Looking at Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles careers in their final 12 regular season games originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Two of the WNBA greats are on their farewell tour.
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Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowles are both set to retire after this season. In honor of their many years in the league, the duo were named co-captains at the WNBA All-Star game last weekend, with Fowles coming out on top.
As they prepare to bring their storied careers to a conclusion, here’s a look back at some of Bird and Fowles’ accomplishments.
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Some of Bird’s career accolades include:
- Four-time WNBA Champion (2004, 2010, 2018 and 2020)
- Thirteen-time WNBA All-Star
- 2020 Tokyo Olympics flag bearer
Some of Fowler’s career accolades include:
- Two-time WNBA Champion (2015 and 2017)
- Eight-time WNBA All-Star
- WNBA MVP (2017)
What WNBA records does Sue Bird have?
Sports
Bird is all over the record books, starting with the sheer amount of games she’s played throughout her 18-year career.
Not only is Bird the only WNBA player to appear in more than 500 games, but she’s also started in all 568 appearances.
A prolific distributor, Bird is the all-time assist leader with 3,161. She sits in third place for assists per game with 5.6.
Her ability to get teammates involved hasn’t kept her off the scoring board, however. She currently sits in seventh place with 6,717 points, 94 points behind Cappie Pondexter.
Bird scores with consistency. She is tied with Tina Thompson for most 300+ point seasons at 15.
What WNBA records does Sylvia Fowles have?
The 6-foot-6 Minnesota Lynx center is all power in the paint.
Fowles owns the records for most career rebounds (3,712) and single-season rebounds (404). She also has the highest career field goal percentage at 59.7%.
She set the WNBA record for most career double-doubles back in 2019 and continues to add to her total with eight this season alone.
What’s at stake for Sue Bird and Sylvia Fowler in the final 12 games of their careers?
All-time scorer leaderboard
No one’s going to touch Diana Taurasi’s record of 9,571 points and counting, over 2,000 more points than the next highest scorer, but Bird and Fowler could still make some moves on the leaderboard.
With her current average of 8.3 points per game and 12 games remaining in the regular season, Bird will have to continue to produce on the offensive side of the ball but sixth place is totally within reach.
Meanwhile, Fowles is already making moves into the top-10. She passed Lisa Leslie on Tuesday, bringing her total career points to 6,265. Her next closest competition is Candace Parker (6,286). Despite teasing that the 2022 season could be her last, all signs point to Parker returning to the league next year. Leslie, on the other hand, retired in 2009, leaving her position defenseless as Fowles overtook her on the leaderboard.
WNBA Playoffs
Fowles and Bird are facing very different fates heading into the postseason.
Fowles will likely not make the playoffs as the Lynx are currently 9-15, giving them the second-worst record in the league.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Storm boast the third-best record in the league and are serious title contenders. Bird could capture her fifth WNBA championship come September. Bird, who has only lost one game in her four WNBA Finals appearances, will hope to continue her dominance in her swan song.
The record-setting doesn’t stop for Bird in the playoffs. In 2020, she set the record for most assists in a playoff game (16).
What’s to say she won’t break more records this year?
