Best Women’s Basketball Players of All-Time

We’ve all heard of basketball greats from Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant, to LeBron James.  But unfortunately, when speaking of great basketball players, there tends to be a focus solely on the men’s game.  Below, we’re going to rank the best women’s basketball players of all-time.

Sue Bird

Suzanne Brigit Bird was born on October 16, 1980, in Syosset,  New York. She is an American Israeli professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted by the Storm first overall in the 2002 WNBA draft.

In high school, she was the New York State Player of the Year, the New York Daily News Player of the Year, and a WBCA All-American. In her senior year on the undefeated University of Connecticut team in 2002, she won the Wade Trophy and the Naismith Award as College Player of the Year. 

She finished her UConn career ranked first in three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, second in assists and steals, and as a three-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation, while leading her team to a record of 114–4.

Bird has won a joint-record four WNBA championships with the Storm, a historic five Olympic gold medals, two NCAA Championships with UConn (2000, 2002); and four FIBA World Cups (2002, 2010, 2014, 2018). She is one of only 11 women to attain all four accolades.

She is also a five-time Euro League Women champion (2007-2010, 2013). During her WNBA career, she has been selected to eleven WNBA All-Star teams and eight All-WNBA teams.

Additionally, in 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time and was voted into the WNBA Top 20@20 as one of the league’s top 20 players of all time. Her fifth Olympic gold medal, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, makes her one of only two Olympic basketball players — of either gender — ever to win five gold medals, with the other player being her US Olympic teammate Diana Taurasi.

Tamika Catchings

Tamika Devonne Catchings (born July 21, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Catchings has won a WNBA championship (2012), WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2011), WNBA Finals MVP Award (2012), five WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards four Olympic gold medals and the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.

She is one of only 11 women to attain all four accolades. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-WNBA teams, 12 All-Defensive teams and led the league in steals eight times. In 2011, Catchings was voted in by fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time.

Tamika Catchings is a prolific scorer close to and far from the basket, as well as a capable rebounder, ball handler, and defender. After playing at Adlai E. Stevenson High School and graduating from Duncanville High School, Tamika Catchings became one of the stars of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team.

In 2001, she was drafted by the Indiana Fever. After sitting out the entire year in which she was drafted due to injury, she had an all-star rookie season in 2002. She is famous for recording the first ever quintuple-double (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10 blocks) in 1997 and served as President of the WNBA Players Association from 2012 to 2016. Catchings was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Cynthia Cooper

Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke (née Cooper; born April 14, 1963) is an American basketball coach and former player who has won championships in college, in the Olympics, and in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She is considered by many as one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever. In 2011, Cooper-Dyke was voted by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history. Upon the league’s formation, she played for the Houston Comets from 1997 to 2000, being named the Most Valuable Player of the WNBA Finals in all four seasons and returned to play again in 2003.

Cooper-Dyke still holds the record for most Finals MVPs with four. On April 30, 2019, she was introduced as the head coach for the Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball team, a position she held in the 2012–13 season. She has also coached at USC, UNC Wilmington, Prairie View A&M, and, professionally, for the Phoenix Mercury. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Yolanda Griffith

Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the history of Women’s Basketball. 

She last played in the WNBA as a member of the Indiana Fever. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. She is sometimes called by her nicknames: “Yo” and “Yo-Yo”. Since retiring from the professional ranks, Griffith was as assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently an assistant coach with the Boston College Eagles. Griffith was inducted into the 2014 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame’s class on her first year of eligibility.