Nneka Ogwumike to retire from WNBA after 2026 season
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- Nneka Ogwumike announced she will retire from the WNBA at the end of the 2026 season, her 15th year in the league, with nine games remaining on the Sparks' schedule.
- Drafted No. 1 overall by the Sparks in 2012, she won Rookie of the Year and later captured MVP and a championship with the franchise in 2016.
- The 36-year-old forward ranks fourth on the WNBA's all-time scoring list (7,879 points), third in rebounds (3,565) and seventh in steals (707), and is an 11-time All-Star.
- After two seasons with the Seattle Storm, Ogwumike returned to the Sparks on a one-year, $950,000 free-agent deal; her final WNBA game is set for Sept. 24 vs. the Valkyries.
- As WNBPA president since 2016, Ogwumike helped negotiate the March 2026 CBA that raised the league's salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million overnight.
- Ogwumike plans to continue playing in Project B's inaugural season, slated for January 2027, a startup league that has drawn scrutiny for its ties to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and offers players ownership stakes.
Why it matters: Ogwumike's exit removes one of the WNBA's most decorated players and its most powerful union leader simultaneously — the same leader who just delivered a near-fivefold salary cap increase — while her jump to a Saudi-backed rival league with player ownership stakes highlights the leverage the WNBPA's recent gains have yet to fully address.
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