Vanessa L'asonya Hayden-Johnson (born June 5, 1982), née Vanessa L'asonya Hayden, is an American former college and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA) for five seasons in the 2000s. Hayden played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and she played professionally for the Minnesota Lynx and

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

of the WNBA.

Early years

Hayden was born in Orlando, Florida. She attended

William R. Boone High School William Rennick Boone High School is a public high school in Orlando, Florida. Built in 1952, the school is one of twenty high schools in the Orange County Public Schools system, created to accommodate the growing number of students at Orlando H ...

in Orlando, and played high school basketball for the Boone Braves.

College career

Hayden accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for the

Florida Gators women's basketball The Florida Gators women's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference ( ...

team from 2000 to 2004. As a senior in 2004, she was a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) selection, SEC Defensive Player of the year, and a second-team All-American. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2004.

Florida statistics

Source

Professional career

Following her collegiate career, she was selected 7th overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. As a rookie in 2004, Hayden-Johnson averaged 5.3 points and 2.9

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game. In 2005, she improved, averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The 2006 season was a struggle for the third-year center. After reporting to the pre-season training camp 20 pounds overweight, Hayden-Johnson lost her starting job early on and remained prone to foul trouble. With her minutes cut, she averaged 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Hayden-Johnson missed the entire 2007 WNBA season to give birth to her first child. She returned to action in 2008 as a reserve for the Lynx. On January 30, 2009, Hayden-Johnson was traded to the

for

Christi Thomas Christi Michelle Thomas (born August 14, 1982) played professional basketball in the WNBA. She attended the University of Georgia where she played under coach Andy Landers. She has been a professional since 2004. Christi also played basketball ...

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 29 , , 1 , , 12.1 , , .415 , , .000 , , .553 , , 2.9 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" ,

, 31 , , 25 , , 19.2 , , .433 , , .000 , , .556 , , 5.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 2.2 , , 2.0 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 33 , , 3 , , 12.8 , , .402 , , .000 , , .621 , , 3.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, align="left" ,

, 30 , , 0 , , 10.1 , , .445 , , .000 , , .614 , , 3.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.9 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 25 , , 1 , , 10.8 , , .411 , , .000 , , .640 , , 2.7 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 5 years, 2 teams , 148 , , 30 , , 13.1 , , .423 , , .000 , , .592 , , 3.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 1.2 , , 1.3 , , 5.6

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2004 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .286 , , .000 , , .000 , , ''1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 2 years, 2 teams , 3 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .286 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.3

European career

* 2004–06:

CB Halcón Viajes Perfumerías Avenida Baloncesto formerly C.B. Halcón Viajes, is a women's professional basketball team based in Salamanca, Spain. The team currently plays in the Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. In 2011 Perfumerías Avenida won the Euroleague, and ...

(Spain) * 2007–08:

Beşiktaş Cola Turka Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

(Turkey) * 2008–09:

Umana Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

(Italy)

Personal life

Hayden was a contestant on Season 16 of the reality competition ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show '' The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and obese contestants attempting to lose the most weight; the winner receives a cash priz ...

'', titled '' The Biggest Loser: Glory Days'', which premiered on September 11, 2014, on NBC.

References

External links

WNBA Player Profile

Vanessa Hayden Seeks a New Beginning (Minnesota Public Radio)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Vanessa 1982 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Beijing Great Wall players Beşiktaş women's basketball players Centers (basketball) Florida Gators women's basketball players Minnesota Lynx draft picks Minnesota Lynx players