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 Dydek with theLos Angeles Sparks in September 2008 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1974-04-28)28 April 1974 Warsaw, Poland | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 27 May 2011(2011-05-27) (aged 37) Brisbane, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 223 lb (101 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| WNBA draft | 1998: 1st round,1st overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Utah Starzz | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1998–2008 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Center | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 1998–2004 | Utah Starzz /San Antonio Silver Stars | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Connecticut Sun | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Los Angeles Sparks | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Stats at WNBA.com | |||||||||||||||
Stats atBasketball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| FIBA Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Małgorzata Teresa Dydek-Twigg, also known asMargo Dydek (28 April 1974 – 27 May 2011),[1] was a Polish professional basketball player. Standing 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) tall, she was famous for being the tallest professional female basketball player in the world.[2] She playedcenter position for multiple teams in theWNBA and was a coach for theNorthside Wizards in theQueensland Basketball League.[3] She was awarded the Polish GoldCross of Merit (1999).[4]
She was inducted into theFIBA Hall of Fame in 2019.
Margo Dydek was born 28 April 1974 inWarsaw, Poland, to a 6-foot-7-inch (2.01 m) father and a 6-foot-3-inch (1.91 m) mother.[5] She had two sisters; her elder sister,Katarzyna (6 ft 7 in [2.01 m]) had played for theColorado Xplosion of the now-defunctABL. Her younger sister,[6]Marta (6 ft 6 in [1.98 m]), graduated from theUniversity of Texas–El Paso where she playedbasketball, and played professionally inSpain in the 2000s.[7]
Dydek made her first trip to the United States in May 1998 forWNBA pre-draft camp. Dydek was drafted 1st overall in the1998 WNBA draft by theUtah Starzz (the franchise was subsequently transferred to San Antonio).
On 16 April 2005, during the2005 WNBA draft, theSan Antonio Silver Stars traded Dydek to theConnecticut Sun in exchange for the Sun's first-round draft pick,Katie Feenstra fromLiberty University.
Records held:
On 3 June 2008, Dydek signed with theLos Angeles Sparks, following time away from basketball due to her pregnancy. She had given birth to her son, David, in April that year.
Dydek played forOlimpia Poznań from 1992 to 1994, before playing forValenciennes 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 forFota 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 inFIBAEuroLeague play. She was named Most Valuable Player of thePolish League Finals of the 1999–2000 season. In 1999, she was also named the best female basketball player in Europe by the Italian sports magazineLa Gazzetta dello Sport. Dydek was chosen as Poland's Sports Woman of the Year and was a member of thePoland women's national basketball team until 2007, winning theEuroBasket Women 1999. She helped lead Gdynia to runner-up finishes in the FIBA EuroLeague in 2002 and 2004.[8]
Source:[9]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Utah | 30° | 30° | 28.0 | .482 | .143 | .732 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 3.8° | 3.6 | 12.9 |
| 1999 | Utah | 32° | 28 | 22.9 | .498 | .350 | .857 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 2.4° | 2.8 | 12.6 |
| 2000 | Utah | 32° | 32° | 24.2 | .445 | .143 | .796 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 3.0° | 2.6 | 9.2 |
| 2001 | Utah | 32° | 32° | 30.3 | .440 | .400 | .798 | 7.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.5° | 2.8 | 10.9 |
| 2002 | Utah | 30 | 27 | 29.2 | .436 | .250 | .844 | 8.7 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3.6° | 3.2 | 13.1 |
| 2003 | San Antonio | 34° | 34° | 27.2 | .451 | .000 | .723 | 7.4 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 2.9° | 2.4 | 11.9 |
| 2004 | San Antonio | 34° | 24 | 20.1 | .433 | .500 | .759 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 6.6 |
| 2005 | Connecticut | 31 | 30 | 21.6 | .537 | .500 | .769 | 6.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 7.3 |
| 2006 | Connecticut | 34° | 34° | 21.9 | .494 | .250 | .821 | 6.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.5° | 1.5 | 9.4 |
| 2007 | Connecticut | 32 | 30 | 20.1 | .487 | .400 | .789 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.1° | 1.6 | 6.7 |
| 2008 | Los Angeles | 2 | 0 | 7.0 | .400 | – | – | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Career | 11 years, 3 teams | 323 | 301 | 24.4 | .467 | .295 | .791 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 10.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Utah | 2 | 2 | 34.5 | .429 | – | .769 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 14.0 |
| 2002 | Utah | 5 | 5 | 34.2 | .400 | .600 | .867 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 12.0 |
| 2005 | Connecticut | 8 | 8 | 18.3 | .376 | 1.000 | .636 | 5.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 4.5 |
| 2006 | Connecticut | 5 | 5 | 26.6 | .458 | .000 | .846 | 7.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 11.0 |
| 2007 | Connecticut | 3 | 3 | 26.7 | .400 | .500 | .000 | 6.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| 2008 | Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | – | – | – | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Career | 6 years, 3 teams | 24 | 23 | 25.0 | .412 | .556 | .759 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 8.3 |
Dydek was married and had two sons.[10][11] Dydek spoke five languages and her teammates referred to her as "Large Marge".[12]
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 medicallyinduced coma. She had been working as a coach for theNorthside Wizards in theQueensland Basketball League. She never regained consciousness and died eight days later on 27 May 2011.[13]
Popular with players and fans, she spoke five languages and was affectionately called Large Marge by teammates.
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