Sylvia Fowles Expected to Join Portland Fire as Assistant Coach
Fowles won four Defensive Player of the Year awards and and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2025.
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As the WNBA and players' union continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, the Portland Fire are continuing to fill out their basketball staff ahead of their inaugural expansion season. Sylvia Fowles, a former league MVP, four-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time champion and newly minted Hall of Famer, is expected to join Alex Sarama's staff as an assistant coach, a league source confirmed. ESPN first reported the news on Wednesday.
Fowles would be Sarama's second assistant coaching hire after Brittni Donaldson, the longtime NBA coach who joined the Fire last month in dual roles as an assistant coach and assistant general manager. There could potentially be one more coaching hire after Fowles is finalized—WNBA staffs are allowed to have up to two assistant coaches, plus a third if it's a former WNBA player, a box Fowles would check.
Once official, Fowles would be, by far, the biggest name to join the brand-new Fire organization. One of the greatest and most decorated players in the history of women's basketball, she played 14 seasons in the WNBA from 2008 to 2022, six with the Chicago Sky and eight with the Minnesota Lynx, winning league MVP in 2017. Along with Maya Moore and Seimone Augustus, Fowles led the Lynx to WNBA titles in 2015 and 2017, winning Finals MVP both years. She made eight All-Star teams, eight All-WNBA teams, eight All-Defensive teams, won four Olympic gold medals with Team USA and four WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was inducted into both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year.
While Fowles does not have any high-level coaching experience, she is one of the most respected and accomplished players in WNBA history and her presence would alleviate concerns about Sarama's lack of experience in the league.
The expected addition of Fowles would bring the total number of basketball hires for the Fire to five, joining Sarama, Donaldson, general manager Vanja Černivec and VP of basketball operations Ashley Battle. Given the uncertainty around the CBA negotiations, there is still no official word on a date or rules for the Fire's expansion draft. The current CBA is set to expire on Jan. 9 after the league and players' union agreed to a six-week extension on the Nov. 30 deadline.
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