Margo Dydek, tallest WNBA player, dies at 37 while pregnant

The tallest woman ever to play in the WNBA has passed away, confirms the operations manager for her former team. Margo Dydek was the WNBA's No. 1 draft pick in 1998. She passed away from complications after a heart attack on Friday May 27 in Brisbane, Australia, at age 37.

Dydek, born Malgorzata Dydek in Poland, was 7'2", weighed 223 pounds, and had a 7-foot wingspan. She played in the WNBA for 10 full seasons and went on to coach the Northside Wizards. She and her two sisters (also very tall) were all basketball stars, and her mother was a seamstress who made all of their clothing.

Dydek played for the Utah Starzz from 1998-2002, when the franchise became the San Antonio Silver Stars and she moved to Texas to play with the team from 2003-2004. She joined the Connecticut Sun from 2005-2007 and in 2008 played for the Los Angeles Sparks before moving to Brisbane to coach the Wizards.

At the time of her death, Dydek was pregnant with her third child. She had a heart attack on May 19 at her home. Doctors put her in a medically induced coma, which she did not recover from. Eight days later she died. Her fetus did not survive. Dydek is survived by her husband, David, and their two sons.