Lindsay Taylor

She finds shopping and the facilities of countries like Poland, such as toilets and baths, bothersome because they are not adequately suited for her height but does not experience the same problem in the US. She objects to being labeled lanky, but prefers to being called ‘slender’ instead.

After retiring from professional basketball in 2015 Taylor serves as an assistant basketball coach at Hamilton High School. She is currently in her fifth season with Hamilton.

In April 2014, she was elected to UC Santa Barbara Hall of Fame.

Taylor began her 12th overseas basketball season in October, 2014 with Guri KDBLIFE Winnus in the Women's Korean Basketball League. The league is small but very competitive. Lindsay's team is located in Guri just outside of Seoul, Korea; Lindsay's American teammate is Devereaux Peters, a Notre Dame '12 graduate and presently a Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA. In 28 games Taylor averaged 12.3ppg, 6.9rpg (#5 in the league), 1.2apg and 1.3bpg last season.

During her training camp trials, Taylor competed in three pre-season games. The first game, played in Tampa, Florida, against the Sacramento Monarchs, ended in a victory for the Washington Mystics with a score of 90 points to 82. The second game was another Washington victory played in New York against New York Liberty ending 58 points to 52. She enjoyed further victory against the Houston Comets with a 72–66 victory.

Lindsay's losing streak continued when Energa Toruń lost the November 3 game against KSSSE AZS PWSZ. Energa Toruń lost the match 62–73. Lindsay scored 8 points and made 7 rebounds. In contrast to her highest score of 11 points this season in the previous game, Lindsay made no blocks in this game. Energa Toruń next faced Lotos PKO BP on November 10. Lindsay scored 10 points in the game and made 5 rebounds as well as making 2 blocked shots. Lotos PKO BP went on to win the game scoring 94 points while Energa Toruń was only able to score 68. On November 18 Energa Toruń faced off against Siemens AGD. Lindsay scored 7 points in the game and made 6 rebounds as well as making 4 blocked shots. Energa Toruń narrowly lost the game with 74 points to Lotos' score of 77.

On December 2 Lindsay and Energa Toruń faced off against Cukierki Odra Brzeg. Lindsay was dominating throughout and scored an enormous 28 points. She also made 11 rebounds. She scored more points in the game then either player on both teams and scored 6 points higher than her previous season-high 23 points one game before. Again, Lindsay was not as defensive and made no blocked shots in this game. Energa Toruń eventually emerged the winner with the score at 77–63. Lindsay was the foremost contributor in the game and played a major factor in securing Energa Toruń the victory. Taylor's presence on the team is credited with allowing Energa Toruń to win the game.

In the 2013-14 season she played in 22 games with very impressive stats: 18.7ppg, 10.1rpg and 2.1bpg in 2013-14 season. It was a very successful year in her career as she was selected to Asia-Basket.com All-Chinese WCBA Honorable Mention.

In addition to her WNBA career, Taylor has enjoyed great success playing overseas in Europe and Asia, especially in 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 points scored, and her overall evaluation was the highest in the league. She was also awarded Center of the Year and earned a place on the 1st Team, All-Imports Team and the All-Defensive Team. She also received the All-Chinese WCBA 1st Team award in 2011.

Taylor played for the Qujing Yunnan Chinese Basketball Association for the next three years with two brief stints with the Nantes-Rezé in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball in 2011 and training camp with the Seattle Storm in 2012. She played three seasons with the Qujing Yunnan over the 2010-11, 2011–12 and 2013–14 seasons.

Taylor lived together with her teammates in a hotel. Certain restrictions were placed on thee players and weren't allowed to use the Internet or leave the facility to run errands. Taylor was able to venture out and run errands with the permission of her interpreter. In the 2010-11 season Taylor averaged 23.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and a league-leading 2.4 blocks per game. the language barrier also limits opportunities to get instruction. She received the All-Chinese WCBA 1st Team award in 2011.

From 2009 to 2010 Taylor played for the Ligue Féminine de BasketBall (LFB), her second stint playing in the LFB. Her team was the Nantes Rezé. The 09–10 season started on September 26 with Nantes Rezé winning the Aix-en-Prov 90 points to 70. Lindsay finished as the games high scorer with 23 points. Taylor went on to play in a further seventeen games but did not the Championship, instead she competed and won the French Challenge (more or less the tournament for the teams that did not make the French Championship). This was particularly impressive considering this team finished last during the previous season. She achieved the highest points per game that season: 16.1.

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..

