2009 Fever Player Bio Pages (pdf)
A former WNBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, WNBA Finals MVP and a seven-time All-Star, Yolanda Griffith begins her first season with the Indiana Fever…she has announced it will be the final season of her pro career…one of the WNBA's all-time great defenders, she is among the league's career top 10 in rebounds, steals and blocked shots…she enters the 2009 season as the league's all-time leader in offensive rebounds with 1,045 and is second with 2,437 total rebounds…her 321 career blocked shots rank eighth in WNBA history, while she is fourth on the career list for steals with 529…she and Lisa Leslie are the only centers ranked among the WNBA's career top 10 in steals…a member of the WNBA's All-Decade team, she is also sixth on the league's all-time scoring list with 4,219 points.
PRO - WNBA
2008: In her first season with the Seattle Storm, she played in 30 of 34 games, starting all of them…she averaged 7.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, finishing second on the team in rebounding…she led the Storm with 77 offensive rebounds, which was eighth in the WNBA…overall, she was 15th in the league in rebounds per game, just behind Indiana's Tammy Sutton-Brown…she was one of three Seattle players with over 100 attempts from the foul line where she shot 83-128 (.648) in 2008…after the Olympic Break, she was 35-40 from the foul line (.875)…she scored in double figures eight times, including each of the Storm's first five games after the Olympic Break…she scored a season-high 17 points at Phoenix, 7/25, and scored 16 points on two separate occasions…in the Storm's 83-69 win at Atlanta, 9/2, her 16 points included 10-10 from the foul line…she also scored 16 points vs. her former teammates at Sacramento, 9/9.
2007: In 32 games (all as a starter), she averaged 9.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.0 spg and 23.1 mpg for the Sacramento Monarchs…she scored double figures in 17 games…after scoring 10+ points in just seven of the first 22 games, she finished the campaign with double digits in each of the last 10 games…she scored a season-high 15 points at San Antonio, 8/9, and claimed a season-best nine boards against the Fever at Conseco Fieldhouse, 8/5.
2006: A starter in all 34 games for the Monarchs, she averaged 12.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.5 bpg and 25.1 mpg…she was a starter for the West in the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game, her seventh appearance…she was named to the 2006 WNBA All-Defensive Second Team after having reached 2,000 career rebounds…she scored in double figures in 22 games and was the
Monarchs’ high-scorer 10 times…she finished the season ranked third in the WNBA in total offensive rebounds (87) and offensive rebounds per game (2.56)…she dished a career-high six assists at Chicago, 5/23, and scored a season-high 23 points at San Antonio, 8/3.
2005: An All-WNBA First Team selection, as well as a member of the league's First Team All-Defensive unit, she helped lead her team to the WNBA Championship by averaging 15.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg and 28.3 mpg in 34 games (33 starts)…she recorded seven double-doubles, which ranked sixth in the WNBA.
2004: A member of the All-WNBA Second Team, she averaged 14.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 2.2 spg, 1.2 bpg and 30.3 mpg in 34 games (all as a starter)…she had four double-doubles…she led the WNBA in total steals (75), steals per game (2.2), offensive rebounds (122) and offensive rebounds per game (3.6)…an Olympic gold medalist with the 2004 USA Women’s Basketball team, she earned MVP honors of an exhibition game as the U.S. Senior Women’s National Team defeated the WNBA Select Team.
2003: A member of the 2003 Western Conference All-Stars, she averaged 13.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.1 bpg and 29.9 mpg in 34 games…her 11 double-doubles ranked fifth in the WNBA…she scored the 2,000th point of her WNBA career vs. the New York Liberty, 6/17.
2002: Despite missing 14 games with a bulging cervical disc suffered in the season opener vs. Minnesota, 6/1, she averaged 16.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.1 apg and 33.9 mpg in 17 games...she ranked first in the WNBA in offensive rebounds per game (3.9) and free-throws made per 40 minutes (7.07)...she recorded eight double-doubles.
2001: An All-WNBA Second Team selection, she averaged 16.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.97 spg, 1.1 bpg and 33.7 mpg in 32 games…she had a season-high 30 points and 18 rebounds vs. Charlotte, 6/7...she collected a career-best and league season-high 20 rebounds at Washington, 6/5…that was one of her WNBA-leading 18 double-doubles…she also ranked first in the league in rebounds per game and third in field goal percentage...she scored 17 points in the All-Star game as a starter for the West.
