http://www.wnba.com/fever/news/Yolanda_Griffith_final_season_090515.html
TWO-TIME OLYMPIAN AND SEVEN-TIME WNBA ALL-STAR PREPARES FOR FINAL PRO SEASON
Yolanda Griffith, signed to a free agent contract with the
Indiana Fever last February, has announced that 2009 will
be her final pro season. A two-time Olympic gold medalist,
seven-time WNBA All-Star and a member of the WNBA’s All-Decade
Team, Griffith will conclude a 13-year pro career that included
two seasons in the American Basketball League. Griffith, No. 2
in WNBA history in rebounds (2,437), also ranks among the league’s
all-time leaders in points (6th), steals (4th), blocks (8th) and
free throws (3rd).
Griffith will play her 11th and final WNBA season in a Fever
uniform, capping a WNBA career that currently spans 308 games
and a 2005 title with the Sacramento Monarchs. Entering her
final season, Griffith boasts career averages of 10.3 points
and 7.0 rebounds per game.
“My career in the WNBA has given me a lot of great memories
and friendships,” said Griffith. “At this time, I, with my
family, have made the decision to make this season my last.
I look back on all the great basketball memories, my accomplishments
and my life as a WNBA player, with a smile. But I look forward to
my future goals with enthusiasm.”
“I am so proud that we have Yolanda in Indianapolis for her
final season,” said Fever Chief Operating Officer and General
Manager Kelly Krauskopf. “Her tremendous career speaks for
itself and I expect her to make her final mark here with our
team as we head into our 10th season. She is a first-class
professional and one of the greatest to ever play the game.”
"Intensity and passion. That’s what struck me about her game
the first time I saw her play,” said WNBA President Donna
Orender. “And it’s what stood out every time thereafter.
Yo has accomplished so much at so many different levels,
but it’s the passion that will be her legacy."
Since Griffith’s arrival on the professional and international
basketball scene, she has always been among the best power
forwards in the world – and at times considered the very best.
She starred many years overseas in Russia as one of the best
players internationally, and she twice guided the United States
to Olympic gold medals – in 2000 in Sydney, and 2004 in Athens.
“I have always considered Yolanda Griffith as America’s premier
women’s post player,” said Fever Head Coach Lin Dunn. “There
has never been a more physically dominant post on both ends of
the floor, and on the boards, in our game. Her blue-collar work
ethic has set the standard at her position, and her leadership
skills are second to none.”
The world of women’s basketball has been the stage for one of
the game’s most dominant rebounders. She averaged 11.5 points
and a USA-leading 8.8 rebounds during the 2000 Olympics. In 2004
with current Fever teammate Tamika Catchings at her side, she
shot 60.5 percent from the field during the Olympic Tournament,
while averaging 8.8 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Prior to landing on that stage however, Griffith worked her way
to becoming a Division II All-American in 1993. After growing up
in Chicago and graduating from George Washington Carver High School,
she attended Palm Beach (Fla.) Junior College for two seasons,
before playing her final college season at Florida Atlantic
University and leading the country in scoring (28.2) and
rebounding (16.0). In 1997, she was made the No. 1 overall
pick by the Long Beach Stingrays of the ABL, where she began making
strides toward landing on the world stage. She was the ABL
Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie, and after the league
folded in 1998, she was the No. 2 overall selection of the 1999
WNBA Draft, by Sacramento.
In her first year in the WNBA, Griffith was the league’s MVP,
All-WNBA First Team, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer
of the Year. Five years later, after a pair Olympic gold medals,
she helped guide the Monarchs to their first WNBA crown.
After her seven WNBA All-Star appearances, her last in 2007 and
all representing Sacramento, she signed a free agent contract
with the Seattle Storm prior to the 2008 season. She started
30 games for Seattle last season, averaging 7.2 points and 6.3
rebounds, in her 12th pro season overall.
She is slated to begin her final WNBA season when the Fever
opens training camp on Sunday, May 17. The Fever will conduct
its annual media day on Monday, May 18.
The Indiana Fever celebrates its 10th anniversary season in
2009, opening the summer season at Atlanta on Saturday, June
6 (7:00 p.m.), and hosting the Minnesota Lynx on June 7 (7:00 p.m.)
– exactly 10 years after the franchise was founded (June 7, 1999).
Led by Griffith, two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time WNBA
All-Star Tamika Catchings, Olympic silver medalist Tully Bevilaqua,
2008 WNBA Most Improved Player Ebony Hoffman and two-time WNBA
All-Stars Katie Douglas and Tammy Sutton-Brown, the
Fever bids for its fifth consecutive playoff appearance in 2009.
Season tickets are available clicking here.
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