Lean and mean(er), Fowles having MVP season for Sky
A run-in with Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles has kept Shameka Christon off the basketball court for a month.
The two teammates were going for a rebound during a game against the Washington Mystics on June 11 and Fowles accidentally caught Christon in the head with her elbow.
Christon suffered a concussion, a fractured orbital socket and a scratched cornea. She had surgery last week to correct some lingering vision problems associated with the injury.
Yikes.
Fowles can throw a mean elbow, but she does so without a mean bone in her body.
And she hears about that quite often.
Her overly sharp elbows aside, the 6-foot-6 Fowles is known for being super sweet and super nice, to the point that her performance on the basketball court isn't always what it could be.
Her teammates from the U.S. national team have started to ride her about it, dubbing her the "Gentle Giant."
"I can't really argue it. It's the truth. I'm a little too nice," Fowles said. "People are always telling me I need to get meaner. I'm trying to."
Fowles has been having an MVP-caliber season this summer, averaging 18.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in her third season for the Sky.
She was the most valuable player of last weekend's WNBA all-star game after dominating the paint. She scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Seemingly at will.
It was after that effort that her teammates from the U.S. National Team, which took on a group of WNBA all-stars, lauded her for showing the bite that often eludes her.
"She's just nice by nature, just very nice and gentle, a gentle giant," Seattle Storm and national team point guard Sue Bird said. "So you have to get on her to get her to play that way. When you do get on her, the best part about Syl is that she responds immediately. She might just need that kick in the butt."
Fowles welcomes it.
She says it's not that she's unmotivated to play tough and aggressively, but her temperament was shaped in a totally different environment.
For instance, as a kid Fowles spent many hours with her grandmother, peacefully sewing and crocheting.
"It's kind of a personality thing," Fowles said. "I'm that person who is sweet and loving and laid back.
"Competing with those girls (on the national team) and at that level is so good for me. It's tough at times, but at the same time, they give me that push I need. They light a fire under me."
And when Fowles gets warmed up, watch out. She's often too hot to handle.
"Sylvia is someone that when she's confident is unstoppable," Phoenix Mercury and national team guard Diana Taurasi said. "Then you see the other side of Sylvia, which is the passive side that we're trying to (rid) from her body.
"When she plays focused and determined, there's no one like her in the world."
pbabcock@dailyherald.com