Roster Review | Sylvia Fowles

C | 6’6, 227 lbs

2019 season: 34 games, 29.5 MPG, 13.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 58.8 FG%, 70.7 FT%

We saw a slight decrease in Sylvia Fowles’ points and rebounds totals in the 2019 season, but Fowles’ 2019 success isn’t best defined by her individual stats.

Fowles, along with co-captains Seimone Augustus and Danielle Robinson, was tasked with removing the “rebuilding” label from the 2019 Lynx as they entered the season without Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson. To do so, Fowles had to take on a larger leadership role that tasked her with being more vocal in practice, games and the locker room. 

Fowles embraced her role and soon became known as Mama Syl as she used her veteran experience to guide her young team through rough patches in the season and into a playoff appearance that many thought would be out of reach for the 2019 Lynx.

She did all this while going through her own struggles of learning how to be an interior force despite the new changes in how the paint is officiated. Fowles has averaged 4.8 free-throw attempts per game over the course of her career. In 2018, she recorded 169 total free throws. That number dropped to 99 total FTAs and 2.9 FTAs per game in 2019.

Fowles was seen as the Lynx’s top offensive threat at the start of the season and was often met with double- and triple-teams in the paint. This created more scoring opportunities for point guard Odyssey Sims and forward Napheesa Collier. Fowles’ scoring numbers may see an uptick in the upcoming season if opposing defenses decide to target rising star Napheesa Collier the way they did Fowles in the 2019 season.

But even if Fowles’ numbers stay below her career averages in 2020, just having her around while Collier and Damiris Dantas continue to develop their games will be extremely beneficial to the Lynx.