List of The 14 Heaviest Female Basketball Players

Few would probably consider WNBA basketball a sport with ‘heavy’ contenders. But they would be mistaken.

The WNBA consists of some of the world’s strongest and heaviest athletes. Our heaviest female basketball players in the world range from as little as 190 pounds to as heavy as 240 pounds.

1. Katharen Ruth Mattera: 240 lbs

Katharen Mattera, also known as Katie, is retired but played for Chicago Sky in the WNBA. Katie started playing basketball at a young age.

She was a three-time South Big Conference Player of the Year and the South Big Conference All-Time leading shot blocker.

She’s been the head coach of the Cornerstone University women’s basketball team since 2012.

2. Zheng Haixia: 229 lbs

Zheng Haixia is a retired professional basketball player. She is a native of China who played in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks.

She is the second tallest female basketball player to ever play in the WNBA. Zheng represented China in four Olympic games; they won the Bronze medal in 1984 and the Silver medal in 1992. 

3. Kara Wolters Drinan: 227 lbs

Kara Drinan is a retired WNBA player who played for the Houston Comets. She’s nicknamed Big Girl, Kara knew at a young age where her height would end up taking her.

She won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics and played for the U.S. women’s national basketball team in 1998, where they were crowned World Champions.

4. Malgorzata Dydek: 222 lbs

Malgorzata Dydek was the tallest woman to ever play in the WNBA. A native of Russia, Malgorzata played for the Los Angeles Sparks.

Malgrozata holds the title for All-Time Leader in Blocks with 877 during her WNBA career. After playing for the Sparks, she became the coach for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League. She died of a heart attack in Australia in 2011.

5. Elizabeth Cambage: 216 lbs

Elizabeth “Liz” Cambage is an Australian native who is still actively playing in the WNBA.

Elizabeth made the 2011 WNBA All-Star team and was also named to the WNBA All-Rookie team that year. Currently, Elizabeth plays for the Las Vegas Aces.

6. Brionna Jones: 210 lbs

Brionna Jones was drafted to the WNBA by the Connecticut Sun in 2017. Brionna played 23 games in her rookie season for a total of 66 points, 38 rebounds, nine steals, three assists and two blocks.

In 2021, she played with the Connecticut Sun where she started in all 32 regular season games (980 minutes) scoring 470 points, 234 rebounds, 56 assists, and 44 steals.  She was the 2021 most improved player in the WNBA. 

7. Damiris Dantas: 209 lbs

Born in Brazil, Damiris was drafted to the WNBA by Minnesota in 2012. In 2021, Damiris’ season was cut short due to a foot injury.

Despite that, she played in 24 games, averaged. 7.7 points, with a shooting average of 37.7% from the field, 33.3% long distance, and 75% from the line. She has an extensive international history in the game.

8. Bernadett Hatar: 208 lbs

Bernadett Hatar is from Hungary and was signed by the Indiana Fever in 2020. Up through that time, she was playing for the Hungarian national team.

Due to an injury her season was cut short. Prior to that, Bernadett averaged 4.9 points out of the seven games played, with 2.8 rebounds. She shot 48% from the floor.

9. Brittney Griner: 205 lbs

Brittney Griner is among the tallest women in the WNBA still playing the game. She led the league in blocks for five straight seasons and won the WNBA title in 2014.

That same year, she was named to the All- WNBA First team. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year is a four-time WNBA All-star and is the WNBA’s current scoring champion. She plays for the Phoenix Mercury.

10. Sylvia Fowles: 200 lbs

Sylvia Fowles is among the tallest WNBA players currently playing the game. She joined the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and was awarded the MVP of the 2015 WNBA finals.

She was also named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year three times, lastly in 2016. She is still playing for the Minnesota Lynx today.

11. Lindsay Corine Taylor: 200 lbs

Lindsay Taylor is a retired WNBA player who played for the Houston Comets. Lindsay was truly among the tallest to play the game.

Although she was born in the U.S. Lindsay also played for other professional leagues, including the Turkish Women Basketball League.

12. A’Ja Wilson: 195 pounds

A’Ja Wilson was drafted as the #1 overall pick in the first round in 2018 by Las Vegas.

In 2021, she scored in double figures in 30 of 32 games, scored 20 or more points 14 times, and grabbed 10 or more rebounds on 17 occasions. A’Ja was a 2021 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist, and the 2020 WNBA most valuable player.

13. Beatrice Mompremier: 190 pounds

Beatrice Mompremier was drafted 20th overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2020 WNBA draft, but has played the last two seasons with Connecticut.

In 2021, Beatrice played in all 32 regular season games and ended the season with 57 points, 77 rebounds and 12 steals.

14. Alyssa Thomas: 190 pounds

Alyssa Thomas was drafted to the WNBA in 2014 and has played in 201 regular season games with Connecticut and started in 194 of those games.

Her career totals include 2352 points, 1361 rebounds, 601 assists, and 296 steals. Alyssa made WNBA All-Defensive First team in 2020 and is a two-time WNBA All Star (2017 & 2019).