Yolanda Griffith

Yolanda Griffith
Information about the player
Full name	Yolanda Evette Griffith
birthday	March 1, 1970
place of birth	Chicago , Illinois , United States
size	191 cm
position	center
college	Florida Atlantic University
WNBA Draft	1999 , 2nd Pick, Sacramento Monarchs
Clubs as active
1993-1997	DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg
1997-1998	Long Beach Stingrays
2000-2002	Lavezzini Basket Parma
2002-2006	UGMK Yekaterinburg
2007-2008	Levoni Taranto
WNBA clubs as active
1999-2007	Sacramento Monarchs
2008	Seattle Storm
2009	Indiana Fever
1 As of June 22, 2016

Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970 in Chicago , Illinois , United States ) is a former professional basketball player who played for the Sacramento Monarchs , Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever in the Women's National Basketball Association from 1999 to 2009 .

Career

ABL (1997 to 1998)

In 1997 she was selected by the Long Beach Stingrays in first place in the ABL Draft. In their first and only season in the ABL, they led the Stingrays straight to the ABL final. In the final series she had to admit defeat with the Stingrays with 2–3 the Columbus Quest . Griffith was named ABL Defensive Player of the Year at the end of the season. Furthermore, she made the jump into the All-ABL First Team. Since the team ended the game after the end of this season, she played temporarily for the Chicago Condors in her hometown. However, on December 22, 1998, the league in which the Condors played was dissolved.

WNBA (1999 to 2009)

Griffith was selected second in the 1999 WNBA Draft by the Sacramento Monarchs . In the 1999 season , she was named MVP of the Season and Defensive Player of the Season . She celebrated her greatest success in the 2005 season when she won the championship with the Monarchs for the first time. After the Monarchs had defeated the Connecticut Sun in the finals series 3–1, Griffith was selected as the Finals MVP . After nine seasons in Sacramento, Griffith signed on April 8, 2008, a one-year contract with the Seattle Storm . The Storm were probably the strongest squad in the league in the 2008 season , but they did not get past the first round of the playoffs with the Storm after a good regular season. On February 20, Griffith again signed a one-year contract, this time with the Indiana Fever . Griffith later announced that she would retire after that season. On June 9, she ruptured an Achilles tendon against her former Seattle Storm team. Because of this injury, she had to end this season and her career early.

She was chosen for her achievements in the WNBA both in 2006 in the WNBA All-Decade Team consisting of ten players and in 2011 for the 15th anniversary of the league as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time .

Europe

For several years she was also active for clubs in Europe.

International (2000 to 2004)

Griffith won gold with the US women's basketball team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens .

Career statistics

				Regular season										Playoffs
season	team	league		GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG		GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
1999	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		29	29	33.8	54.1	0.0	61.7	11.3	1.6	18.8		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		32	32	32.1	53.5	0.0	70.6	10.3	1.5	16.3		2	2	39.0	52.2	0.0	62.5	12.0	1.0	14.5
2001	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		32	31	33.7	52.2	0.0	72.0	11.2	1.7	16.2		5	5	36.2	47.8	0.0	76.4	8.8	1.4	21.2
2002	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		17th	17th	33.9	52.0	0.0	80.3	8.7	1.1	16.9		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		34	34	29.9	48.5	0.0	77.4	7.3	1.4	13.8		6th	6th	33.3	53.7	0.0	91.2	8.8	1.2	17.2
2004	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		34	34	30.3	51.9	0.0	75.3	7.2	1.2	14.5		6th	6th	34.0	49.2	0.0	83.3	8.2	1.3	13.7
2005	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		34	33	28.3	48.5	0.0	70.7	6.6	1.5	13.8		8th	8th	30.8	49.1	0.0	71.1	8.3	1.4	17.3
2006	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		34	34	25.1	45.7	0.0	75.1	6.4	1.6	12.0		9	9	26.3	48.5	0.0	76.5	7.1	1.8	14.8
2007	Sacramento Monarchs	WNBA		32	32	23.1	50.2	0.0	65.8	4.6	1.5	9.0		3	3	23.7	40.9	0.0	88.9	6.0	0.3	8.7
2008	Seattle Storm	WNBA		30th	30th	21.9	46.2	0.0	64.8	6.3	1.5	7.2		3	3	29.0	21.4	0.0	87.5	6.3	1.7	4.3
2009	Indiana Fever	WNBA		3	0	13.7	50.0	0.0	77.8	2.3	0.0	6.3		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
WNBA total				311	306	28.8	50.6	0.0	71.3	7.9	1.5	13.6		42	42	31.1	48.4	0.0	78.6	8.0	1.4	15.0

Legend for player statistics:
(GP = total games; GS = games in the starting line-up; MPG = minutes played per game; FG% = throw rate from the field; 3P% = throw rate from the 3-point range; FT% = free throw rate; OFF = offensive Rebounds per game; DEF = defensive rebounds per game; RPG = rebounds per game; APG = assists scored per game; BPG = blocks scored per game; PPG = points scored per game)

Web links

• WNBA player profile
• Statistics about the player on basketball-reference.com (engl.)
• FIBA overview of participation in international tournaments
• FIBA Europe overview of participation in European tournaments