The Mystics officially announced that Taylor had successfully secured a place on the Washington Mystics roster on May 14 and she would be spending the upcoming summer playing on the team. She did not compete in the Mystics' season opener against the Indiana Fever. Her absence was noted in the game as it was the only loss suffered by the Mystics. On May 21 Mystics' manager Linda Hargrove announced the team would waive Taylor in exchange for the higher-regarded Crystal Smith, despite Smith still recovering from a foot injury at the time. Her release coincided with her fellow UC Santa Barbara graduate and friend Kayte Christensen's release from the Chicago Sky. On May 28, 2008, Taylor and her father Bill were special guests of the Mystics for the Washington Mystics vs Phoenix Mercury game in Phoenix, Arizona.

On January 6, 2008 Energa Toruń lost against Utex Row Rybnik 54-60. Taylor had 15 points in the game, 7 rebounds and no blocks. On January 20. Energa Toruń played against TS Wisła Can Pack Kraków in their own gym. Taylor was only able to make 14 points in the game during 34 minutes of play but she was able to make 20 rebounds,2 blocks and 2 passes. Energa Toruń won the match in a surprise upset over TS Wisła Can Pack Kraków with 73-68 points. Taylor's evaluation at the end of the game was 28 points, higher than all her teammates and any other player in the game, placing her back up as second in the league for game evaluation category and the league's Top Five in rebounds.

Taylor and Energa Toruń INEA AZS Poznoń on January 30, 2008, with Energa Toruń losing the match 69-75 points. Lindsay was able to score 20 points and make 11 rebounds and 1 block. Energa Toruń would lose again on February 10 to PKM Duda PWSZ Leszno, 67-73 points, before finally securing a narrow win against KSSSE AZS PWSZ Gorzów, 66-64.

The season ended in early April,2008. Lindsay finished with the highest points of any player in the league with 16.9. and her overall evaluation was the highest in the league at 21.9 points, the second highest was 18.4. She was also awarded the Center of the Year award as well as earning a place on the 1st Team, All-Imports Team and the All-Defensive Team.

In early August 2008 she announced she had signed a contract with KSSSE AZS PWSZ Gorzów Wielkopolski (AZS Gorzow for short) in the Polish Women's Basketball League (PLKK).

September, 2008 saw the start of the women's Polish league season beginning with Gorzow pulling off a victory against last season's second best team, Lotos PKO. Lindsay had her best game of the season on October 11 against Utex Row Rybnik with 22 points, 14 rebounds and a game high evaluation of 27 points. She was named Player Of Week #7 for her performance during this game.

Gorzów had gone undefeated for eleven games until narrowly losing to CCC Polkowice. In the last game of 2008, Lindsay would play against her former team Polish team Energa Toruń resulting in a narrowly lost game. They also went undefeated in the Euro Cup until playing Dynamo Moscow, suffering a 64–93 defeat. The second half of the season resumed again in January, 2009. After winning CCC in a best of five series, Gorzów advanced to the Championship finals but narrowly lost against Lotos PKO BP and emerged as the runners-up.

In January, 2007 Taylor resumed playing in Turkey and rejoined Botasspor Adana. The following month Taylor's team beat Galatasaray in its home gym in Istanbul, and which included four WNBA players: Loree Moore, Nikki Teasley, Tangela Smith and Chantelle Anderson. Lindsay had only two points in 21 minutes, but she had nine rebounds in all. In March, Taylor and her team beat opponent Kristen Mann's team, Mersin, in the port town of Mersin, Turkey, with a score of 82–66. Lindsay had 10 points and 7 rebounds in 20 minutes. On March 18 Lindsey and Botas faced off and beat team As Akyazi 123 points to 83. Lindsay had scored 22 points in 20 minutes.

Botas faced team Besiktas Cola on April 25, 2007, in the semi finals of the Turkish WBL Championships. Lindsey and Botas defeated Besiktas 72 points to 70 in the 3rd round. After this game, the score in the series was tied 2–2 in the semi-finals of the Turkish WBL series. The game to decide the finals was held on April 27 and Besiktas defeated Lindsey and the Botas to reach the finals. The score was 89 for Besiktas, with Botas totaling only 64. Taylor scored 14 points in the game and totaled 6 rebounds.

Taylor spent the passing time recovering and resting until on September 7, 2007, she signed a contract with the Polish Women's League. During her stay in Poland, she shared an apartment with her teammate Meredith Alexis. Her team was called 'Energa Katarzynki Toruń' or 'Energa Toruń' for short. Her new team then went on to win a tournament in Toruń, Poland. In four games Lindsay averaged 8 points per game.

