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I’m two-time WNBA champion set for Hall of Fame induction – now I work in funeral home after learning to be mortician
Sylvia Fowles will enter the basketball Hall of Fame after forging a rather unique second career path. Having stepped away from the WNBA back in 2022 after a 14-year run, the legendary center will be enshrined on June 14 in Knoxville, Tennessee, as part of a star-studded 2025 class. Fowles will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year after a stellar careerGetty And there are few players more worthy of that honor, given all she achieved on the court. Drafted to the Chicago Sky as the second overall pick in 2008, Fowles went on to be named a three-time WNBA All-Star with the team, while she also picked up the Defensive Player of the Year award on two separate occasions. She led the WNBA in blocks in both 2010 and 2011, and made her first career Finals appearance as the Sky advanced through the playoffs in what turned out to be her final season before moving on. And it was 600 miles north of Chicago where Fowles truly blossomed. She turned down a contract offer with the Sky in September 2014, and after sitting out the first half of the 2015 season, she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx in July. By joining forces with Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen, Fowles helped turn the Lynx into a Western Conference powerhouse, which advanced all the way to the WNBA Finals in her first year. Facing the Indiana Fever, with the series tied 2–2 in the decisive Game 5, the new arrival proved to be relentless, scoring 20 points along with 11 rebounds in a 69–52 victory. Thanks to her effort, Fowles was named the WNBA Finals MVP. In 2017, she followed that up by being named the league MVP, averaging 17.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as the Lynx went on to win their second title in three years. She earned another Finals MVP honor to boot. Fowles first secured WNBA Finals glory in 2015, soon after joining the LynxGetty She won the Finals again in 2017 as Minnesota’s dominance continuedGetty Five years later, Fowles called it quits after 14 seasons in the WNBA, retiring a two-time champion with eight All-Star appearances and four Defensive Player of the Year awards to her name. She also won four Olympic gold medals with the United States women’s team, who are seen as even more dominant than LeBron James’ Paris squad and Michael Jordan’s Dream Team. Thanks to a lengthy WNBA stint, as well as a run with the national team, she retired having achieved almost everything there is to do in basketball. But rather than taking things easy after stepping away from the court, she set her sights on a new career. Having had a fascination with death from a young age, Fowles spent years studying mortuary science, while also working part-time in funeral homes in Minneapolis and her hometown of Miami. She did so every week during her 2017 MVP season, ensuring a smooth transition into her next profession. As well as dominating the WNBA, Fowles also won four gold medals with the US Olympic teamGetty “My life is not basketball,” Fowles told ESPN back in 2022, ahead of her retirement. “It’s just something I do.” At the time of her retirement, Fowles had been studying for seven years, majoring in mortuary science at the American Academy McAllister Institute, where she had online studies in embalming, cremation, and funeral directing. “I feel like the main reason people are so scared of death is a lack of education,” she revealed three years ago. “The human body is fascinating. To see it when it’s open, like when it comes from a coroner, and to see the fluid get pushed through the arteries, like to actually push out the blood, I think is one of the most fascinating things. “You can read about it in a book, but to actually visualize it, is fascinating.” A soon-to-be Naismith Hall of Famer taking on a career in mortuary science is certainly unique. But death is something Fowles has been interested in since she was a child. Fowles has previously revealed she has been fascinated by death since childhoodGetty “I’ve been fascinated with death as far back as I can remember,” she told ESPN. “Even as a kid, I was curious about it. Where do we go when we leave here? When you die, what happens to you? “Americans don’t talk about it enough. When I go to Europe and play, everyone has plans set in place (for when they die). It’s so open. “I just want to be an advocate for it.” Fowles has encouraged Americans to be more open in conversations around deathGetty While Fowles planned for life after the WNBA — which has now become hotter than the NBA — with her study of mortuary science, she also has an idea about what will happen when her own time comes. “I’ve thought about it plenty of times, even before I started working at a funeral home,” the basketball icon said. “I would love to be cremated, if my kids wanted, and if they don’t I would like to donate my body to science.
Sylvia Fowles will enter the basketball Hall of Fame after forging a rather unique second career path.
Having stepped away from the WNBA back in 2022 after a 14-year run, the legendary center will be enshrined on June 14 in Knoxville, Tennessee, as part of a star-studded 2025 class.
And there are few players more worthy of that honor, given all she achieved on the court.
Drafted to the Chicago Sky as the second overall pick in 2008, Fowles went on to be named a three-time WNBA All-Star with the team, while she also picked up the Defensive Player of the Year award on two separate occasions.
She led the WNBA in blocks in both 2010 and 2011, and made her first career Finals appearance as the Sky advanced through the playoffs in what turned out to be her final season before moving on.
And it was 600 miles north of Chicago where Fowles truly blossomed.
She turned down a contract offer with the Sky in September 2014, and after sitting out the first half of the 2015 season, she was traded to the Minnesota Lynx in July.
By joining forces with Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen, Fowles helped turn the Lynx into a Western Conference powerhouse, which advanced all the way to the WNBA Finals in her first year.
Facing the Indiana Fever, with the series tied 2–2 in the decisive Game 5, the new arrival proved to be relentless, scoring 20 points along with 11 rebounds in a 69–52 victory.
Thanks to her effort, Fowles was named the WNBA Finals MVP.
In 2017, she followed that up by being named the league MVP, averaging 17.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as the Lynx went on to win their second title in three years.
She earned another Finals MVP honor to boot.
Five years later, Fowles called it quits after 14 seasons in the WNBA, retiring a two-time champion with eight All-Star appearances and four Defensive Player of the Year awards to her name.
She also won four Olympic gold medals with the United States women’s team, who are seen as even more dominant than LeBron James’ Paris squad and Michael Jordan’s Dream Team.
Thanks to a lengthy WNBA stint, as well as a run with the national team, she retired having achieved almost everything there is to do in basketball.
But rather than taking things easy after stepping away from the court, she set her sights on a new career.
Having had a fascination with death from a young age, Fowles spent years studying mortuary science, while also working part-time in funeral homes in Minneapolis and her hometown of Miami.
She did so every week during her 2017 MVP season, ensuring a smooth transition into her next profession.
“My life is not basketball,” Fowles told ESPN back in 2022, ahead of her retirement.
“It’s just something I do.”
At the time of her retirement, Fowles had been studying for seven years, majoring in mortuary science at the American Academy McAllister Institute, where she had online studies in embalming, cremation, and funeral directing.
“I feel like the main reason people are so scared of death is a lack of education,” she revealed three years ago.
“The human body is fascinating. To see it when it’s open, like when it comes from a coroner, and to see the fluid get pushed through the arteries, like to actually push out the blood, I think is one of the most fascinating things.
“You can read about it in a book, but to actually visualize it, is fascinating.”
A soon-to-be Naismith Hall of Famer taking on a career in mortuary science is certainly unique.
But death is something Fowles has been interested in since she was a child.
“I’ve been fascinated with death as far back as I can remember,” she told ESPN.
“Even as a kid, I was curious about it. Where do we go when we leave here? When you die, what happens to you?
“Americans don’t talk about it enough. When I go to Europe and play, everyone has plans set in place (for when they die). It’s so open.
“I just want to be an advocate for it.”
While Fowles planned for life after the WNBA — which has now become hotter than the NBA — with her study of mortuary science, she also has an idea about what will happen when her own time comes.
“I’ve thought about it plenty of times, even before I started working at a funeral home,” the basketball icon said.
“I would love to be cremated, if my kids wanted, and if they don’t I would like to donate my body to science.
“Maybe I’d want to be turned into a coral reef, because I love the beach.
“I figure somebody can do some good with this body.”
