Lindsay Corine Taylor (born May 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in the WNBA, KBSL, LFB, WKBL, Polish Women's League, WCBA, and Angola Women's Basketball League, usually playing the center position. An experienced player, Taylor has played professionally overseas in Europe, Asia, and Africa in 13 basketball seasons between 2005 and 2015.
Taylor attended Chandler High School and was a Chandler HS state champion in 1999. She attended University of California, Santa Barbara between 1999 and 2004 and was the 2001 Big West Freshman and Player of the Year. Taylor is Santa Barbara's all-time leading point scorer, blocker and most accurate shooter.
As a member of the United States 2003 Pan American Games basketball team Taylor was awarded the Silver Medal and was considered the best player on the team. She was instrumental in securing the Gauchos four straight Big West Conference women's Championships victories between 2001–2004, and almost single-handedly took the team to the 2004 Sweet Sixteen – the furthest the team had ever advanced in the NCAA tournament. In April 2014, she was elected to UC Santa Barbara Hall of Fame.
Graduating from Santa Barbara in 2004, she was one of the highly regarded rookies for the 2004 WNBA draft and was chosen by the Houston Comets and later traded to the Phoenix Mercury. She was the second-round (26th pick overall) in the 2004 WNBA Draft. In total Taylor signed with four WNBA teams between 2004 and 2008: the Houston Comets, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm (twice) and the Washington Mystics.
Between 2005 and 2015 Taylor had a decorated career playing overseas in Europe, Africa and Asia, having especially successful stints in both the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). and the Polish Women's League. Taylor finished her first season in the Polish Women's League with the highest number of scored points, and the highest overall evaluation in league history. She was also awarded Center of the Year and earned a place on the 1st Team, All-Imports Team and the All-Defensive Team. In 2011 Taylor received the All-Chinese WCBA 1st Team award.
Taylor retired from professional basketball in 2015. She serves as an assistant basketball coach at Hamilton High School. She is currently in her sixth season with Hamilton.
Early life Lindsay Corine Taylor was born on May 20, 1981, in Poway, California, the daughter of Catherine and Bill Taylor. Her family later moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Taylor came from a family of above-average height and claims she inherited her great height from her father who is . Her uncle, Ron (died November 2019), stood and was nicknamed "Tiny". She has an older sister, Roz, and a younger brother who unlike Lindsay, are just a little above average height. Her grandmother, Helen Taylor (died September 2006), regularly wrote articles on the internet about Lindsay during her time playing for the UCSB Gauchos.
Taylor was not involved in sports until she was fifteen. She had originally planned on playing in her school's marching band, but her closest friends, who played basketball, convinced her to start playing the game. She said she "picked it up naturally". She said that if it were not for basketball, her desires might have led her to a different career.
High school career Taylor attended Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona. In her first high school basketball game, she accidentally scored for the opposite team.
She helped lead her team to two regional championships, and as a senior, she helped lead them to the Arizona State Championship. She averaged 19.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in her final year as a prepster. During a game in her junior year, she scored a career-best 31 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. She played for the AAU Arizona Elite, where she guided the team to the 17-Gold National Championship in 1998 at the age of 17.Player Bio: Lindsay Taylor :: Women's Basketball She became a Chandler HS state champion in 1999.
College career Taylor later became famous during her NCAA career at UC Santa Barbara, playing center for the women's basketball team. She was (and still is) the tallest women's basketball player in the school's history, and she attended the same classes as fellow WNBA players Kayte Christensen and Kristen Mann.
After initially redshirting her first year (1999–2000) Taylor played center for the women's basketball team UC Santa Barbara Gaucho. In 2000–01, Taylor capped an impressive rookie season by earning the 2001 Big West Freshman of the Year award, second team all-conference and All-Big West tournament honors. She was twice named Big West's Player of the Week: January 15 and January 29. Taylor scored 20 or more points three times, with her career high of 24 coming against Boise State on January 21, 2001. Her field goal percentage in Big West Play of 65.0% was the highest percentage in the conference, and she later had 17 double-digit performances, including nine of her last 11 games and 13 of her final 16. It was during her second season at Santa Barbara that Taylor grew her final inch, something she was unaware of until she was measured later on, reaching her full and trademark height of 6 ft 8 inches. She was also selected as Big West Freshman of the Year.
In 2001–02, she earned her second Big West All Conference Honors. She missed two games – vs. Northridge (Jan. 6, 2002) and Fullerton (Feb. 6, 2002) because of soreness in her lower back. Her third season (2002–03) was capped by an honorable mention Associated Press All-American recognition, Big West Player of the Year honors and her second consecutive conference tournament MVP award. She also delivered 28 consecutive free-throws during her 2002–03 campaign.
