Layups: R.I.P. Margo Dydek
Posted by Neil Paine on May 27, 2011
Here's a very sad news story from ESPN:
"Former WNBA player Margo Dydek has died after suffering a heart attack a week ago and being placed in a medically induced coma.
[...]
The Poland-born Dydek, who was pregnant with her third child, suffered the heart attack on May 19 and collapsed at her home in Brisbane. Roberts said that Dydek was at an early stage in her pregnancy and that her unborn child had also died."
Standing an amazing 7'2", Dydek was easily the tallest player in WNBA history. She was also one of the league's kindest, most popular players, Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.com wrote.
Here are her career WNBA stats:
| Year | Tm | G | MP | PER | TS% | eFG% | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | USG% | ORtg | DRtg | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | UTA | 30 | 839 | 20.4 | .538 | .483 | 6.0 | 25.9 | 16.2 | 13.5 | 0.9 | 10.7 | 23.1 | 25.4 | 91 | 94 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.105 |
| 1999 | UTA | 32 | 733 | 25.0 | .590 | .511 | 6.7 | 28.6 | 17.8 | 17.6 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 21.0 | 27.1 | 103 | 96 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 0.209 |
| 2000 | UTA | 32 | 775 | 17.3 | .523 | .449 | 5.1 | 23.1 | 14.5 | 12.3 | 1.3 | 10.5 | 22.6 | 21.5 | 94 | 96 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.106 |
| 2001 | UTA | 32 | 970 | 19.2 | .515 | .450 | 4.2 | 25.5 | 15.9 | 13.3 | 1.5 | 9.8 | 21.0 | 21.7 | 92 | 89 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 0.147 |
| 2002 | UTA | 30 | 876 | 22.8 | .521 | .439 | 7.7 | 28.6 | 18.6 | 16.4 | 1.6 | 9.3 | 20.2 | 24.9 | 98 | 90 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 0.194 |
| 2003 | SAS | 34 | 926 | 20.9 | .503 | .451 | 5.9 | 25.6 | 16.0 | 15.2 | 1.1 | 8.7 | 16.6 | 24.5 | 95 | 91 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 0.157 |
| 2004 | SAS | 34 | 682 | 16.9 | .482 | .435 | 6.0 | 27.1 | 16.6 | 19.2 | 1.7 | 6.3 | 21.5 | 22.0 | 88 | 95 | -0.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.069 |
| 2005 | CON | 31 | 671 | 21.0 | .590 | .540 | 5.2 | 29.9 | 18.1 | 10.4 | 0.7 | 8.5 | 19.8 | 17.3 | 105 | 87 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 0.238 |
| 2006 | CON | 34 | 743 | 22.1 | .552 | .496 | 5.7 | 24.2 | 15.6 | 9.8 | 1.5 | 8.4 | 14.7 | 20.6 | 105 | 86 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 0.266 |
| 2007 | CON | 32 | 643 | 17.1 | .525 | .492 | 6.7 | 30.7 | 18.7 | 8.3 | 1.0 | 7.8 | 20.0 | 17.5 | 94 | 89 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.152 |
| 2008 | LAS | 2 | 14 | 12.1 | .400 | .400 | 17.3 | 8.0 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.8 | 103 | 103 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.097 |
| Career | 323 | 7872 | 20.3 | .532 | .471 | 5.9 | 26.8 | 16.7 | 13.7 | 1.2 | 9.0 | 20.1 | 22.5 | 96 | 91 | 9.7 | 17.0 | 26.8 | 0.163 |
She still ranks as the WNBA's all-time most prolific shot-blocker, and is 7th in career rebounds. According to Win Shares, Dydek is the 29th-greatest player in league history; PER ranks her even higher, at 16th all-time.
Rest in peace, Margo Dydek.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:31 am
Very sad. Best wishes to her friends and family. I, for one, will definitely miss her.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:52 am
Still just 37 and with child. Very sad.
May 27th, 2011 at 8:56 am
That's so unfortunate, rest in peace dear.
May 27th, 2011 at 2:55 pm
"Standing an amazing 7'2", Dydek was easily the tallest player in WNBA history"
And she probably have died as the youngest one(?)...
Something which helped her create a career probably stopped her life at 37...
Unfortunately, it could be only good as a topic for a theoretical "what if" discussion but in real life it's simply sad.
May 28th, 2011 at 8:47 am
Marfan Syndrome just automatically pops into my mind. I don't know if she had it. I'm just conditioned to think of it when a tall person has a cardiological issue.
May 29th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Something I found:
It has been stated in previous articles that Ms. Dydek did not have Marfan's. Marfan's is a high risk factor for aortic aneurysms, particularly those that dissect (the blood flows within the vessel wall and eventually ruptures the vessel). More likely she probably had a Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, as Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis did. That's the medical but the upshot is a tragic, untimely death for her and my condolences to her family.