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Four Contenders, Three Races,
One Champion.
The career of a women's basketball legend came to a close on Sunday, when Lynx center Sylvia Fowles played her final WNBA game. Two days earlier, in Minneapolis, the 36-year-old Fowles had played her last home game at the Target Center, when Minnesota hosted the Storm. Seattle point guard Sue Bird, another icon of women's hoops, is also retiring. The Players' Tribune was on hand to document the occasion.
The 41-year-old Bird scored only four points, but the Storm still won easily, pulling away for a 96–69 victory. Fowles did her best, scoring 13 points and pulling down 12 boards—the record 192nd double double of her 15-year career—but it wasn't enough. The Lynx will miss this year's WNBA playoffs, while Seattle locked down the West's No. 4 seed with the win. Only Bird will get to play more basketball. For Fowles, her run is over.
The impact of Fowles on the W has been so huge that it's hard to imagine the league without her. The 2017 MVP, she won two titles—and was named the MVP of the finals both times—and grabbed a record 4,006 rebounds. She has been so dominant for so long that she's actually the career rebounding leader for two franchises: the Lynx and the Sky. Her success also went beyond professional basketball. She and Bird have been Olympic teammates since 2008, and have won nine gold medals between them. Fowles was a leader among a generation of players who elevated not only the WNBA during their careers, but also the entire game of women's basketball. The next stop for her will certainly be the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Photographs by Jonathan Ferrey for The Players' Tribune; Audio courtesy of INDYCAR.
Syl’s House
PHOTOS BY KATIE KLANN/The Players' Tribune
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