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Yolanda Griffith
Personal information
Born	March 1, 1970 (age 54); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school	Carver (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Palm Beach CC (1990–1992); Florida Atlantic (1992–1993);
WNBA draft	1999: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
	Selected by the Sacramento Monarchs
Playing career	1993–2009
Position	Center
Number	33, 13
Career history
1993–1997	DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg
1997–1998	Long Beach Stingrays
1998	Chicago Condors
1999–2007	Sacramento Monarchs
2000–2002	Lavezzini Basket Parma
2003–2004	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2005–2006	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2008	Seattle Storm
2009	Indiana Fever
Career highlights and awards
	WNBA champion (2005); WNBA Finals MVP (2005); WNBA MVP (1999); 8× WNBA All-Star (1999–2001, 2003–2007); 2× All-WNBA First Team (1999, 2005); 3× All-WNBA Second Team (2000, 2001, 2004); 2× WNBA rebounding champion (1999, 2001); 2× WNBA steals champion (1999, 2004); WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (1999); 2x WNBA All-Defensive Team (2005, 2006); WNBA 10th Anniversary Team (2006); WNBA 15th Anniversary Team (2011); WNBA 20th Anniversary Team (2016); WNBA 25th Anniversary Team (2021); Russian League Player of the Year (2005); First-team Parade All-American (1989);
	Stats at WNBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference
	Basketball Hall of Fame
	Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Women's basketball
Representing the United States
Olympic Games

Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. An eight time WNBA All-Star, she was named the 1999 WNBA MVP and the WNBA Finals MVP in 2005 when she won the WNBA championship with the Sacramento Monarchs. One of the top defensive players in WNBA's history, she was the 1999 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in rebounds and steals two times each. 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". Griffith was inducted into the 2014 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's class on her first year of eligibility. In 2021, she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Griffith attended George Washington Carver High School in the Chicago area.^[1] In her senior year (1988–1989), she was named First-team Parade All-American,^[2] as well as first team All-America in softball.^[1]

College career

Griffith was offered a scholarship to play for the women's basketball team at the University of Iowa, but had to cancel it after she gave birth to her daughter, Candace.^[3]

Afterward, she attended Palm Beach Junior College in Lake Worth, Florida, where she earned Junior College All-America honors in 1990-91.^[1] She later transferred to Florida Atlantic University, which was then a Division II school, where she graduated in 1993, earning Kodak Division II Player of the Year honors.^[1] While in school, she supported herself and her daughter by working for a car repossession company.^[1]

Professional career

Germany

Following her graduating from college, Griffith began her professional basketball playing career in Germany with DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg, where she played from 1993 to 1997.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, she finished as the top scorer and rebounder in the Euroleague Women, averaging 24.7 points and 17.1 rebounds per game.^[4]

American Basketball League

After four seasons in Germany, Griffith joined the American Basketball League (ABL).^[1] She was selected by the Long Beach Stingrays as the number one pick overall in the ABL players draft.^[1] In their only season, Griffith led the Stingrays to the brink of the ABL title, only to lose to the defending champions, the Columbus Quest. Griffith was named the 1997–1998 ABL Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-ABL first team.^[1] She finished second in the ABL's 1998 Most Valuable Player voting to her future 2000 Summer Olympics teammate Natalie Williams.^{[citation needed]}

When the Long Beach franchise folded after the end of the 1997–98 season, she was dealt to the expansion Chicago Condors, in her hometown. She played there only briefly, however, as the league folded on December 22, 1998. Prior to that, Griffith ranked fifth among league leaders in scoring (17.2 ppg), first in rebounding (12.3 rpg), 19th in assists (2.6 apg), second in steals (3.3 spg), and second in blocked shots (1.3 bpg).^{[citation needed]}

WNBA

The Sacramento Monarchs selected Griffith as the no. 2 overall draft pick in the 1999 WNBA draft.^[1] She is a seven-time WNBA All-Star, and won the WNBA's MVP, Newcomer of the Year^[5] and Defensive Player awards in 1999.

