Basketball legend Sylvia Fowles throws down rare WNBA dunk during final All-Star Game of her career

• WNBA legend Sylvia Fowles threw down a rare WNBA dunk in the final All-Star Game of her career.
• The Minnesota Lynx center and Team Wilson starter rose up for the slam on a second-quarter breakaway.
• Fowles is one of only a handful of players in the history of the WNBA to dunk in a game.

CHICAGO — Superstar Sylvia Fowles made the most of her final WNBA All-Star Game, cementing her illustrious professional basketball career.

The eight-time WNBA All-Star threw down one of just a handful of dunks in league history during the second quarter of Sunday's contest at Chicago's Wintrust Arena. After her Team Wilson teammates pressured the ball handler for a turnover, Fowles collected the loose ball, took a few dribbles towards the far basket, then extended for the sensational slam.

"I just heard the momentum of the crowd," Fowles said during the post-game press conference. "...I was like 'just go for it,' but it was just in the moment. I didn't really think about it."

A SportsCenter tweet captured the exhilarating moment when everyone in the arena, including fellow All-Stars on the floor, went wild after the showy play. 

—SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 10, 2022

Sunday wasn't the first time the Minnesota Lynx center rose up for a dunk. In the final seconds of the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game, hosted in Connecticut, players cleared the way for Fowles to throw one down.

Her dunk in the last All-Star Game of her career was far less of a "gimme."

Fowles —  the WNBA's all-time rebounds leader — announced her retirement at the start of the 2022 season. Fittingly, the women's basketball icon began her WNBA career with the hometown team, the Chicago Sky.

"I don't even remember who I was standing next to, but they were like, 'Uh-oh, is she gonna do it?' and I'm like, 'No, we're old,'" fellow WNBA legend Candace Parker said. "And then... she threw it down and I was like, well, now her nickname is Sylvia 'Tom Brady' Fowles, because now she's gonna come back for another year."

"You can't dunk and then not come back," she added.