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I’m rarely amazed at my job anymore, not flexibility, but rather something that’s happened with repetition over the past few years. That disappeared a month ago when I met Sylvia Fowles during All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
I did several hours of prep, watched interviews all the way from her time in Chicago, listened to every podcast she’s been on, and read other articles and articles since she entered the league in 2008. Nothing could have really prepared me for a real meet Sil one on one.
She walked into the back room where I was seated for the All-Star press conference, my last interview of the day, and I kind of froze for a second. Like, this is a living legend, one of the greatest players in the history of sports!
And then she told me she liked my shoes, shook my hand and asked my name. It seems like a small thing, but it was incredibly disarming, made me feel comfortable, and really challenged me talking about shoes she would wear to the game the next day.
It clicked for me quickly, Sweet Sil, I get it now, I thought. Part of my job is NOT to be shocked, but Sylvia Fowles brought me back down to earth and put me at ease with her sincerity. I had an out-of-body experience for a second, but then we started talking about the Adidas NMD and I regained consciousness.
The biggest thing that resonated with me in our conversation: Strategic, a word Fowles uses to describe himself.
“Everything must be planned for me; that’s how I function. I strategize everything to the end. I’ve always been like that my whole life, so it’s a challenge for me to dive deeper into myself because I’m always thinking about everyone else.”
Even in her senior year, a season dedicated to her legacy, Fowles is struggling to embrace it. This should come as no surprise.
Watch her Defensive Player of the Year award ceremony and speech from last season, her fourth such award, and that tells you all you need to know. Fowles surprisingly praised teammate Cheryl Reeve and insisted it wasn’t an individual accolade. It is not forced; that’s just how Fowles sees life and the game.
She knitted an entire baby basket for her teammate Nafiza Collier and her newborn daughter Mila. I cannot sell under a. How big was this basket b. How amazing it was c. that everything is hand-knitted by Fowles herself: Look.
Again, this strategy, meticulousness, care and effort is manifested in the simplicity of small things like a gift for a baby. Fowles’ mentality is what makes these little things big things, literally and figuratively.
“I hate just going out and buying presents, I want to make things meaningful and she (Collier) means a lot to me so I wanted to make sure her first baby had everything she needed and more.”
Fowles talks about baby Mila. She had just met her in person for the first time when Collier and her husband brought her to a Lynx home game, but they had already gotten to know each other well by the time!
“I talk to Nafisa on FaceTime every day, you’d think Mila was my child (laughs). She is definitely Napheesa 2.0. I can’t wait to grow up with her.”
How does Fowles stay present in her final season while knowing the future is near? That preparation and strategizing comes up again, a theme here with the reigning DPOY.
Fowles really wants to start a family, and as soon as I ask if that’s something she’s been thinking about this season, she blurts out, “OH BABY, I planned!”
She has long refrained from pursuits outside of basketball to stay present, to stay grounded and in the moment. Whether it’s going back to school, kids, and post-career thoughts in general, Fowles is trying to put that on the back burner for now.
“It’s hard, but I had to make that promise to myself that I would attend. I think that’s what made me appreciate this last year because I have time to perfect what I’m doing with you right now and what I’m doing later today. That’s what makes it special,” says Fowles.
“But it also makes me focus on what it feels like. I don’t want to leave and then think about it next year and be like, “Oh, this I did to happen’, but I’m enjoying it.”
That same strategic nature is what made Fowles’ career underrated in some ways. It’s easy to see how things play out on offense. Buckets are easy to track, mark, highlight. Passing can be brilliant and perhaps more reel-worthy than a great finish around the rim.
7.7% is such a key number here for me and is indicative of how we understand and view the game as a collective. Fowles finished in the top 10 in the league last season in both steal and block percentage, posting a 7.7% turnover rate, an extremely impressive turnover rate. That’s part of what makes it frustrating in a way for both me and Fowles.
“It’s almost like a must-taste, right? You don’t really get credit for defense… but that stuff wins games. It’s definitely underrated,” says Fowles.
Fowles impacts plays far more than a 7.7% clip would suggest. You can see and mark the block at the rim as Fowles makes a star rotation. You can highlight her quick hands playing closer to the level of the screen and piercing the ball as a ball carrier turns the corner. That 7.7% vastly underestimates Fowles’ impact as a defender.
Fouls is one of the best in basketball at what is called two nines or sweeps. Defenders can only be in the paint for three seconds before a defensive foul is called if they are not directly guarding a player in the paint as well. It’s a help defense principle to bend the boundaries, keep that time in rhythm and be able to maintain a help position while constantly shifting to get out of the paint and back in without giving up a crucial lane to the easiest place to get a shot in basketball.
