .500 || .769 || 6.3 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 2.3 || 1.5 || 7.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2006| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| style="background:#D3D3D3"|34° || style="background:#D3D3D3"|34° || 21.9 || .494 || .250 || .821 || 6.1 || 1.2 || 0.6 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|2.5° || 1.5 || 9.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2007| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| 32 || 30 || 20.1 || .487 || .400 || .789 || 6.5 || 1.0 || 0.4 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|2.1° || 1.6 || 6.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2008| style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles| 2 || 0 || 7.0 || .400 ||  - ||  - || 1.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 2.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:left;"| Career| style="text-align:left;"| 11 years, 3 teams| 323 || 301 || 24.4 || .467 || .295 || .791 || 6.6 || 1.6 || 0.5 || 2.7 || 2.3 || 10.0|}

Playoffs

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2001| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| 2 || 2 || 34.5 || .429 ||  - || .769 || 7.0 || 1.5 || 0.5 || 3.5 || 2.0 || 14.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2002| style="text-align:left;"| Utah| 5 || 5 || 34.2 || .400 || .600 || .867 || 8.8 || 2.4 || 0.2 || 3.4 || 3.2 || 12.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2005| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| 8 || 8 || 18.3 || .376 || 1.000 || .636 || 5.3 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 1.6 || 2.0 || 4.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2006| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| 5 || 5 || 26.6 || .458 || .000 || .846 || 7.2 || 0.8 || 0.8 || 2.8 || 1.6 || 11.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2007| style="text-align:left;"| Connecticut| 3 || 3 || 26.7 || .400 || .500 || .000 || 6.3 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 2.7 || 1.0 || 7.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2008| style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles| 1 || 0 || 1.0 ||  - ||  - ||  - || 1.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:left;"| Career| style="text-align:left;"| 6 years, 3 teams| 24 || 23 || 25.0 || .412 || .556 || .759 || 6.5 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 2.5 || 2.0 || 8.3|}

Personal life

Dydek was married and had two sons.[10] [11]

Death

On 19 May 2011, Dydek, at the time pregnant with her third child, collapsed at her home in Brisbane due to cardiac arrest. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. She had been working as a coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. She never regained consciousness and died eight days later on 27 May 2011.[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Fox . Margalit . 27 May 2011 . Margo Dydek, Towering Women's Basketball Center, Dies at 37 . The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Tallest WNBA player (ever). 2020-11-13. Guinness World Records. 24 July 2020 . en-GB.
  3. Web site: WNBA.com: 2008 WNBA Transactions. wnba.com. 15 August 2015.
  4. Web site: Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych. Kancelaria Sejmu RP. sejm.gov.pl. 15 August 2015.
  5. News: 19 August 2002 . Most Popular . dead . CNN . 20 May 2011 . 4 November 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121104070927/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1026452/index.htm .
  6. Web site: Rodzina zmarłej Małgorzaty Dydek - koszykarka OSIEROCIŁA dwóch synów, była w ciąży. 27 May 2011. se.pl. 15 August 2015. 22 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141222204451/http://gwizdek24.se.pl/koszykowka/rodzina-malgorzaty-dydek-koszykarka-osierocila-dwoch-synow-byla-w-ciazy_187752.html. dead.
  7. Web site: Marta Dydek. polskikosz.pl. 15 August 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924075823/http://www.polskikosz.pl/zawodnik/2261/dydek_marta.html. 24 September 2015.
  8. http://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_pnlxO1HYJhUh,MTfrmUO03.season_1999.roundID_2296.coid_TAf7D4m9Jywy5CVNRqrF93.articleMode_on.html FIBA Europe Mourn Loss Of Dydek
  9. Web site: Margo Dydek WNBA Stats. Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. 11 October 2021.
  10. Web site: Griffen . Ned . 28 May 2011 . The Day - Margo Dydek: A personality to match her 7-foot-2 height - News from southeastern Connecticut . 29 June 2024 . The Day.
  11. Web site: Evans . Jayda . 27 May 2011 . Storm mourns loss of former WNBA player Margo Dydek . 29 June 2024 . The Seattle Times.
  12. Web site: 20 May 2011 . Margo Dydek suffers heart attack . 29 June 2024 . ESPN.