Basketball has had a huge impact on world sports, and it has massive popularity in every corner of the earth. The game is considered a sport for the elite, but a lot of things have changed now. Both Male and female players are performing beyond exception, which has led Basketball to become the most popular sport around the World. In this article, we are going to tell you about some of the most influential Women in basketball who changed people’s perspectives on Women and made a huge impact in this sport.
Diana Taurasi
Diana Lorena Taurasi, also known as “White Mamba,” is a player with exceptional skills and is considered one of the greatest players of all time, both male and female.She always scores when the match is in a crucial situation, and this is the reason she was given the nickname White Mamba by the Legendary Kobe Bryant himself.
Diana won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and three WNBA championships in 2007, 2009, and 2014. The 40-year-old is also a five-time Olympic gold medalist. On June 27, 2021, she became the first player to surpass 9,000 points, and currently she plays for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
Maya Moore
Maya Moore found her love for Basketball at the age of three, and she continued playing the sport in school and college as well. Moore was an outstanding player during this time and led her team to many wins. As a result, her school and college careers were filled with trophies and championships, which continued in her professional year as well, and she established herself as one of the best professional women’s basketball players. She is also the first female basketball player to sign a deal with Air Jordan.
Cynthia Cooper
Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke, who is currently an American Basketball coach, was a brilliant player during her career. She was already 34 when the Women’s National Basketball Association was launched and had only played five seasons. Despite playing only five seasons, Cooper dominated the sport and led her team, the Houston Comets, to four consecutive Championships.
She has also been named League MVP twice and finals MVP four times. Cooper used to score 21 points per game with an average of 35.2 minutes, and no player in the history of the WNBA has yet broken that record. She has also been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Carol Blazejowski
Carol Blazejowski is the best female basketball player and the highest-ranked. Her ability to shoot three-pointers was very impressive, and she has represented the USA in many tournaments. In 1979, when the US team won the World Championship, Carol was the leading scorer. Next year, Blazejowski signed a contract with the New Jersey Gems worth $150,000 and became the highest-paid player in the Women’s Pro Basketball League.
She is not only the oldest but also the most famous player in the sport. She was also the first Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 1999. After her playing career ended, Carol worked in the front office of the National Basketball Association and was later promoted to president of the New York Liberty in 1994.
Candace Parker
Parker, also known as Ace, is an American basketball player. Everyone in her family loved the sport, and her father played basketball at the University of Lowa in the 1970s.Candace was concerned about playing Basketball, fearing that she would not reach the same level as her Father and brother, so she started playing soccer instead.
When she reached the eighth grade, her family convinced her to focus on basketball, and her father coached her. As a result, Parker had an impressive high school career, and in 2008, she was selected for the WNBA. That year, Candace not only won the Rookie of the Year award but was also named MVP of the season. She is one of the most fabulous players in Basketball history and currently plays for the Los Angeles Sparks.
Lauren Jackson
Jackson is a professional Basketball player from Australia. Both her parents used to play for the Australian national team, so Jackson was bound to love basketball. Lauren attracted a lot of attention for her game during her teenage years, and as a result, her first call-up to the Australian Women’s national basketball team came when she was just 16.
Jackon has won many medals in her time, including bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship for Women, a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and a gold medal at the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil.
By the time Lauren was 21, she was already considered one of the best basketball players in the world. There is no doubt that she is the most popular basketball player in Australia. In 2020, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2021, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tamika Catchings
Tamika Devonne Catching is currently a retired professional basketball player in America, but during her 15-year career with the Indiana Fever, she was one of the most influential women in basketball.
Catching was the most impressive defensive player in the WNBA and won five awards for it in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012. She is also one of the 11 women to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA championship, FIBA World Cup gold, and a WNBA championship. Catching was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and has also been named to the 2023 class of the Hall of Fame.
