Nneka Ogwumike is a WNBA MVP, a champion, a 10-time All-Star, and a member of the 25th Anniversary Team, but her impact is not limited to the basketball court. Off the court, she is the president of the WNBPA Executive Committee and a voice for the players amid a key moment in women’s basketball and women’s sports in general. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne believes that she could eventually decide the outcome of the CBA negotiations.
When Shelburne appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, she was asked who she thought could get the negotiations to settle down.
“To me, it’s Nneka Ogwumike,” Shelburne said. “She’s been the head of the players association for a very long time, and she’s very well respected in the game and by the league office. She’s been doing a lot of podcasts, she’s been saying what she wants, but I think there might be a point when Nneka gets in a room with Cathy Engelbert or maybe even Adam Silver, and they hash things out or something to that effect because she has a pretty clear idea of what the players are asking for that’s not being met. At some points, that’s probably going to be where we land.”
Nneka Ogwumike called out the league’s lack of urgency recently
The WNBPA is no stranger to calling out league officials. When her season ended with a serious injury and a controversial no-call, Napheesa Collier called Cathy Engelbert “the worst leadership in the world” in a fiery exit interview that shed light on the deep divide between the players and the Commissioner.
Nneka Ogwumike also hasn’t been shy about calling out the league during the negotiations—including Adam Silver. Silver said during the NBA All-Star weekend that he wanted both sides to operate with more urgency. Ogwumike shot those comments down by making it very clear that only the league didn’t have the right sense of urgency. After all, the league took six weeks to respond to one of the players’ proposals.
She also noted that the negotiations were rather one-sided because the players were willing to make concessions, but the league wasn’t—at least not where it mattered. The two sides are still not on the same page when it comes to revenue shares, and neither party wants to budge.
On the bright side, at least the WNBA and the WNBPA are exchanging proposals now instead of continuing the stalemate that defined the beginning of the year. They may not have bridged the gap quite yet, but at least there is movement.