Nneka Ogwumike Makes History in Front of WNBA Legends
On the 30th anniversary of the WNBA's first game, Nneka Ogwumike hit a buzzer-beating three to lift the Sparks over the Liberty 98-97. The moment was bigger than basketball.
LOS ANGELES — Nneka Ogwumike couldn't hold back the tears on the ESPN broadcast after the final buzzer. That was understandable. What had just happened was a lot to absorb in real time.
With no time remaining and the Sparks down two, Erica Wheeler drove the length of the floor and found Ogwumike at the arc. The shot went in. Los Angeles 98, New York 97. The crowd of 18,043 at Crypto.com Arena went wild, and Ogwumike stood there, overwhelmed, trying to find the words for what she had just been part of.
"It's emotional seeing all of these legends in the building," Ogwumike said. "People who didn't get paid their value, and they're still coming here and supporting us. I'm so grateful."
The game was played on June 21, the 30th anniversary of the WNBA's first game. That game was also Sparks vs. Liberty, played at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. The Liberty won, 67-57. Lisa Leslie was on the floor for that one. On Sunday night she was in the stands, watching Ogwumike finish it from the wing.
The symmetry wasn't lost on anyone in the building, and it wasn't lost on Ogwumike either. She is the fourth-leading scorer in WNBA history. She negotiated the last two collective bargaining agreements as players' union president. She spent two seasons in Seattle before returning to Los Angeles this year, and on the night the league gathered to honor what the first generation built, she hit the shot that sent everyone home.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said what most people in the locker room were already thinking. "Everyone in our room wouldn't have picked another person to hit that shot," she said. "What Nneka has done for the league, especially recently with getting that new CBA done, it's powerful when you think about it. You couldn't have scripted it any better."
Before the game, DeLisha Milton-Jones spoke about Ogwumike's role in securing the new labor deal for players who came before the current generation. "She thinks beyond herself," Milton-Jones said. "She thinks of those who came before her, the moment she's in, and even for the future."
That was before the game. Before the comeback. Before any of it.
The Sparks trailed by 17 in the third quarter. They had won two of eight home games entering Sunday. For a stretch it looked like the same team that had been struggling on its own floor all season. Then they outscored New York 48-30 over the final 17 minutes, controlled the glass, and limited turnovers to make it a game. Ogwumike scored nine straight points in the fourth quarter before the final three.
Leslie had said before tip-off that home wins need to matter for this franchise. "People are sacrificing right now to buy a ticket to come to this arena," she said. "Every win matters, and people appreciate seeing the effort."
The Sparks gave them something to appreciate.
The team is still chasing a playoff spot, still working to close the gap between the franchise's legacy and its current standing. Roberts knows it. The players know it. The legends who came into the building Sunday know it better than anyone.
But thirty years ago on this date, the Sparks lost the first game this league ever played. On Sunday night, with the women who built that league watching from the seats, Ogwumike caught the ball, let it go, and gave the next thirty years its opening moment.