{"id":877150,"date":"2026-10-10T06:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/877150\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T06:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:04:09","slug":"heidi-burge-horton-wnba-star-who-inspired-disney-movie-dead-at-54","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/877150\/","title":{"rendered":"Heidi Burge Horton, WNBA star who inspired Disney movie, dead at 54"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Heidi Burge Horton, a women\u2019s college basketball star and WNBA player who was the inspiration for the Disney Channel movie \u201cDouble Teamed,\u201d has died.<\/p>\n<p>She was 54.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eickenhorstfuneral.com\/obituaries\/heidi-horton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">post on Eickenhorst Funeral Services\u2019 website<\/a>, Horton, a standout on Virginia\u2019s women\u2019s basketball team, died Monday following a battle with brain cancer.<\/p>\n<p>A photo of Heidi Burge Horton, a former WNBA star who inspired the Disney movie \u201cDouble Teamed,\u201d who died at age 54. Instagram\/WNBA<\/p>\n<p>Longtime journalist Jerry Ratcliffe first reported the tragic news, saying that Horton\u2019s tumors returned in July after initially going into remission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deeply saddened by the passing of Heidi Burge Horton,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/UVAWomensHoops\/status\/2108237648146153924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Virginia women\u2019s basketball posted<\/a> on X. \u201cHeidi was a cherished member of the Virginia Women\u2019s Basketball family, her legacy will forever be a part of Virginia Athletics. Our sincere condolences to her family and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During her tenure with Virginia from 1989-93, Horton and her twin sister Heather helped lead the Cavaliers to three Final Four appearances while playing alongside Basketball Hall of Famer \u2014 and current South Carolina women\u2019s coach \u2014 Dawn Staley.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are all heartbroken! We love you Heidi,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dawnstaley\/status\/2108287014164459766?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Staley posted on X<\/a>. \u201cMay your soul rest in peace and your body pain free. #wahooforlife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> X\/Virginia Women&#8217;s Basketball<\/p>\n<p>Following her college career, Horton played overseas before eventually reaching the WNBA, spending time with the Sparks and the Mystics from 1997-98.<\/p>\n<p>Horton stuck around the game after her retirement, working for the Houston Comets as a press and media broadcasting intern. She was also a physical therapist and private basketball coach.<\/p>\n<p>The Disney Channel movie \u201cDouble Teamed,\u201d released in 2002, was based on Horton and her twin sister\u2019s basketball careers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m saddened to hear of the passing of Heidi Burge,\u201d Annie McElwain, who starred as Horton in the film, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1436910\/heidi-burge-horton-wnba-player-behind-disneys-double-teamed-dead-at-54\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">told E! News<\/a>. \u201cWhile I didn\u2019t know Heidi personally, I\u2019m incredibly grateful that her story, alongside Heather\u2019s, became \u2018Double Teamed\u2019 and reached so many young viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The poster for the movie \u201cDouble Teamed\u201d rottentomatoes<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt a time when there were so few films celebrating women in sports, Heidi and Heather\u2019s story helped young girls see that they, too, could dream big and become elite athletes,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful legacy to leave behind, and I hope the inspiration Heidi\u2019s story sparked continues to create a ripple effect for generations to come. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy thoughts are with her family and loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heidi Burge Horton, a women\u2019s college basketball star and WNBA player who was the inspiration for the Disney&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[26522,36573,3716,229930,35646,99,1773,434],"class_list":["post-877150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-deaths","tag-disney-channel","tag-disney","tag-ncaa-womens-basketball","tag-obits","tag-sports","tag-virginia-cavaliers","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=877150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}