Former Lynx player Sylvia Fowles honored with Hall of Fame banner: ‘I’ll forever bleed this Blue and Green’
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Minnesota Lynx jerseys aren’t a rare sight in the Target Center, but you don’t expect to see one being repped by the opposing team’s bench.
Saturday night was an exception as former Lynx star center and current Portland Fire assistant coach Sylvia Fowles donned her old number.
Following the Minnesota Lynx’s 101-93 win, Minnesota honored Fowles by revealing a Hall of Fame banner on her retired number in the rafters.
Fowles broke into the WNBA in 2008 as the second-overall draft pick out of LSU for the Chicago Sky.
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The 6-foot-6-inch Miami-native sat out the first half of the 2015 WNBA season, refusing a contract extension. The Sky deemed all trade offers insufficient, and Fowles held out until July that year for one specific reason: the opportunity to join Minnesota.
“She knew she wanted to play in Minnesota and was waiting for the opportunity to do that. She felt that strongly,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said before the game Saturday. “The choosing of us and the passion, the commitment that she has for this franchise, for the teammates that she played with, for the coaching staff, to this day remains one of the most special things that I've experienced.”
She was a key member of the Lynx for eight seasons before retiring in 2022.
During her time in Minnesota, she earned the nickname “Sweet Syl” for her nurturing off-the-court spirit that sharply contrasted her fierce on-court playing style, which earned her four defensive player of the year awards throughout her career, the second most in league history.
She was an eight-time All-Star and named the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2017.
Reeve said Fowles’ commanding style is “non-existent” today.
“It was a dominance on the interior, defensively, rebounding,” Reeve said. “I mean, there's no one. No one in the league is like her.”
Fowles helped the Lynx win two WNBA Championships in 2015 and 2017. She played alongside greats like Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus, four of whom have also become coaches in the WNBA or NCAA Division I colleges.
“None of us saw Syl coaching. I seen her crocheting some pillows or some blankets or something like that, but never coaching,” Augustus said, who also played with Fowles at LSU. “But if anybody's gonna coach, it would be someone like Syl, because she's so caring and nurturing. You know the intensity of basketball, you kind of need that happy mixture of intensity, but then that coddling to help players get through. So it's good to see her in there and coaching up these post players to be great, as great as she was.”
It’s a leadership role that started in Minnesota during her final years as the team entered a rebuild, Reeve said.
“Syl poured into the next era. She was the one that, after everyone was gone, she was the one that was still here,” Reeve said Friday during practice.
At that point, Reeve spoke to Fowles telling her she understood if she wanted to go to a different team to compete for another championship.
“She shut the conversation down really fast, and she said, ‘This is home and this is where I'm going to finish,’” Reeve said.
Fowles nodded along recalling that story when it was shared during the ceremony and said the Lynx are part of her identity.
“I'll forever bleed this blue and green,” Fowles said in a pregame press conference. “This is home at heart forever.”
While at Minnesota, she was an advocate for youth health and wellness, hosting biking and gardening events to share her hobbies. She and the Lynx launched “Syl’s Final Ride” campaign, teaming with local nonprofit Free Bikes 4 Kidz MN to provide children in need with bicycles.
The Lynx named the Sylvia Fowles Altruism Award after her, recognizing a player who embodies kindness, selflessness and care for the well-being of others in the community. Lynx forward Napheesa Collier received the inaugural 2023 honor. Both Bridget Carleton and Natisha Heideman, who have both left the Lynx, were also recipients of the honor.
“She's just thoughtful to her core. Like that's her space, always giving.” Reeve said. “It's important as a Lynx player. In general, we like the selfless nature and doing things for others, but Syl just always took it to another level.”
Reeve recalled wanting to do something special to remember the high standard of selflessness Fowles set. Fowles said it was amongst her highest accomplishments.
“I am honored to be able to give an award every year, but it just speaks to who I am,” Fowles said. “Like basketball is the plus, and it has always been a plus. But who you are as a human, I think, comes first.”
Fowles grew emotional when she reminisced on Reeves laying a road map for successful coaching. Fowles now implements the same style at Portland with honed attention to detail and steadfast support for her players to build their confidence.
“Cheryl, I can't thank you enough for the things that you have done for my career,” she said. “Being here and wearing this jersey definitely prolonged what legacy looks like and I don’t think I could have done that without being a Minnesota Lynx.”
Fowles was the eighth Lynx player Inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, preceding Reeve by a year. She’s also a four-time Olympic gold medalist with the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.
Beyond the court into fans’ heart: ‘She's just such a beautiful human’
Coming back just 74 days after giving birth, another fan favorite, Collier, said her goal in 2022 was getting to play with Fowles again before her retirement.
“It was just a handful of games, but it was really touching. It was amazing,” said Alex Schneider of Minneapolis, a fan of nearly 10 years wearing a t-shirt with Fowles and a squiggly font listing all of Fowles' accomplishments.
Phee’s return to join Fowles is a favorite memory for St Paul’s Michelle Fure because it solidified why Fowles’ character was so unique.
“She's just such a beautiful human and really offers so much joy and love in everything that she does to both her players and the people in her life,” Fure said in a retro Lynx blue-green Fowles jersey.
Fure has been a fan since before Fowles arrived to Minnesota. She remembered watching Fowles’ talent permeating the team. Fowles’ crispest shot-blocking moments play on rewind in her mind years later.
Sherry Gwegorryn of St. Paul called Fowles’ influence “groundbreaking.”
“It changed the whole team,” she said. “We had a great team before with Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus and all that, but then when Sylvia came in, it just took off, and it was really amazing to see. We had defense and offense.”
What Fowles added is undeniable. She averaged 15.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.77 blocks per game. In the postseason, she added 14.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.68 blocks per game in 41 contests.
But it was what she offered off the court that ultimately stole fans’ hearts. Fowles’ bike trips with kids and community-centered wellness events are why they’ll never forget her, Fure said.
“Justice and community, it's just really part of who they are. It's part of the fabric of Minnesota, but it is certainly a part of this franchise and this organization, and she embodied that.”
