Zheng Haixia
Personal information
Born (1967-03-07) March 7, 1967
Shangqiu, Henan, China
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Career information
WNBA draft1997: 2nd round, 16th overall pick
Selected by the Los Angeles Sparks
Playing career1983–1998
PositionCenter
Career history
1997–1998Los Angeles Sparks
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1992 Barcelona Team competition
Bronze medal – third place 1984 Los Angeles Team competition
FIBA World Championship
Silver medal – second place 1994 Australia Team competition
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Brazil Team competition
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Seoul Team competition
Silver medal – second place 1990 Beijing Team competition
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Hiroshima Team competition

Zheng Haixia (simplified Chinese: 郑海霞; traditional Chinese: 鄭海霞; pinyin: Zhèng Hǎixiá; born March 7, 1967) is a Chinese retired professional women's basketball player for the China women's national basketball team and the Women's National Basketball Association.

International career

In 1983, Haixia made her debut at the Basketball World Championship and finished 3rd. The following year, she and her teammates finished 1st in the Asian Junior Basketball Championship and 3rd in the 23rd Olympic Games.

In 1986, she led the Chinese team to fifth in the 10th World Championship, 1st in the Asian Games, and 2nd in the World Championship.

In 1992, she inspired her teammates to win the silver in the Barcelona Olympics. The following year, she won the East Asian Games, the World University Games and National Games.

In 1994, she claimed the titles in the Asian Championship and ranked 2nd in the World Championship, being named MVP of the event by averaging 26.4 points, 13.1 rebounds and shooting 83.5% from the field.[1]

One year later, she and her teammates retained their title in the 16th Asian Championship.

In 1996, she made her fourth Olympic appearance in Atlanta, Georgia, averaging 18.1 points, 9 rebounds. One year later, she won the 8th National Games with the PLA team.

WNBA career

In 1997 she retired from the Chinese national team and went to play with the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA in the United States after being selected by the Sparks with the final pick of the WNBA Elite Draft.[2] Her WNBA debut was played on June 21, 1997, in a 57 - 67 loss to the New York Liberty where she recorded 8 points and 5 rebounds. She played with the Sparks for the 1997 and 1998 seasons, with her final WNBA game ever being played on June 24, 1998, against the Charlotte Sting. The Sparks lost the game 73 - 77 with Haixia playing three and half minutes and recorded only 1 rebound as a statistic.[3]

At the end of 1998, she returned to China and began to coach the PLA women's team. She is currently a coach in China.

In 1997 Haixia received the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award becoming the first Asian woman as well as international player to win any award in the WNBA. She led the WNBA in field goal percentage at 61.8%.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1997 Los Angeles 282119.9.618—.6614.40.60.40.71.69.3
1998 Los Angeles 6216.3.625—.7144.30.50.00.21.07.5
Career 2 years, 1 team 342319.3.619—.6674.40.60.30.61.58.9

Personal life

She started to practice basketball at the age of 12 and was selected by the Wuhan Army club team one year later. In 1983, she entered the national team. She married Xu Qinghua in Beijing on June 19, 2010.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ The women's sports encyclopedia. Markel, Robert., Waggoner, Susan., Smith, Marcella (Marcella Ann) (1st ed.). New York: H. Holt. 1997. p. 15. ISBN 0-8050-4494-9. OCLC 36640667.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ Friend, Tom (1997-06-19). "L.A. Imports Its Very Own Shaq". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  3. ↑ "Charlotte Sting at Los Angeles Sparks, June 24, 1998".
  4. ↑ "China's female Yao weds".
  5. ↑ "Haixia Zheng: Whatever Happened to the 1st Chinese WNBA Player?". stuarte. 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
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