During Taylor's senior year (2003–04), her UCSB Gaucho squad received their 8th consecutive Big West Conference Title with a 27–7 record and won the Big West tournament, in which Taylor won her third consecutive MVP award. The Gauchos upset Colorado and Houston to get to the NCAA Sweet 16 until losing to defending champion Connecticut, which had fellow WNBA teammate Diana Taurasi. She notched her 1,000th point as a Gaucho at Illinois on February 13, 2003, and moved her score into 13th place on UCSB's career scoring list. She only needed 500 points to break the school's highest-ever career scoring record, held by Kristi Rohr.
On November 20, 2003, Taylor scored a team-high of 12 points. She was the only Gaucho player to be in double-figures and the only visiting player to make half her field goal tries, sinking four out of eight.
On November 25, 2003, she scored a game-high of 23 points and became UCSB's record holder in career blocked shots and the school's all-time leader in career blocked shots with 181 points. On November 28, she scored a game-high 20 points as the Gauchos won. Taylor scored seven of her 20 points during the 19–4 second half run and extended the then nation's second longest home winning streak to 27 straight games. Later on December 16 she led all Gaucho players with a game high 23 points, grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and also matching her personal best of six blocked shots. On December 28 Taylor finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and 19th of her collegiate career.
Taylor said one of her biggest developments in college was to build her strength up. Despite pulling down 7.3 rebounds per game, she counted rebounding as a weakness of hers and would continue to work hard on it to improve.
Taylor graduated from Santa Barbara in 2004. Her collegiate career held many distinctions at the time, such as the all-time leader in points: 1,755, most blocked shots: 242, and field goal percentage: 55.8%, in UC Santa Barbara history. Taylor has been Santa Barbara's all-time leading point scorer, blocker and most accurate shooter.
In April 2014, she was elected to UC Santa Barbara Hall of Fame.
UCSB statistics Source: YearTeamGPPointsFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG2000–01UCSB3132955.60.075.86.00.50.51.610.62001–02UCSB2937155.050.078.57.00.61.02.412.82002–03UCSB3252156.870.073.17.50.80.61.816.32003–04UCSB3454655.826.371.27.31.30.62.016.1CareerUCSB126176755.940.574.57.00.80.71.914.0
WNBA career
First season (2004–2005)
Taylor was one of the highly regarded rookies for the 2004 WNBA draft. At age 22 she was chosen by the Houston Comets. She was subsequently traded to Phoenix Mercury alongside the higher-regarded Diana Taurasi. She was a second-round pick (26th overall) in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
Her first game was against the Seattle Storm, on May 8, 2004. Prior to the game, Taylor was told "there was a chance" she'd see some action. She got a rousing ovation when she came off the bench for a few minutes in the first half. Her family also attended the game, and were right there to watch her get her first taste of pro competition. She attempted one field goal, which she missed. On May 10, the Mercury played the Sacramento Monarchs. She attempted rebounds against Chantelle Anderson and Maren Walseth. Taylor was injured later on. Despite the injury she recovered enough to play against the Sacramento Monarchs on June 27 when she performed a career-high. Eighteen minutes into the game she grabbed two rebounds and scored three points on a 3-point basket late in the game and blocked four shots in 17 minutes. The game ended, 83–44, a Phoenix victory.
Taylor remained on the injured list for the rest of the season, but was expected to return later in her inaugural WNBA season. In total, she would appear in just five games and miss over twenty other matches during the 2004 season, seeing limited action in those games before being waived at the end of 2005 training camp.
Second season (2006)
On April 13, 2006, the Seattle Storm signed Taylor to a training camp contract. Upon joining her new team she immediately became the team's tallest player, adding an extra three inches over then-tallest teammate Lauren Jackson. Taylor also holds the distinction of being the only player on the Storm team as tall as then-head coach Anne Donovan, who, also at 6 feet 8 inches, a fact acknowledged by Donovan when the two allegedly stood eye-to-eye and she remarked about Taylor, "She is legit."
Donovan praised Taylor's skills and favorably compared her to fellow WNBA player Kara Wolters, whom Donovan had personally tutored. Taylor spoke enthusiastically about joining her new team and what it could mean for her and improving her abilities. She expressed admiration for Lauren Jackson, said she could learn from her, and Taylor also looked forward to the training she could expect to receive from Donovan.
Despite Donovan's praise, however, on May 17 Taylor was released by the Storm, just a little over a month after she signed. She was the team's last cut before rosters were finalized. An Achilles tendinitis in her right ankle had prevented Taylor from taking full advantage of her invitation to training camp. In all, she only played in only two preseason games, one on May 7 and the other on the 12th, five days before her release, averaging 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds on a 3-point basket late in the game. She missed an exhibition finale against the Minnesota Lynx and spent several other games on the injured list because of her tendinitis in her foot.
Third season (2008)
During her time in the Polish Women's League, Taylor expressed her desire to return and compete in the WNBA, and on April 17, 2008, she signed a training camp contract with the Washington Mystics Taylor's selection on the team was considered unusual for a team noted for its average-sized post players and fast-paced style of play and gave the Mystics a completely different look. She began attending training camp for the Washington Mystics soon afterwards on April 20 at Trinity University in Washington D.C.