Heidi Burge Horton, the 6-foot-5 center who reached the WNBA after a record-setting high school career with her twin sister and inspired the 2002 Disney Channel movie "Double Teamed," died at age 54, her family confirmed.
Burge Horton played two seasons in the WNBA, first for the Los Angeles Sparks in the league's 1997 inaugural season and then for the Washington Mystics in 1998. She averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds across 51 career games, according to Basketball Reference.
She and her identical twin, Heather Burge, drew national attention at Palos Verdes High School in California, where their height and synchronized dominance made them one of the most recruited pairings in the history of women's basketball. Both sisters went on to play at the University of Virginia, where they helped the Cavaliers reach the 1991 NCAA championship game and the 1992 Final Four.
The sisters' story — two 6-foot-5 twins navigating recruiting battles, college stardom and the launch of a professional league — became the basis for "Double Teamed," a Disney Channel original film that introduced their path to a generation of young viewers who never saw them play.
Their college careers overlapped with the rise of women's basketball as a televised commodity, and their entry into the WNBA came in the league's first season, when rosters were built largely from college stars and international players. Heidi Burge Horton was selected by the Sparks in the 1997 WNBA Elite Draft and later traded to Washington, where she appeared in 27 games during the 1998 season.
After retiring from professional basketball, she built a career outside the sport and remained a recognizable figure among fans who followed the early years of the WNBA. She is survived by her family, including her twin sister Heather.
No cause of death was immediately released. The WNBA and the University of Virginia women's basketball program had not issued public statements at the time of reporting.
Burge Horton's death comes as the WNBA enters a period of unprecedented visibility, with expansion franchises, record television deals and a surge in attendance. The league she joined in 1997 with 8 teams now fields 13, a growth arc that began with players like her who chose professional basketball when the career path barely existed.
