Former WNBA star Sylvia Fowles is joining the Portland Fire as an assistant coach ahead of next season, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
Fowles, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, is a Basketball Hall of Famer who won two WNBA championships — and two Finals MVPs — in 2015 and 2017.
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Few rival Fowle’s defensive pedigree; she is fourth all-time in WNBA blocks and retired as the league’s all-time leading rebounder in 2022. Fowles is also an eight-time All-Star, and a three-time First Team All-WNBA player.
Now, she’ll be a WNBA assistant coach for the first time and is slated to work alongside Portland head coach Alex Sarama, a longtime NBA assistant coach who most recently served as the assistant coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sylvia Fowles brings WNBA greatness to an expansion team
Fowles played in the WNBA from 2008 to 2022, with the Chicago Sky for her first six seasons and the Minnesota Lynx for her last seven. She won two WNBA titles with the Lynx (2015 and 2015), and was awarded Finals MVP honors in both championships. In 2017, she was also named league MVP.
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Undoubtedly, the Portland Fire will benefit from that WNBA experience, especially considering their new head coach isn’t rooted in the WNBA.
In the team’s official press release, Samara explained he’ll bring an unconventional approach to the organization.
“The opportunity to build something from the ground up is unique,” he said. “At the Fire, we’re not just creating a team – we’re redefining how the game is taught and played, through an approach centered around adaptability and supported by evidence-informed methodologies. We want to create a new standard for the game.”
It’s become a trend league-wide for teams to address the fact that some head coaches don’t have a ton of WNBA experience by bringing in WNBA veterans to coach alongside them.
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For example, Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbets came over to the WNBA from the NBA, but the Mercury also benefit from having former WNBA star Kristi Tolliver as the team’s associate head coach. Newly-appointed New York Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco comes from over a decade spent with the Golden State Warriors, and it won’t be surprising if a former WNBA player is on his bench.