Her footwork is impeccable, something she honed growing up with her three older brothers in Miami.
“Growing up playing basketball with them, they never let me play offense. So I played my first organized game in eighth grade in middle school and I was like, “Oh, you can play offense too?!” So that was the only way I could prove to my brothers that I knew how to play because I could I only get defensive stops, so I take pride in that,” Fowles says.
“I think I got really good when I started thinking two steps ahead.”
Much like how he approaches life off the court, Fowles is always thinking, always planning, always preparing and always strategizing during and before a game.
When the offense takes 15 seconds to execute, with multiple acts dying or shutting down due to Fowles’ communication, mobility, personnel knowledge and instincts, you’re missing the bigger picture. Yes, it ended up being a jump that wasn’t even contested by Fowles, but it ended up being that ugly look because of the hours of work that go into film sessions, studying trends and executing scouts.
The plays that don’t happen due to the weight of Fowles’ defense are also missed in the box score and often on the broadcast. Her presence deters dribble penetration from happening in the first place… just by being there. Offensive staffs draw up plays and game plans with the goal of keeping the ball away from Fowles or getting him into action to take away his ability to mess things up with help. Even then, Fowles is still remarkably mobile in his final season. She can switch in a pinch and hold her own against ball handlers on the perimeter.
It’s crazy to me that she’s been underappreciated in her career.
“He’s crazy to me sometimes,” Fowles quipped with a laugh.
Sylvia Fowles is one of the greatest players to grace the hardwood with her presence. It’s great that she’s getting her flowers this season, it’s well-deserved, but it’s also been well-deserved for the past decade.
Fowles mentions how she admires the new generation of athletes and how they promote themselves on social media, but also admits that she probably wouldn’t be more active on social media even if she was entering the league now. She doesn’t like attention and prefers to keep a low profile, letting her acting do the talking for her throughout her career.
There is a real gap in media coverage in terms of actually highlighting some of the quieter players. Finding ways to spotlight all the personalities and skill sets in a diverse league in both is extremely important, something that is still a work in progress.
“Judging what you have (the league), it’s like not every player is the same. We have a variety of phenomenal players and I think that will only get better as the generations go on. You just admire what everybody brings to the table, you don’t just pick a band you want to see, you appreciate everybody.”
None of this comes from a place of bitterness with Fowles, I think that’s pretty clear if you’ve ever heard her speak. She genuinely wants the league to continue to grow and improve, as well as the coverage surrounding it.
We talked about jazz, something I didn’t know she was passionate about. She is a big fan of Miles Davis. I’m not a jazz lover by any means, but I listen to it a lot when I’m writing and trying to focus without any lyrics in the background. She asked me who my favorite jazz artist was, and I quickly blurted out Kamasi Washington, a new-age jazz musician who I highly recommend.
Seal’s public relations person walks into the room to let her know it’s time to leave, and so a blindingly quick and instructive 15 minutes pass.
As she rises from her chair, “Send him to me,” she says.
And I just laughed and said sure it was great to meet her and I was looking forward to seeing her at the game tomorrow and catching the rest of her season.
Sitting there thinking, after I was alone, it occurred to me, “Dude, how could I just SEND something to Sylvia freak at Fowles?”
So heck, I checked her Instagram, saw she could send messages, and sent her the Spotify link a few minutes later, and another thank you for your time. A shot in the dark. Does Sylvia Fowles really want to listen to Kamasi Washington that badly?
The answer is yes, unequivocally, as I received a reply a few minutes later, and thank you very much.
This may seem like a random story and is not meant as a dig at anyone who wouldn’t do this. I didn’t expect Sylvia Fowles to ask me to send her the link to a music artist or to get a response. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if neither had happened. But I think the fact that both happened says so much about Sylvia Fowles and who she is as a person.
I’m just a guy who watches and covers basketball. She had never met me and this interaction could have gone many different ways. The true nature that I had heard speak of with anyone who had met Sil, that she mentioned in the way she approached her life and being in the present; I felt this personally.
I’ve only been covering the WNBA for a full season and basketball in general for a few years now. I’m not sure I’ll ever have an interaction like that again, because that’s exactly who Sylvia Fowles is: a legend in the sport, a compassionate person who gives life to others, and a true caring soul. I’m selfishly hoping the Lynx make it to the last playoff spot so Sunday’s matchup with the Sun doesn’t end up being the official last game. Regardless, it’s been a privilege to cover her in the short time I’ve had, to watch her since I first caught up with W, and to be able to talk to people in person.
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