THE NEXT POTENTIAL WNBA STAR WOULD DWARF THE COMPETITION
Even people who don’t normally follow the WNBA are paying attention this year. Of course, this is in large part due to Caitlin Clark, whose every move seems to be analyzed and scrutinized.
But Clark is far from the only one making an impact in the league. Fellow first-year player Angel Reese recently set a rookie double-double record. Sabrina Ionescu is having another stellar season, leading the New York Liberty to the league’s best record. And top scorer and rebounder A’ja Wilson could be primed to win a third MVP award.
It’s safe to say, however, that if a player on the Chinese national team ever joins the WNBA, she would tower over all other players — literally. At 7-foot-3, Zhang Ziyu is unofficially the tallest female basketball player of all time. In fact, there are just a handful of male players who have were taller than that.
Zhang is only 17 years old, so it’s possible that she isn’t done growing. And even though she just made her international tournament debut in the FIBA Under-18 Women’s Asia Cup, she has been immediately dominant. In her first game against Indonesia, she only played 13 minutes, but scored 19 points on 9-for-9 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks.
Then against New Zealand, she only missed four of her 20 shot attempts and finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, which were all game-highs. These highlights make her look like she’s playing against children:
Zhang has been called the female Yao Ming and, like the former NBA star, her parents played professional basketball. Both are significantly shorter than she is, however.
For her part, Zhang seems to be perfectly happy with her large stature.
“Life is a wonderful journey,” she said. “There are some things we can't control. I regard it as a gift to me. And it's okay. Everyone is different.”
Right now, there’s no word on what Zhang is thinking about when it comes to playing professionally, whether in China or America, as she’s focused on helping her team win and improving her game. But, if she were to eventually play in the WNBA, she’d certainly be a player everybody would have to look up to.
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