Sparks star Ogwumike made the most of 2020

LOS ANGELES — So that was why Chiney Ogwumike’s phone was buzzing.

After serving as a poll worker on election day in her hometown of Houston, the Sparks forward settled in front of the TV with her parents and uncle. She watched CNN’S coverage of the election and scrolled through her notifications, the ones she heard buzzing but couldn’t check while on duty. Her friends were texting her about what happened on Twitter. She thought it was fake.

Now, she realized, Barack Obama was really in her mentions.

“Thank you,” he wrote, retweeting a photo Ogwumike had posted of herself and older sister Nneka outside the Toyota Center, where they’d worked as election clerks. The former president lauded Chiney and her sister “and all of the athletes who are using their platforms and helping people vote in this election.”

What was already “one of the best days ever” for Ogwumike got even better.

“We grind in the darkness hoping that our hard work will come to light,” Ogwumike said recently. “I feel like I’m fortunate that this year there’s been a light shone on my work.”

Ogwumike didn’t need basketball to make 2020 one of her most successful years yet. After previous injuries kept her from participating in the WNBA’S bubbled season, the 28-year-old expanded her role in media, becoming the first Black woman to co-host a national ESPN radio show, and grew into a prominent advocate for social justice. The off-court influence earned her a spot on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.

When the year began, Ogwumike had every intention of making her mark on the court with the Sparks. That was her main reason for coming to Los Angeles in 2019 from Connecticut, where she was drafted first overall by the Sun in 2014. She wanted to win a championship with Nneka, who plays for the Sparks and helped the team to its 2016 WNBA title.

But the coronavirus outbreak spoiled that dream for Ogwumike, like it did the plans of many others, as the WNBA moved its season into a bubble at IMG Academy in Florida. The WNBA players association, for which Ogwumike serves as a vice president, negotiates the details of the season. Ogwumike did so knowing she likely wouldn’t participate.

After undergoing microfracture surgery in 2015 and tearing an Achilles tendon in 2017, the two-time All-star needs eight weeks of practice to get in shape to enter training camp. The pandemic allowed players only three. Ogwumike, who averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds during her first season with the Sparks, chose her longterm playing career over the immediate desire to help the title-contending Sparks in the “Wubble.”

“It was heartbreaking for me,” Ogwumike said.

The stress of watching games from afar is much worse than being on the court, Ogwumike said. She knows her energy could have helped the Sparks, who were upset in the second round of the playoffs. Yet she found an equally important role outside the bubble.

As players dedicated the season to the #Sayhername movement, Ogwumike amplified the message through appearances on ESPN and her radio show, “Chiney and Golic Jr.” One day after the WNBA postponed play to protest the shooting of Jacob

Let Them Play because of our objective to find solutions for getting families and kids back into activities while still having kindness and respect for one another,” Gillman said.

That doesn’t change her side’s desires to see kids return to school and sports despite the objections of government agencies.

A little more than one week ago, a federal judge denied a legal challenge by Let Them Play Minnesota, which claimed its inability to gather on the State Capitol grounds for a protest of Gov. Walz’s pause on youth sports violated its First Amendment rights.

Demmer, the U epidemiologist who is also a sports parent, said relief is in sight. He hopes groups such as Let Them Play Minnesota keeps their demands in perspective.

“Right now, the context is that there is real hope for vaccines and for kids to hopefully be doing normal things within months,” Demmer said. “I would hope that changes a little bit the perspective of people who are champing at the bit and saying that we need to get back to normal tomorrow.”