A celebration turned sour for Arike Ogunbowale. The All-Star dropped 19 points for Mist BC in the Unrivaled final to lead them to a championship. When the team stepped out in Miami, a turn of events led to Ogunbowale being in legal trouble. According to the records, the Wings star was charged with misdemeanor battery after punching a man. Two months later, the legal matter has finally come to a conclusion.

The incident allegedly happened at 4:20 a.m. outside of the club. According to the police, the man was “attempting to escort the defendant out of the establishment due to an unrelated altercation.” Ogunbowale “punched him in the face with a closed fist, causing him to fall to the ground.”

Per CBS News, Ogunbowale was released on a $1,000 bond that same afternoon but the legal matter continued. Now, the charges have been dropped and Ogunbowale is out of the woods. 

“We are pleased that the State Attorney’s Office has exercised its discretion and elected not to move forward with this matter,” Ogunbowale’s attorney, Mitch Schuster of Meister Seelig & Schuster, told ESPN. “Ms. Ogunbowale is a person of outstanding character, and we are excited that these charges have been dismissed so she can resume her focus on her professional career.”

Ogunbowale can heave a sigh of relief, as an unfavorable verdict here could have thrown her WNBA career in chaos. The league has a history of issuing suspensions on guilty rulings. For example, Brittney Griner was suspended for 20 percent of her 34-game season following her arrest in a domestic violence incident in 2015. Griner’s wife, Glory Johnson, of the Tulsa Shock was arrested too and received the same suspension. 

In a more recent case, Courtney Williams and Crystal Bradford were charged and were suspended for 2 and 1 games respectively for their roles in a brawl outside of an Atlanta club in a video that went viral on social media. Same fate could have awaited Arike Ogunbowale. However, with this outcome, she can continue her WNBA career without any target on her back. While the legal matter is now behind her, Ogunbowale’s focus quickly shifts back to basketball, and the championship aspirations that shaped her latest contract decision

Arike Ogunbowale Breaks Silence on Passing Up the Supermax 

It’s time to cash in for the WNBA. Arike Ogunbowale wanted more zeroes on her paycheck last year and she got them. Ogunbowale signed a 2-year, $2,439,500 contract with the Dallas Wings, including $2,439,500 guaranteed and an average annual salary of $1,219,750. However, that’s nowhere near the maximum she could have gotten. She left almost $300,000 on the table with the supermax at $1.5 million in the new CBA. The reason? Building a championship-caliber team. 

“God has blessed me with a good amount of money outside the court, and I knew that in order to win here, you have to take less. All the greats have done it. Vegas wouldn’t be where they are if people didn’t take less. New York has had to do the same,” Ogunbowale said. “It was a no-brainer for me to do that to get great players like Lan.”

This also showed her commitment to the Wings. Last year, she was rumored to move on from the franchise in search of a better fit. the Paige Bueckers-Ogunbowale connection did not work very well, as the Wings veteran had a career-low season, averaging 15.5 points after previously scoring 18+ points per game. Yet, they are trying again this season and the offseason has been productive for the front office.

The Wings have taken advantage of the extra cap space. They have added Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepherd in free agency while bringing in Awak kuier and Alysah Clark. The Azzi Fudd pick at No. 1 in the draft rounds out an improved on-paper team. Ogunbowale has not played in this new system yet, missing the preseason games with an ankle injury. Yet, she has confirmed that she plans to play in the season opener and will look to blend in as soon as possible.