View source for Zheng Haixia

{{Short description|Chinese basketball player (born 1967)}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Zheng (surname)|Zheng]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Zheng Haixia
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|3|7}}
| birth_place = [[Shangqiu, Henan]], China
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 8
| weight_lb    = 254
| position     = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| draft_league = WNBA
| draft_year   = 1997
| draft_round  = 2
| draft_pick   = 16
| draft_team   = [[Los Angeles Sparks]]
| career_start = 1983
| career_end   = 1998
| years1       = 1997–1998
| team1        = [[Los Angeles Sparks]]
| FIBA_HOF_player = Zheng-Haixia
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[basketball]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{CHN}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FIBA World Championship for Women|FIBA World Championship]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1994 FIBA World Championship for Women|1994 Australia]] | Team competition }}
{{MedalBronze  | [[1983 FIBA World Championship for Women|1983 Brazil]] | Team competition }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Asian Games]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1986 Asian Games|1986 Seoul]] | [[Basketball at the 1986 Asian Games|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1990 Asian Games|1990 Beijing]] | [[Basketball at the 1990 Asian Games|Team competition]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1994 Asian Games|1994 Hiroshima]] | [[Basketball at the 1994 Asian Games|Team competition]] }}
}}

'''Zheng Haixia''' ({{Zh|s=郑海霞|p=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 Basketball Championships|Asian Junior Basketball Championship]] and 3rd in the [[Basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics|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 [[Basketball at the 1992 Summer Olympics|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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The women's sports encyclopedia|date=1997|publisher=H. Holt |editor1=Markel, Robert |editor2=Waggoner, Susan |editor3=Smith, Marcella |isbn=0-8050-4494-9|edition=1st|location=New York|page=15|oclc=36640667}}</ref>

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

In 1996, she made her fourth Olympic appearance in [[1996 Summer Olympics|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 [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]] in the United States after being selected by the Sparks with the final pick of the [[WNBA Elite Draft]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Friend|first=Tom|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/19/sports/la-imports-its-very-own-shaq.html|title=L.A. Imports Its Very Own Shaq|date=1997-06-19|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-23|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/199806240LAS.html | title=Charlotte Sting at Los Angeles Sparks, June 24, 1998 }}</ref>

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==
{{WNBA player statistics legend}}

{{WNBA player statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1997 WNBA season|1997]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1997 Los Angeles Sparks season|Los Angeles]]
| '''28''' || '''21''' || '''19.9''' || .618 || — || .661 || '''4.4''' || '''0.6''' || '''0.4''' || '''0.7''' || 1.6 || '''9.3'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1998 WNBA season|1998]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1998 Los Angeles Sparks season|Los Angeles]]
| 6 || 2 || 16.3 || '''.625''' || — || '''.714''' || 4.3 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.2 || '''1.0''' || 7.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Career
| style="text-align:left;"|2 years, 1 team
| 34 || 23 || 19.3 || .619 || — || .667 || 4.4 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 0.6 || 1.5 || 8.9
{{s-end}}

==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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2010-06/19/content_9992857.htm |title = China's female Yao weds}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stuarte.co/2014/haixia-zheng/|title=Haixia Zheng: Whatever Happened to the 1st Chinese WNBA Player?|date=2014-08-20|website=stuarte|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://origin.wnba.com/history/haixia_zheng.html Zheng Haixia in WNBA history]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010307181721/http://www.wnba.com/playerfile/career/haixia_zheng.html Zheng Haixia at WNBA] (archived 2001)
* {{FIBA profile|new_id=100509|old_id=545}}
* {{Basketball-Reference.com international player}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com}}

{{navboxes|list=
{{FIBA Hall of Fame}}
{{China Women Basketball Squad 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{China Women Basketball Squad 1992 Summer Olympics}}
{{1997 WNBA draft}}
{{Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zheng, Haixia}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Asian Games bronze medalists for China]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for China]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists for China]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1986 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1990 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1994 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Henan]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States]]
[[Category:Chinese women's basketball players]]
[[Category:FIBA Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Sparks draft picks]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Sparks players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Olympic basketball players for China]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for China]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for China]]
[[Category:People from Shangqiu]]
[[Category:Asian Games bronze medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Asian Games basketball players for China]]