Alexander Shun

Web Editor Associate | @alexpshun 

When coming back from the WNBA All-Star Break, teams can experience a bit of a…slow start, to the second half of the season. With the spark injected into the Minnesota Lynx team this morning, a slow start will seemingly not be possible.

The Lynx pulled off a blockbuster trade to open the second half of the season, landing Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles and a second round pick in a three-team deal that sends center Damiris Dantas, along with 2015 second-round pick forward Reshanda Gray and Minnesota’s first round pick in next year’s draft to the Atlanta Dream, while the Sky receive veteran center Erika de Souza from the Dream.

The trade gives the Lynx a fifth Olympian on their roster (Moore, Whalen, Augustus, Jones) and gives the team another proven low-post player to pair with three-time All-Star and three-time WNBA champion, Rebekkah Brunson as well as

For Lynx fans that may not be that familiar with Fowles, well don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. First, here are just some of her highlight plays from past seasons.

Having led her Edison Senior High School team to two state championships, Fowles transferred to Gulliver Preparatory School where she averaged 20.6 points and 11.6 rebounds, leading Gulliver to the class 3A state championship. She eventually chose to play her college ball as an LSU Tiger

After four years at LSU (yes, she was teammates with former LSU Tiger and current Lynx guard Seimone Augustus during Fowles’ freshman and sophmore seasons) during which time she became just the sixth woman to dunk in an American college game, led the Tigers on multiple Final Four runs and was named SEC Player of the Year in 2008, Fowles was drafted second overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2008 draft. Quick note, Fowles took classes after she was drafted and in 2009 received her bachelor’s degree from LSU.

Fowles is now a three-time All-Star, two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and has won two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012) playing for USA Basketball; quite an impressive resume.

For her career, Fowles is averaging 15.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks and, in 2012, shot a league-best 63.8% from the floor in 25 games, the third-highest single season field goal percentage in WNBA history.

Fowles also brought her dunking skills to the WNBA, becoming the third woman to dunk in an All-Star Game in the 2009 All-Star Game in Connecticut. Check it out.

The 6’6, 29-year old center has not yet played this season, choosing instead to sit out while waiting for a trade out of Chicago. A trade came through, and Fowles now joins a Lynx team filled with All-Stars and primed to make yet another championship run.