Lindsay Taylor - Early Life

Early Life

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 11in (2.11 m). Her uncle, Ron, stands 7 ft 0in (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 in height. Her grandmother, Helen Taylor (died September 2006), regularly wrote articles on the internet about Lindsay during her time playing for the UCSB Gauchos.

Taylor was not involved in sports until she was fifteen. She had originally planned on playing in her school's marching band, but her closest friends, who played basketball, convinced her to start playing the game. She said she picked it up naturally." Lindsay has said that if it were not for basketball, her desires may have led her to a different career. In the first game she played in high school, she accidentally scored for the opposite team.

Taylor has expressed that there isn't a lot of advantages to being so tall, "only than you can use the top shelf in your cupboard without any problems." and she feels the biggest advantages are in sports where her prestigious height has afforded her advantages. She stated, “I feel I have a presence on the court. I hope I intimidate other people”. Another advantage Taylor possesses, as she has expressed, is because of her larger stature then other players she has what she describes "a bird's eye view of everything" on the court. Literally she can see over other players. Taylor's height has also made it difficult for other players to guard and block her and are generally unable to overpower her.

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. Taylor is not afflicted with Marfan syndrome or any other kind of overgrowth syndrome, but instead she is simply extremely tall. She objects to being labeled lanky, but prefers to being called ‘slender’ instead.