Courtside with Sylvia Fowles
An unfiltered Q&A with WNBA players — past and present.
Hello and welcome to Courtside.
Take a break from the game. Pull up a chair. Settle in. Have some water. And relax.
As often as I can, I’ll be bringing you honest, revealing and fun Q&As with some of the greatest players in WNBA history as well as rookies, veterans and All-Stars in the league today.
Now, let’s get to the conversation.
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Sylvia Fowles, 34, is a WNBA MVP (2017), a two-time WNBA Finals MVP (2015, 2017), a three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2011, 2013, 2016) and the all-time leading rebounder in the history of the league (3,381 rebounds and counting). Drafted second overall in 2008 by the Chicago Sky, Fowles was traded to Minnesota midway through the 2015 season and helped the Lynx win their third WNBA championship in five years. They won it all again in 2017, with Fowles becoming the cornerstone of their offense.
“You know, we went from being centered around Lindsay, Seimone and Maya so now it was Syl every single night, and we had to have people that were willing to take less of a role, and they were happy to do it. . . . But at the end of the day, there’s nothing like seeing the transformation of a player like Sylvia Fowles, and she’s the reason why we won a championship.”
— Minnesota Lynx head coach, Cheryl Reeve in 2017
To no one’s surprise, Fowles is dominating at center for the Lynx again — averaging a double-double so far this season with 15.8 points, 12.3 rebounds per game. I spoke with Fowles about how it felt to become the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder, her career plans post-basketball, and plenty of other fun stuff.
What made you decide to turn down a contract extension with the Chicago Sky in 2014 and look into the possibility of playing for other teams?
Honestly, wanting to win. It was definitely the highlight of not extending that contract and wanting to be elsewhere. And when I took a look around the league, there were two coaches I was willingly to play for that I knew was going to push me to my full potential, and that was Cheryl Reeve and Mike Thibault.
[Thibault] had just left Connecticut and was starting his journey with the Mystics, and I had conversations with him. I had conversations with Reeve. But I think what pushed it over the edge is getting another chance to play with Seimone [Augustus]. Having that opportunity to play with Maya [Moore], Lindsay [Whalen] and Rebekkah [Brunson], too, made my decision a lot easier to move on to Minnesota.
Looking back on that whole process, what are your thoughts about the lack of autonomy that players had back then when it came to free agency.
I don’t think a team should have the rights to hold you if you don’t want to be in a place if you fulfilled your contract. Now, having the option where we can get out of those contracts, I think that’s always a plus.
When you joined the Lynx in 2015, the core group — Moore, Whalen, Augustus, Brunson — were so in sync. How were you able to fit so seamlessly into the chemistry they had already built?
Just coming in and doing what was needed. They had people who could score. So I just came in to try to, like, piece in the little pieces and that was rebounding, making sure I blocked shots, playing good defense, scoring when I needed to score. That made it much, much easier. And they were very welcoming with me just doing my role. It wasn’t no friction or anything like that. So that’s what made it pretty smooth as well.
Is it surreal to be the only player left from that era, now that they are no longer on the team?
Surreal? YES. It seems surreal. Just thinking back, it’s unbelievable in five years that the team has changed dramatically. But with that said, I’m happy with how everything panned out. Everything happens for a reason. Of course, I would still love to be playing with those women. But it’s just the spot that I’m in at this point. And I think we had our run, too. So I’m grateful for those moments.
You recently passed your former Lynx teammate and now assistant coach, Rebekkah Brunson, as the all-time leading rebounder in the history of the WNBA — congratulations, by the way. What did it feel like to reach that milestone and to do it with Brunson right there on the bench?
Thank you, thank you. It’s still surreal when I think about it. But if I had to put it into perspective, I would definitely say this record sums up who Sylvia Fowles is as an athlete. Just gritty, trying to get it done on defense.
I share this story often — growing up I wasn’t allowed to play offense with my older siblings. So they only had me on defense. And so rebounding and trying to play really good defense was my only way that I could show them that I was better than them. I pretty much took it to heart to make sure I utilized that on every level and it paid off for me.
When you retire, you plan on becoming a funeral director. What’s involved with that?
So you have two licenses in the state of Florida. One is just the funeral director, and they pretty much set up the arrangements, making sure you get all of the paperwork figured out. Then you have the embalmer, and that’s the backroom action where you actually prep the body. I want to do both. Right now I think I’m leaning more towards the embalming side because it’s more intriguing and I’m learning more on that level. But I definitely want to be a funeral director as well, because I really want to own my own place.
What got you interested in that line of work?
I guess you can say that I’ve always been that weird kid who was always fascinated with death. I know that sounds crazy, but I know I’m not the only one out there who thinks about death. But it started at an early age. And what pretty much triggered it was the death of my grandmother. I had an allergic reaction as I gave her a kiss, as we prepared to take her to the burial. And I recall telling my mother that this is something I wanted to do, thinking that they did it wrong. That pretty much kickstarted everything.
What’s something about you that people would be surprised to know or wouldn’t expect?
I know how to do hair. I do my hair often. I feel like every time I go to practice, they’re always asking me who do my hair. I say, I do my own hair. They say, you don’t do your own hair. And I say, I do my own hair. I’m like, how do you guys not know that by now? I’ve very picky about my hair.
Something else . . . I’m learning how to play the bass guitar. I don’t know what it is about the bass. I like the bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Could be a song, movie, food, etc.?
I dance in the mirror almost every day. Sometimes twice today — to anything. I’m pretty much cool on all types of music. Except, I can’t listen to country music because it makes me sad. I don’t know why. Every time I listen to it, I just feel sad. So I try to stay away from it. But anything else that comes on, you best believe I’m probably dancing in front of the mirror.
What’s your go-to hype song before a game?
Anything Rick Ross based. I think just being in Florida and understanding his music, anything from him is definitely a go-to.
Who’s got next?
• Former WNBA legend and new Duke women’s basketball head coach, Kara Lawson
• Longtime WNBA veteran and Indiana Fever cornerstone, Candice Dupree
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Email: LynsD21@gmail.com
Great interview!