2000: An All-WNBA Second Team member, she averaged a team-high 16.3 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 2.6 spg, 1.9 bpg and 32.1 mpg in 32 games...she was second in the WNBA in rebounding (331) and steals per game (2.6)…she ranked third in the league in field goal percentage (.535) and registered 14 double-doubles…she registered 16 rebounds, along with a team-record 12 first-half rebounds at Indiana, 6/21…she recorded a franchise-record-tying six blocks vs. Minnesota (7/20)
1999: In her first season in the WNBA, she was named the league's Most Valuable Player, after averaging 18.8 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2.5 spg, 1.8 bpg and 33.8 mpg in 29 games...she was also selected as the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year after leading the WNBA in rebounding and steals…she ranked second in scoring and field goal percentage and ranked third in blocks…she recorded a league-high 17 double-doubles...selected to the inaugural WNBA All-Star Team, she set franchise highs in rebounds (19), steals (eight) and blocks (six)...she scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games with 20+ points 13 times and 30+ points twice…she scored a season-high 31 points vs. Phoenix, 6/12...she grabbed 10+ rebounds 18 times and outrebounded the entire New York Liberty squad 19-18, 7/22...she missed three games and the 1999 WNBA Playoffs with a partially torn medial meniscus in her right knee.
PLAYOFFS
With 42 career playoff games under her belt, Griffith is one of the WNBA’s most prolific playoff performers…she is sixth in WNBA playoff history with 1,305 minutes played and has hit more playoff free throws (184) than any player in league history…she holds the WNBA Playoffs record with 205 career offensive rebounds, and she ranks second with 337 rebounds overall…she is third in playoff history with 630 points and fourth with 59 steals.
2008: Griffith started all three games of a first-round series with Los Angeles, averaging 4.3 points and 6.3 rebounds.
2007: In the three-game first round series with San Antonio, she averaged 8.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.1 spg.
2006: She helped lead Sacramento to its second straight appearance in the WNBA Finals by averaging 14.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 1.1 spg in nine playoff games…she had one double-double in the postseason, giving a career total of 11 playoff double-doubles.
2005: Selected the WNBA Finals MVP, she led the Monarchs to its first league title with averages of 17.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.3 spg and 30.8 mpg in eight games…she posted two double-doubles in the playoffs.
2004: In taking the Monarchs to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to eventual WNBA Champion Seattle, she averaged 16.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.0 bpg and 34.9 mpg in six games.
2003: She averaged 17.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.0 bpg and 33.3 mpg in six games.
2001: She led the Monarchs to their first-ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals with a postseason career-high average of 21.2 ppg…she also averaged 8.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.2 bpg and 36.3 mpg in five playoff games.
2000: She made her WNBA postseason debut against the defending champion Houston Comets and averaged 14.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg and 39.0 mpg in two games.
PRO - ABL
Originally selected by the Long Beach Stingrays as the No. 1 pick overall in the 1997 ABL Draft, she averaged 18.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg and 1.7 apg in 56 regular-season games over her two-year ABL career with Long Beach (1997-98) and Chicago (1998-99)...in the ABL's abbreviated 1998-99 season she ranked in the top five in the league in scoring (17.2 ppg, fifth), rebounding (12.3 rpg, first), steals (3.25 spg, second) and blocks (1.25, second)...she led the expansion Stingrays to the 1998 ABL Finals and finished second in voting for the ABL’s 1998 Most Valuable Player award...she earned 1997-98 First Team All-ABL and ABL Defensive Player of the Year honors and was a starter in the 1997-98 ABL All-Star Game.
PRO - OVERSEAS
2007-08: She played for Italy's Cras Taranto.
2005-06: In her last season in Russia, she played in a total of 16 games for Ekaterinburg, six in Euroleague competition and 10 in Russia's Superleague…overall, she averaged 14.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.9 spg and 1.9 apg.
2004-05: She played in 22 games for Ekaterinburg where she averaged 19.8 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 2.0 apg and 2.3 spg.
2003-04: In 27 games for Russia's Ekaterinburg, she averaged 21.4 ppg.
2002-03: Playing overseas for the first time in her career, she averaged 18.2 ppg and 10.7 rpg for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia's Superleague A.
COLLEGE
In her only season at Florida Atlantic University, she was named the 1993 Kodak Division II Player of the Year after leading the country with averages of 28.2 ppg and 16.0 rpg…in that season, she also averaged 3.14 bpg and 4.95 spg…she established school records for total points (621) and rebounds (352) in a single season…she had one game with 33 rebounds, which is the fourth highest total in NCAA Division II history…she transferred to FAU from Palm Beach Junior College, where she earned Junior College All-America honors in 1990-91 and was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women’s Basketball All-Century Team.
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