In her first game playing with Energa Toruń on October 17, 2007 she faced off against Utex Row Rybnik. Energa Toruń lost the match 77–84. On October 24 Lindsay and her team played off against the Polish team Can-Pack Wisla. Lindsay scored 13 points and made 8 rebounds as well as making 2 blocked shots. Energa Toruń ultimately lost the game. On October 31, Energa Toruń faced PKM Duda. In the game Taylor scored fewer points than in the previous game, scoring only 12 points, but she made a far stronger showing on the defensive and made more rebounds in the game making a total of 11 rebounds in all. She also made 1 blocked shot. Duda went on to win the game with a total of 67–54.

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 during Anne Donovan, who 6 feet 8 inches, a fact acknowledged by Donovan when the two allegedly stood eye-to-eye and she remarked about Lindsay "She is legit".

Taylor spent the WNBA 2005/2006 offseason in Turkey, where she averaged 16.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for her new team, the Botasspor Adana (or Botas as it's known for short). On February 8, 2006, Taylor and her team beat the Burhaniye, at home. Lindsay did not score in the first half, but scored she later scored 15 points in the second half. She ended up with 16 rebounds altogeather. On February 18 Lindsay and her team lost to Ceyhan with the scores 90–70. However, later on March 12, Lindsay's team beat their rival, Mersin, 81–71, in their home town. Lindsay had a solid double during the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds. April 1, Lindsay had 20 points and 12 rebounds as Botas won, 83–59, over their opponent, the Erdemir Spor.

On May 31, 2006, Lindsay travelled to South Korea for two months, where she played in the Korean women's league. She played for the Shinsegae Cool Cats. On July 5, Taylor scraped her team out of last place in the league and into a position to make the post season play-offs but did not qualify to make it to the playoffs.

On September 17, 2006, Taylor had successful heel surgery performed on both her heels. She will then recuperate and will fly off to Montpellier, France where she played for the Lattes-Maurin Montpellier.

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 has signed with four WNBA teams: the Houston Comets, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm (twice) and the Washington Mystics.

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 percentages: 558, in UC Santa Barbara history. Taylor is Santa Barbara's all-time leading point scorer, blocker and most accurate shooter.

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 (26th pick 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 against the Sacramento Monarchs. She attempted rebounds against Chantelle Anderson and Maren Walseth. Taylor was injured later on in the match. 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.

Taylor has received criticism and praise. She has received criticism and potential doubts raised over her ability to be an effective center; the Washington Post criticized her and commented that she "cannot control her size" and that she often ends up "blocking her own players" in practice. In its analysis of the prospected centers in the 2004 WNBA Draft, the Seattle Storm criticized Taylor: "As long as Taylor could tie her shoes and walk without tripping on her own feet, she'd be a WNBA prospect." It also felt, she had not been an effective dominating force at UC Santa Barbara despite her great height and facing what it considered relatively weak Big West competition.

During Taylor's senior year (2003–2004), 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 needs 500 points to break the school's highest-ever career scoring record, held by Kristi Rohr.

On November 20, 2003, Lindsay scored a team-high of 12 points. Taylor 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, Lindsay 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 a match to 4 to 1. Lindsey 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 Lindsay finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and 19th of her collegiate career.

Taylor has played basketball abroad representing the US in numerous countries. Taylor has enjoyed great success playing overseas in Europe and Asia, especially in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). and the Polish Women's League, where she is known by the sobriquet Lindska and has achieved a level of recognition comparable to that of Lisa Leslie in the WNBA, Taylor won a Silver Medal as a member of the United States 2003 Pan American Games basketball team with fellow Guacho, Kristen Mann when they played off in the Dominican Republic against the home team. She was considered the best player in the game and her finest effort in the tournament was six-point, four-rebound performance in quarterfinal victory over their hosts the Dominicans.

After initially redshirting her first year(1999–2000) Taylor played center for the women's basketball team UC Santa Barbara Gaucho. In 2000–2001, 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 2001–2002, 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 (2002–2003) 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 2002–2003 campaign.

Taylor attended Chandler High School and was a Chandler HS state champion in 1999. She attended University of California, Santa Barbara in 1999 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. Taylor was awarded the Silver Medal as a member of the United States 2003 Pan American Games basketball team and was considered the best player in 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.

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. She became a Chandler HS state champion in 1999.

Lindsay Corine Taylor (born May 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. She has played in the WNBA, TKBL, LFB, WKBL, Polish Women's League, WCBA, and Angola Women's Basketball League. A very experienced player, she has played professionally overseas in 13 basketball seasons. Standing 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall she usually plays the center position (normally the tallest player on the team)

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 comes from a family of above-average height and claims she inherited her great height from her father who is 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m). Her uncle, Ron, stands 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) and is 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.