SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) – Sylvia Fowles, of the United States’ National Team, left no room for doubts as to why she's one of the best basketball players in the world with her performance at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2019. The built player-led Team USA to the tournament's gold medal, undefeated in six games with an average advantage margin of 38 points. Fowles was the squad’s efficiency leader, with 13.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and 76% in field goals, which is why she was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

“It's a blessing,” was the first reaction of the 33-year-old player after she received the award. “I feel like all my teammates did a good job to help contribute to that. I thought tonight Tina [Charles] came out and she set the tone for the team and she made sure we got into a lot of things and we just pretty much fed off her energy.”

Throughout the tournament, the veteran showcased her experience on the court in different ways. Sometimes, in the offense with shots near the rim and sometimes, in the defense, with timely blocks. Fowles said that patience was key to use each opportunity that came up in the games.

“Just let the game come to me. I really didn’t want to rush anything because when I tend to rush things don’t go my way. So just calm down, have a good feel for the game and let the game come to me and then dominate the best way I know how,” Fowles said.

Although the player collects gold medals from three Olympic Games and one FIBA World Cup, Fowles said she was happy with the experience in the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, since it was a way to share experiences with a new group of players that are preparing to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“It means a lot just because I had the opportunity to do it with this group of young women and they came out and they fought the whole tournament, so I am very proud of them,” Fowles explained. “I’m not so much giving myself the credit because without them I’m nothing, so I give all my teammates the credit because they came out every night.”

At this point in the memorable career of the star player for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, she’s getting ready to leave her mark for the history books of the USA Basketball’s women’s program, where she has created a legacy of hard work and the altruistic spirit of putting first the common good.

“Just being relentless. Somebody that just goes out there and gets the job done. Whether that’s scoring, whether that’s rebounding, whether that’s blocking shots, just getting deflections… Whatever my role is at that point in the game I just want to go out there and do that,” concluded Fowles.

Emmanuel Márquez
FIBA