The Giant: Marie Gülich

Being a tall teenager, she got bullied for her height. But when she
entered the basketball court for the first time, “all the girls ran
up to me and were like, 'Oh my God, you're so tall'. And I realized
they were actually excited, which I’ve never felt before. I think
that's why I ultimately got stuck with basketball.” Today, at 6’5”,
Marie Gülich holds the center position at the WNBA team Los Angeles
Sparks, one of very few Germans at the highest level of female
basketball worldwide. Marie Gülich is a leader both in the WNBA and
for the German national team and shares her time between the US and
Europe. A fate she shares with most female basketball players, who
spend their summers playing for extra income while their male
counterparts in the NBA earn a ten- or hundredfold. On episode 18
the Wunderbar Together Podcast, Marie not only shares her journey
from a tall girl to a pro athlete and the humbling experience of
entering US sports – "I was a good player in Germany and I came to
America and I was no one" – she also shares insights from the
“Wubble”, a sprawling complex in Florida where the WNBA plays their
current season shut off from the outside world to minimize the risk
of being exposed to COVID-19. "I think 2020 has been a really good
representation of not being able to control anything."