Candace Parker twice won Gatorade’s National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award while attending high school in Naperville, Illinois, then went on to lead Tennessee to two NCAA titles in college. In 2016, she helped the Los Angeles Sparks win the franchise’s second WNBA Finals title. All this success has made her one of the top women’s basketball player on Instagram with more than half a million followers.
BASKETBALL QUEENS OF INSTAGRAM
Recently surging past Parker in terms of Instagram followers, is LA Sparks star T’ea Cooper who became the first WNBAer with more than one million followers, while New York Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu — who counted Kobe Bryant among her many fans before his untimely passing — is rising fast in third place. Currently, all the players in the top dozen are Americans, with New Yorkers and Missourians each represented twice each.
UPDATED July 23, 2023
12) SWIN CASH
Swintayla Marie Cash Canal
Born September 22, 1979 📍 McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Last team: New York Liberty
Instagram followers: 85 thousand
11) NNEKA OGWUMIKE
Nnemkadi Chinwe Victoria Ogwumike
Born July 2, 1990 📍 Tomball, Texas
Current team: Los Angeles Sparks
Instagram followers: 122 thousand
10) BECKY HAMMON
Rebecca Lynn Hammon
Born March 11, 1977 📍 Rapid City, South Dakota
Current team: San Antonio Spurs (asst. coach)
Instagram followers: 135 thousand
9) BREANNA STEWART
Breanna Mackenzie Stewart
Born August 27, 1994 📍 Syracuse, New York
Current team: Seattle Storm
Instagram followers: 243 thousand
8) A’JA WILSON
A’ja Riyadh Wilson
Born August 8, 1996 📍 Hopkins, South Carolina
Current team: Las Vegas Aces
Instagram followers: 347 thousand
7) LISA LESLIE
Lisa Deshaun Leslie
Born July 7, 1972 📍 Gardena, California
Current team: Los Angeles Sparks
Instagram followers: 276 thousand
6) MAYA MOORE
Maya April Moore
Born June 11, 1989 📍 Jefferson City, Missouri
Last team: Minnesota Lynx
Instagram followers: 276 thousand
5) ELENA DELLE DONNE
Elena Delle Donne
Born September 5, 1989 📍 Wilmington, Delaware
Current team: Washington Mystics
Instagram followers: 465 thousand
4) SUE BIRD
Suzanne Brigit Bird
Born October 16, 1980 📍 Syosset, New York
Current team: Seattle Storm
Instagram followers: 630 thousand
3) SABRINA IONESCU
Sabrina Elaine Ionescu
Born December 6, 1997 📍 Walnut Creek, California
Current team: New York Liberty
Instagram followers: 695 thousand
2) CANDACE PARKER
Candace Nicole Parker
Born April 19, 1986 📍 St. Louis, Missouri
Current team: Los Angles Sparks
Instagram followers: 833 thousand
1) TE’A COOPER
Te’a Omari Cooper
Born April 16, 1997 📍 Montclair, New Jersey
Current team: Phoenix Mercury
Instagram followers: 1.4 million
On your nextupdate, could you add Kelsey Plum. She has over 600K followers on IG. @kelseyplum10
Thanks for the heads-up… will get her in the next round of updates!