Heidi Burge Horton, the California basketball star whose life was turned into a Disney Channel movie, has died of cancer. She was 54 years old.
Heidi Ann Burge and her twin sister Heather were born in Harbor City, Calif., in 1971. Heidi had health complications from the outset, requiring open-heart surgery before she was one year old due to a second aorta. Although the surgery was extremely risky, she survived and thrived.
The twins shot up in height, eventually topping out at 6-foot-5, making them the tallest female identical twins in the Guinness World Records for a time. They enrolled at Palos Verdes High School, where they became a sensation on the basketball court. In an LA Times feature that ran in 1989, their senior year, Heidi averaged 22.7 points per game and Heather averaged 20.6. They were the school’s all-time leading scorers.
The pair were recruited by the University of Virginia, and both received scholarships. By their junior year, the school was ranked No. 1 in the nation for women’s basketball. But as they grew on the court, they also differentiated themselves off of it. Heidi was known as the more gregarious twin, while Heather was more serious and studious. They had different friend groups too. But sometimes the similarities were even confusing for them.
“One day I was driving and Heidi was in the back seat,” Heather once told the Times. “And when I looked in the rear view mirror I thought I was looking at myself. It freaked me out.”
“That was the only time we’ve ever gotten ourselves mixed up,” Heidi added.
FILE: Heidi Burge of the Los Angeles Sparks stands on the court in 1997 during a game against the Charlotte Sting at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
After graduating with a double major in Spanish and rhetoric and communications studies, Heidi played overseas basketball in Europe for six years. In 1997, the first year of WNBA play, she joined the LA Sparks. She spent a few years in the WNBA before retiring and moving to Houston, where she did color commentary for the Houston Comets, worked as a physical therapist and served as a youth basketball coach for generations of Texans.
The twins inspired the Disney Channel movie “Double Teamed,” which was released in 2002. The movie showed a fictionalized version of the twins’ ups and downs at Palos Verdes High, with Annie McElwain playing Heidi.
Last year, Heidi was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. Her cancer briefly went into remission before returning again this summer. She died on Oct. 5, prompting an outpouring of grief from the basketball community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Heidi Burge Horton. Heidi was a cherished member of the Virginia Women’s Basketball family, her legacy will forever be a part of Virginia Athletics,” the Virginia women’s basketball program said in a statement. “Our sincere condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Heidi Burge Horton is survived by her husband, son, daughter and sister Heather, among other loved ones.
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This article originally published at Heidi Burge Horton, California basketball star who inspired Disney movie, dies at 54.