Super Sylvia
All five Minnesota starters reached double-figures in scoring, but we’d forgive you if you were swept up by the interior domination of Sylvia Fowles, who set two Finals records in rebounds in this series. In Game 5, Fowles had 17 points and 20 rebounds. Bothered by Nneka Ogwumike’s game-winning put-back in Game 5 of last year’s Finals, Fowles asserted her might to ensure redemption.
“I just wanted to come in and I wanted to show my presence, and if that was rebounding, then rebounding it was,” she said.
Fowles earned Finals MVP honors for the second time in her career, last winning it in 2015. With the accolade, she becomes the first player in seven years to earn both MVP awards; Lauren Jackson previously did so in 2010.
Making Fowles a focal point of the offense was an imperative for Reeve this year, and after the pummeling from Los Angeles in Game 3, that goal was reinforced.
“We just made a concerted effort that we were not going to spend another three, four minutes, a quarter, a half, whatever it was, without featuring our MVP,” Reeve said. “There’s nothing like seeing the transformation of a player like Sylvia Fowles, and she’s the reason why we won a championship.”
Other notables for the Lynx include Rebekkah Brunson winning her fifth career championship as a player, with four om her current team and a 2005 title with Sacramento. Jia Perkins, part of the 2004 draft class with Brunson and Whalen, earned her first career title. Natasha Howard also won her first title in her third attempt; she played for Indiana in 2015 and was traded to Minnesota the following year.