On Thursday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, women’s basketball legend Nneka Ogwumike will play her final WNBA game against the Golden State Valkyries. Ahead of the matchup between the Sparks and the Valkyries, which will also be their final game of the season, the WNBA has already paid tribute.
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Highlighting the best moments of Ogwumike’s 15-year career, the official WNBA handle on X posted a nearly three-minute video on her WNBA journey.
“Nneka Ogwumike impacted the game year in and year out and tonight, we say farewell to one of the greats,” the league wrote in its caption.
The 36-year-old has done it all and won it all. Ogwumike’s hype was highly anticipated as soon as she entered the league as the No. 1 overall draft pick. The once-young sensation is now leaving the WNBA as a bona fide legend, and Ogwumike only feels gratitude on her way out of the league.
“I’m mostly grateful. I haven’t really been thinking much else besides just being grateful for the opportunity to have had a 15-year career in the WNBA and also to finish in a Sparks jersey,” Ogwumike said via the Los Angeles Times.
“It feels freeing. It feels like there’s a level of autonomy that I’m able to have, and I’m very happy about that.”
It did not take the No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 WNBA draft much time to prove her impact on the Sparks. Ogwumike won Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Four years later, she was already at the top of the WNBA mountain after leading the Sparks to their third championship glory as the league MVP.
While that would be her one and only WNBA championship in her career, Ogwumike did not stop trespassing into the territory of the legends as her career progressed. Gradually, she became one herself, and one look at her career statistics will tell the whole story.
On Thursday night, Ogwumike will finish her WNBA career as the fourth all-time top scorer with 8,013 points and counting. She is only surpassed by Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, and DeWanna Bonner. Moreover, Ogwumike ranks third all-time in rebounds with 3,571 and fourth in steals with 717.
And while Ogwumike is 36, that did not stop her from producing one final elite season for the Sparks. Ogwumike is currently averaging 17.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 51.7% shooting from the field.
Such performances demand attention, which they received on July 17, when Ogwumike passed Lisa Leslie to become the Sparks’ all-time leading scorer. Leslie received her statue recently, so it would be fair to assume Ogwumike is the next in line.
In her 15-year WNBA career, Ogwumike did have a short stint with the Seattle Storm. But the Sparks have always been her home, and Ogwumike’s return to Los Angeles signaled her hanging up her boots where it all began.
“This is where it all started [for me]. So very happy to be able to share this time, both the beginning and the end of my career in L.A., and I had a majority of my career playing for this organization, so it really does mean a lot to be able to finish in it as well.”
We can expect another fine performance from Nneka Ogwumike in the final game of her WNBA career. However, standing in front of them are the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries, who will be aiming for a season sweep against the Sparks after defeating them 84-78 and 78-58.
But regardless of the result, Thursday night will be all about Nneka Ogwumike leaving behind one of the greatest legacies in the WNBA. She will still be featured in the new Project B league next year, but nothing will ever top the everlasting impact she has left on the Los Angeles Sparks and the league as a whole.