When Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike first announced her retirement plans back in mid-August, it seemed like it was so far away. But that moment has finally arrived as the Sparks face off against the Golden State Valkyries in their season finale on Thursday. Ogwumike has touched each player on the Sparks’ roster, but her lasting impact has arguably had the most effect on fellow Stanford alum Cameron Brink.
Throughout this season, Cameron Brink has spoken glowingly of her relationship with Nneka Ogwumike and how the Sparks star has helped her navigate the early years of her WNBA career. It hasn’t been easy for the former No. 2 overall pick as she’s battled various injury ailments, including an ACL tear that cut her rookie year short.
But this season in particular, Brink has embraced having Ogwumike alongside her on the court, in the locker room, on the bench and her presence is not going to easily replaceable next year.
“She’s the absolute best, I say it all the time. She’s just so wise and always brings a new angle to everything,” Brink told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “Just when we’re walking through plays, she’s just bringing us together and reminding us of what the point is of whatever we’re doing. She organizes all of us together. She’s the best and I’m gonna miss playing with her so much.”
Ogwumike will head off into the sunset as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, having surpassed Lisa Leslie this season. She is also the Sparks all-time leader in field goals made, third on the WNBA’s all-time rebounds list and fourth in all-time steals.
She was the 2012 Rookie of the Year, the 2016 MVP, the same season she helped the Sparks break a 14-year championship drought and a nine-time All-Star in her 13 seasons with the franchise. Brink and the rest of her teammates have mentioned what they expect of themselves to help send Ogwumike off in style, but for Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, all she wants for the former No. 1 overall pick to end the season is to simply have fun.
“I want to see her have joy playing. She’s put so much into this game, to this franchise. This season has not been what any of us expected for a myriad of reasons, but Nneka has shown up the same way every day and has been that leader, the same everyday competitor,” Roberts said following Sparks’ practice on Sept. 19. “I’m hoping that we can give her opportunities to enjoy it. She’s being intentional with taking it in, this kind of swan song down the stretch. So I want her to have fun. I want her to have joy being out there.
Article Continues Below“I asked her, ‘what’s the one thing you’ll miss most?’ And she just said, ‘teammates, being part of the team.’ She’s still gonna play Project B so she’s not totally done, but she’s done with the W. It’s different, and so I want her to enjoy it and have some joy with that.”
In her swan season, Ogwumike has averaged 17.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 51.7 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from the 3-point line and 86.1 percent from the free-throw line. She racked up her 11th All-Star selection in 15 years and is clearly still playing at an elite level.
When she’s eligible, she’ll no doubt be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection and she’ll eventually have her jersey retired by the Sparks and a statue outside the arena. But perhaps the most Hall of Fame quality she possesses is her humility.
Throughout this year, with each record she broke or each milestone she reached, it was always about the team. It was never about her individual greatness. Which is why she honestly could not say what her lasting legacy will be in the WNBA. She’ll leave that to others to determine.
“I think because people ask me about it, especially since my announcement, I do reflect on it a bit. I think the more I get asked about it, the more I think that I can’t necessarily determine what that is in the same way where we experience Lisa [Leslie] today,” Ogwumike said following the franchise’s statue honor for Leslie this past Sunday.
“Like we could come out and say this is Lisa’s legacy, but her legacy was all of us here, everybody that was celebrating her. To me, that’s what legacy is … that type of bloodline that withstands the test of time. So maybe in another 15 years we’ll know what that is for me.”