Fowles on MVP: ‘It’s just a proud moment’

Sylvia Fowles has an MVP Award under her, however, it is for the Finals in 2015. Today, the league announced her as the 2017 Most Valuable Player, making it her first regular season honor in her 10 years in the WNBA.

Fowles was brought to tears in her acceptance speech:

“I definitely want to say thank you to my teammates. I told myself I wasn’t going to tear up. It’s just a proud moment. All my hard work over the last 10 years has finally paid off. Getting the opportunity to work with my coaches, pushing me every day to be the best that I can be. I just want to say thank you guys for getting me to this point, because I couldn’t do it by myself. Thank you to the fans, I appreciate you guys here in Minnesota and across the globe for supporting me and just knowing what I stand for and what I do and all the hard work that I put in.

Fowles was given the MVP nod ahead of Tina Charles who finished second in votes, followed by Candace Parker in third.

Fowles has been leading Minnesota all season and will look to keep her leadership going throughout the playoffs. During the 2017 regular season, she averaged 18.9 points per game (fifth in the league), was second in rebounds with 10.4 per game, finished second in blocks at 1.97 per game and tied with Jonquel Jones with the most double-double in the WNBA this season with 20.

While those numbers are solid, one stat which stuck out the most was Fowles’ field goal percentage: she shot a blistering, league-leading, 65.5%. Leading the league in field goal percentage is no new feat to Fowles, she has already done so four times in her career (2009, 2011-2013).

Her shooting percentage was not the only single season career high as she also dished out 52 assists and pulled down 123 offensive rebounds.

The Lynx have already locked Fowles in for the few seasons with a contract extension, therefore, this might not be the last MVP honor she will earn.