Retiring Lynx center Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA's top sportsmanship honor

On the day she won yet another WNBA honor, Sylvia Fowles talked about the process of learning who she is without basketball.

The latest trophy is the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, given to the WNBA player who exemplifies the ideas of sportsmanship on the court.

But Fowles, in a Zoom conference call Friday, spent most of her time talking about what will come off the court.

"I feel I gave this sport everything I could possibly give it,'' she said. "And me stepping away from this basketball thing, it's me trying to figure out who I am [without] basketball. I'm eager to see this new person.''

Fowles admitted that it hasn't fully registered that her 15-year career is over, after all the points (6,415), rebounds (4,006), Olympic gold medals (four) and WNBA titles (two).

"You have it in your head, you think it's going to go a certain kind of way,'' Fowles said. "But in reality, it doesn't really add up the way you thought it would be. So yes, it's been weird to know that this is really it.''

Fowles received 36 votes from a national panel of 56 sports writers and broadcasters. The award is named after Kim Perrot, a member of the Houston Comets' first two WNBA title teams who died in August 1999 after a seven-month battle with cancer.

Fowles studied mortuary science during her time as a player and has a couple of standing job offers back home in Florida. But Friday she said she's in no hurry to jump into anything.

"Right now it's just taking a break,'' she said. "I want to figure some things out. Figure out what my next step is going to be. I feel like me rushing into something at this point would be doing myself an [injustice]. So I want to take time. Travel a little bit. Visit with family and friends. Just enjoy life a little bit.''

And none of that includes basketball. A while back Fowles was asked if she would consider staying in the game in some fashion, either as a coach or a broadcaster. Her reaction: A hard no.

For now, that hasn't changed.

"It's so funny listening to everybody who has this plan of what they think I should be doing, coaching-wise,'' Fowles said. "And so it's intriguing to see that everybody is on the same page but me. My answer at this point is still a hard no. … We'll see if I miss it. If I do, maybe I'll come back and deal with it.''

Fowles played her eighth season with the Lynx despite nagging knee pain and plantar fasciitis in one of her feet. She said playing through that pain, the extent of which few people really knew, was one of the biggest challenges of her career.

But she got through it. Even the city-to-city farewell tour that she initially dreaded turned out to be fun. This latest award, she said, made her feel she was doing something right.

"I know I have in the past,'' she said. "But this time it puts a stamp on that I'm doing the things I set out to do. To be of service to the community.''

Kim Perrot Award voting

Sylvia Fowles, Lynx, 36

Briann January, Seattle Storm, 8

Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever, 3

Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks, 3

Alysha Clark, Washington Mystics, 2

Shey Peddy, Phoenix Mercury, 2

Allisha Gray, Dallas Wings, 1

A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces, 1