Current and former WNBA players are Tweeting that Margo Dydek, best known for being the tallest woman ever to play in the WNBA at 7'2" tall, has passed away at the age of 37 after complications from a heart attack.
The WNBA twitter account posted the following.
The Associated Press later confirmed the sad news.
Dydek suffered a heart attack one week ago at her home in Brisbane, Australia and was pregnant with her third child. She was placed in a medically induced coma by doctors at the time for the safety of both her and her unborn child but never regained consciousness.
She was born in Poznan, Poland and played professionally in Europe for six years before becoming the WNBA's #1 Draft Pick in the second year of the WNBA's existence in 1998. Over the course of her career in the WNBA she would play for four different teams, most notably for the Connecticut Sun from 2005 through 2007, a span where the Sun finished twice as regular season champions in the Eastern Conference.
She would finish her career in the top ten in rebounding and except for 2004 and 2008, she led the WNBA in blocked shots. She is the career blocked shots leader with 877 blocked shots over 323 games. Only Dydek and Lisa Leslie have over 800 career blocked shots, no one else really comes close.
But Dydek will probably be best known for her sweet disposition than her basketball. Her nickname growing up was "Ppych", which according to Sports Illustrated is a word in Polish indicating a sweet, cream-colored cake. Many fans can testify to her warm demeanor and she will greatly missed by everyone who ever knew her or even met her.