Maria Alekseyevna Kliundikova née Vadeeva (; born 16 July 1998) is a Russian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA). She was selected 11th overall by the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles 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 of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

in the

2018 WNBA draft The 2018 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2018 WNBA season. On March 12, the league announced the draft would be held on April 12 at Nike New York Headquarters, a recently opened secondary headquarters for the athletic apparel giant loc ...

. She is the first player who was born after the WNBA was founded.

Career

Europe

In 2014, Kliundikova began her professional career with Sparta&K Moscow, playing in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

and the EuroCup. In 2016, Vadeeva moved south and signed with

Dynamo Kursk WBC Dynamo Kursk () is a Russian professional women's basketball club from Kursk playing in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, Russian Premier League. They won their first EuroCup Women, FIBA Eurocup title in 2012. In the 2016–17 se ...

, still playing in the Premier League as well as the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. In the 2016–17 season,

took home the title.

WNBA

Los Angeles Sparks (2018–2019)

Kliundikova was drafted by the

with the 11th overall pick in the

. Kliundikova had some visa issues that didn't allow her to join the team right away. She played in 25 games during her rookie season. On 26 May 2019, Kliundikova made her first career start in the opening game of the 2019 season, a 70–83 loss to the

Las Vegas Aces The Las Vegas Aces are an American professional basketball team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Aces compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home game ...

, in which she scored a career-high 24 points. However, she then left the Sparks to represent Russia in the

EuroBasket Women 2019 The 2019 EuroBasket Women, European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2019, was the 37th edition of the continental tournament in women's basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament was co-held in Riga, ...

. During the competition, she suffered a knee injury and did not return to play for the Sparks until August. Overall for the season, she appeared in 15 games and averaged 7.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Kliundikova did not return to the WNBA until 2025, with the Sparks still holding her rights. She signed a training camp contract with the Sparks on 13 February 2025. She was waived by the Sparks on 15 May and did not make the final roster.

Minnesota Lynx (2025–present)

On 6 June 2025, she signed an end of season contract with the

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, align="left" ,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 25 , , 0 , , 8.2 , , .527 , , .333 , , .750 , , 2.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, align="left" ,

, 15 , , 1 , , 12.0 , , .490 , , .313 , , .769 , , 3.9 , , 0.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 1.2 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 2 year, 1 team , 40 , , 1 , , 9.6 , , .506 , , .321 , , .760 , , 2.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.8 , , 5.2

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 3 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .100 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.7 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 2 year, 1 team , 4 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .182 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 1.0

National team

Youth level

Kliundikova made her international debut at the

2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2013 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship was the 27th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. 16 teams participated in the competition, which was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, from 8 to 18 August 2013. Turkey were the defending champi ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, where Russia placed sixth. Kliundikova once again participated, returning to the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where Russia won the title, taking home their fifth Under-16 Championship. Kliundikova was then named to the national team for the

2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship The 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Greek: Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα FIBA Under-19 2015) was the 12th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by t ...

in her home nation. Russia would remain undefeated until the final, falling to the United States and taking home silver. Vadeeva was awarded a place on the All-Tournament Team.

Senior level

Kliundikova made her senior international debut at

EuroBasket Women 2015 The 2015 EuroBasket Women, European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2015, was the 35th edition of the continental tournament in women's basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament was co-held in Hunga ...

, at just the age of 16. In her debut tournament, Kliundikova averaged 12.3 points per game and 5.9 repounds per game. Kliundikova was once again named to Russia's roster, for

EuroBasket Women 2017 The 2017 European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 2017, was the 36th edition of the continental tournament in women's basketball, sanctioned by the FIBA Europe. The tournament was awarded to Czech Republic after w ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kliundikova, Maria 1998 births Living people Basketball players from Moscow Centers (basketball) Los Angeles Sparks draft picks Los Angeles Sparks players Minnesota Lynx players Russian expatriate basketball people in the United States Russian women's basketball players 21st-century Russian sportswomen