In 2001, Griffith set the WNBA single-season record for most offensive rebounds with 162.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, the Monarchs won their first WNBA title over the Connecticut Sun, three games to one in a best-of-five series. Griffith was named Finals MVP.^{[citation needed]}

On April 8, 2008, after nine seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs, Griffith signed with the Seattle Storm.^{[citation needed]}

On February 20, 2009, Griffith signed with the Indiana Fever, after a one-year stint with the Storm.^{[citation needed]}

On June 9, 2009, Griffith tore her achilles tendon in a game against the Seattle Storm, her former team. In August the same year, she announced her retirement from professional basketball.^[6]^[7] In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA.^[8] In 2016, Griffith was once again honoured by the WNBA in the WNBA Top 20@20 in celebration of the league's 20th season.^[9]

Europe

As the WNBA and the seasons in Europe did not overlap, Griffith, like many other WNBA players played in Europe during the winter. She played two seasons for Lavezzini Basket Parma in Italy from 2000 to 2002. In 2003–2004 and 2005–2006, she played for Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg.^{[citation needed]}

Coaching career

Griffith began her coaching career in 2009 as an assistant coach with the Indiana Fever. She was later an assistant coach at the college level with Dartmouth, Lafayette, Albany and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2018, she became an assistant coach with the Boston College Eagles.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Sacramento	29	29	33.8	.541	.000	.617	11.3°	1.6	2.5°	1.9	2.28	18.8
2000	Sacramento	32	32	32.1	.535	.000	.706	10.3	1.5	2.6	1.9	2.56	16.3
2001	Sacramento	32	31	33.7	.522	.000	.720	11.2°	1.7	2.0	1.2	2.34	16.2
2002	Sacramento	17	17	33.9	.520	.000	.803	8.7	1.1	0.9	0.8	2.65	16.9
2003	Sacramento	34	34	29.9	.485	.000	.774	7.3	1.4	1.7	1.1	2.21	13.8
2004	Sacramento	34	34	30.3	.519	.000	.853	7.2	1.2	2.2°	1.2	1.74	14.5
2005^†	Sacramento	34	33	28.3	.485	.000	.707	6.6	1.5	1.2	0.9	2.00	13.8
2006	Sacramento	34	34	25.1	.457	.000	.751	6.4	1.6	1.3	0.5	1.94	12.0
2007	Sacramento	32	32	23.1	.502	.000	.658	4.6	1.5	1.0	0.4	2.03	9.0
2008	Seattle	30	30	21.9	.462	.000	.648	6.3	1.5	1.4	0.6	1.70	7.2
2009	Indiana	3	0	13.7	.500	.000	.778	2.3	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.00	6.3
Career	11 years, 3 teams	311	306	28.8	.506	.000	.713	7.9	1.5	1.7	1.0	2.11	13.6

Postseason


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Sacramento	2	2	39.0	.522	.000	.625	12.0°	1.0	0.5	0.5	2.00	14.5
2001	Sacramento	5	5	36.2	.478	.000	.764	8.8	1.4	1.6	1.2	2.20	21.2
2003	Sacramento	6	6	33.3	.537	.000	.912	8.8	1.2	1.2	1.0	2.00	17.2
2004	Sacramento	6	6	34.0	.492	.000	.833	8.2	1.3	2.0	1.0	2.00	13.7
2005^†	Sacramento	8	8	30.8	.491	.000	.711	8.3	1.4	1.2	0.5	1.25	17.3
2006	Sacramento	9	9	26.3	.485	.000	.765	7.1	1.8	1.1	0.6	1.11	14.8
2007	Sacramento	3	3	23.7	.409	.000	.889	6.0	0.3	0.7	0.3	2.33	8.7
2008	Seattle	3	3	29.0	.214	.000	.875	6.3	1.7	3.0	1.3	1.67	4.3
Career	8 years, 2 teams	42	42	31.1	.484	.000	.786	8.0	1.4	1.4	0.8	1.69	15.0

National team career

Griffith has twice been a member of the U.S. National Women's Basketball team. She won Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics in both 2000 and 2004.^[10]^[11]^[12] Griffith will serve as a member of the USA Basketball Women's Development National Team Committee from 2013-2016. The Women's Developmental National Team committees will select coaches and athletes for USA Basketball teams competing in the 2013 and 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championships; and the 2014 and 2016 FIBA U17 World Championships. The Men's Developmental National Team Committee also selects staff and players for the annual Nike Hoop Summit.^[13]

Coaching career

In 2011, Griffith accepted an assistant coach position with Ivy League university, Dartmouth, located in Hanover, NH.^[14] In her first season with the Big Green the Dartmouth post players made great strides. Griffith was instrumental in the development of Arianne Hunter and Tia Dawson. Dawson, who was the Big Green's top rebounder and the top shot blocker in the Ivy League, was twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.^[15] In 2013, Griffith was named the First Assistant Coach for Lafayette College a member of the Patriot League.^[16] She was an assistant coach for Joanna Bernabei-MacNamee at the University of Albany. When Bernabei-MacNamee was named as the new head coach at Boston College in 2018, she brought Griffith along as her assistant. Griffith has been instrumental in the development of post players at BC.^{[citation needed]}