Chiney Ogwumike's Winning Character Shaped By Relationship With Sister Nneka
With Round 2 of the Ogwumike battle about to commence, Chiney Ogwumike confidently moved through the Connecticut Sun layup line, as her best friend and older sister, Nneka, stretched at midcourt. More important than a matchup of star siblings, it would be a game between two teams desperately fighting for playoff berths.
A few hours later, 22-year-old Chiney was finished carrying a young team on her back for 37-plus minutes. Despite the rookie’s brilliance, especially in the second half where she scored 17 points, her inexperienced squad squandered a six-point lead with 29.8 seconds left, only to lose by a single point. The Connecticut Sun forward recorded her 13th double-double (23 points, 12 rebounds) of the season, good for third in the league, yet still came away unsatisfied.
“Ugh, I just want to punch her in the face right now,” Chiney joked after the loss, referring to her sister Nneka.
She vented with a smile on her face, but wasn’t able to hide an underlying sense of exasperation. Read more >>
2014 LA Sparks Season Preview: The Quest for a Title
Last postseason ended in heartbreak, as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner’s late turnaround jumper over Candace Parker sent the Sparks into an early offseason. In a decisive Game 3, they had lost by a single point on their home court, losing the chance for a Western Conference Finals rematch with the Minnesota Lynx.
It represented the second straight year, in which the Sparks finished 24-10 but failed to emerge from the West and make the WNBA Finals. In 2012, the Lynx similarly eliminated the Sparks by one point at Staples Center.
“To me as a coach,” said Sparks head coach Carol Ross, “I think heartbreakers are always the ones that stick with you the longest, and they have the greatest lessons to be learned.”
In sports, as tough as the defeat(s) may be, typically you have a chance for redemption, a chance to grow from your past failures. Well, the LA Sparks almost didn’t get that chance, at least in Los Angeles.
In December, Sparks owner Paula Madison notified the WNBA that her family could no longer afford to invest in the team. Thus, the WNBA took temporary control of the team. In the ensuing months, it became increasingly likely that the Los Angeles Sparks, one of four still-standing original WNBA franchises, would be bought by the Warriors’ ownership group and moved to the Bay Area.
In early February, however, an investment group led by Lakers legend Magic Johnson and Mark Walter swooped in and saved the day. The team would be remaining in the City of Angels, where it would have more opportunities to compete for titles.
“Magic buys the office lunch all the time,” said Sparks general manager Penny Toler, “and every time he’s getting ready to say his prayer, he’s always like, ‘Penny, the team gotta win, the team gotta win.’” Read more >>
Fire and Ice
Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike Are on Their Way to WNBA Stardom
It’s easy to get overlooked when playing alongside 2013 WNBA MVP Candace Parker, who has been the face of the league since she was drafted first overall in 2008 out of powerhouse Tennessee. While Nneka Ogwumike may not garner the name recognition of, say, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner or Elena Delle Donne—few do—since entering the league two seasons ago, she has undoubtedly morphed into one of its top interior players. The scary part? She may not even be the best player in her family when all is said and done.
Nneka and her younger sister, Chiney, started out as gymnasts. When they grew too tall for the sport—Nneka, 11 years old, and Chiney, 9—their mom’s coworker recommended they try basketball.
Having never played basketball before, both girls were extremely raw. Nneka persevered through the awkwardness and continued practicing with the other players. Her younger sister, however, felt too embarrassed to continue. “I ran away,” Chiney recalled. “I hid in the bathroom for the rest of that practice.”
That entire first year, Chiney would sit in the gym and observe her big sis play the game that gradually became less and less foreign to her. “When we’d go home, Nneka would say, ‘Hey, this is what we learned,’ and she’s showing me.”
Big Sis Arrives
After leading the Stanford Cardinal to four consecutive Final Four appearances, Nneka was taken by the Los Angeles Sparks with their No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft. Less than two months into her inaugural pro season, Nneka grabbed 20 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive glass, in a three-point win over the Fever. Ogwumike earned Rookie of the Year honors, as the Sparks’ winning percentage jumped from .441 before her arrival to .706, third-best in the league. She finished the season with averages of 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals on 53.5 percent shooting.
Following the season, Nneka went to Poland, where she continued to improve her game. In a league that featured 2012 WNBA MVP Tina Charles, Ogwumike led her team to a 23-1 record, while recording a league-high 18.3 points per game. Her dominant play continued throughout the postseason, culminating in a four-game Finals sweep of Charles’ squad.
During the ’12-13 campaign, her second season with the Sparks, Nneka’s scoring and rebounding increased despite a slight decrease in playing time. Most notably, her free-throw and field-goal shooting improved by 9.2 and 3.1 percent, respectively. For her efforts, Nneka made her first WNBA All-Star team and was later invited to train with Team USA this fall. In fact, Chiney was also invited, but chose not to accept in order to focus on academics and preparing for her senior season at Stanford.
Chiney’s Turn
Connecticut and Notre Dame came calling, among other schools, but Chiney decided to follow her older sister to Stanford, where the two would play together for a couple seasons. Just nine years after having been terrified to even step foot on to a basketball court, Chiney posted 11.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a freshman. Boasting a pair of Ogwumike sisters, the Cardinal came within one point of playing in the 2011 National Championship game.
After Nneka graduated, Chiney was left without her sister, whom she relied upon heavily.
“Chiney was hit with that reality of, ‘Ok, I’ve got to take care of myself,’” said her mother, Ify. “It was tough for her for a little while ’til she got her bearings. She lost a lot of weight, because she didn’t know how to think about food. