With the release of Sue Bird, it is another monument of women’s basketball that is approaching the end. Four-time Olympic champion, two-time WNBA champion and Finals MVP, best rebounder in league history, with the most double-doubles to her credit, Sylvia Fowles yesterday played his last game at Target Center, his home for eight years after seven seasons at Chicago Sky.
The defeat without appeal (96-69) suffered against the Seattle Storm compromises a little more the participation of the Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs with a game at the end, which it will absolutely be necessary to win this evening on the floor of the Connecticut Sun. At 36, the interior has already announced the end of her career at the end of the season, and therefore thanked her fans for their unconditional support.
“I am so grateful”she said after the game. “Coming into this season I didn’t want all that attention, but as I went along I realized the level of love and gratitude that these fans have for me across the league. I will never take that for granted. So thank you for everything you have done throughout my career. It was an amazing journey and I appreciate you all. »
Before the meeting, Sylvia Fowles had confided that she had no regrets about her decision to leave the world of professional basketball. The adventure will have been rich, the time has now come for the former dunk player to move on.
“I’m leaving on my terms. I think if it was the other way around, if I had to be pushed a bit towards the exit, it would probably have been more difficult. But I’m very happy with the decision I made, and I’m happy to see what life brings after basketball.”she slipped. “When I’m done, no, I don’t want to be in basketball. I say that because you sacrifice so much for so long when you play basketball. I just want time to be a little normal. And the normality is not to take care of basketball, unless my children play it one day. I have things planned that I want to do. I want to travel to a few places, but we’ll see where life takes me. »
Give it all to the end
Yesterday’s meeting was full of emotions, especially when his coach, Cheryl Reeve, could not hold back a few tears when his protege left.
“We invested a lot in each other. Sylvia gave us everything she had. In good times, in difficult times, you can count on her. I hope she can say the same about our team and what we tried to do with them. We always tried to evolve, to add something to her game. And she was always motivated to do that,” she confided. “He is a person who is always a little underserved, underappreciated. Obviously not by our fans. But I think for her, she’s always been in that mentality, ‘I’m just doing my job’. And I think when you get to the end and watch her work from start to finish, she must be like, ‘Wow. I did it really well. »
Only the defeat came to tarnish the evening a little, even if Fowles will approach the possible last match of his career as the first, playing hard.
“The thing that touched me the most emotionally was looking at my teammates’ faces, and hearing them apologize to me. It’s a bit hurtful, you know? It’s like that and it’s been part of our season this year. Ups and downs, ups and downs”she added. “But I just want them to know that I’m proud of them. I don’t think it’s about winning or losing. I think it’s about how you approach each game and how you treat each other. We must not lower our heads as we said during our gathering. We still have one game left. »
