NEW YORK – Minnesota Lynx center Sylvia Fowles has been named the recipient of the 2022 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, the WNBA announced today. Fowles is a first-time recipient of the award.
The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is presented each season to a player who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, including ethical behavior, fair play and integrity. The award is named for the late Kim Perrot, who helped guide the Houston Comets to their first two WNBA championships before passing away in August 1999 after a seven-month battle with cancer.
Fowles, who earns the honor in the final season of her illustrious 15-year WNBA career, received 36 votes from a national panel of 56 sportswriters and broadcasters. Seattle Storm guard Brian January, also in her last season in the WNBA, finished second with eight votes. Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, a three-time recipient of the award, each received three votes. Rounding out the voting were Washington Mystics forward Alysha Clark and Phoenix Mercury guard Shey Peddy, each of whom received two votes, and Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson with one vote each.
An iconic WNBA figure, Fowles concludes her career as the WNBA’s all-time regular-season leader in total rebounds (4,006) and field goal percentage (.599). A two-time WNBA Champion, four-time Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time All-WNBA selection, seven-time WNBA All-Star, and four-time Olympic gold medalist, she also was named to The W25 in 2021 when the league honored its top 25 WNBA players of all time during the league’s 25th season.
Admired not just for her on-court accomplishments and leadership, Fowles also has made her mark in the communities in which she has lived as a student, mentor, founder, and spokesperson who inspires young women and men, and consistently gives back. Fowles founded the Sylvia Fowles Family Fund in 2010 to help children in need in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Chicago and Miami and is a spokesperson for the Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), an endeavor close to her heart as she has two nephews afflicted by epilepsy.
Below are the voting results for the 2022 WNBA Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award and a list of all-time winners.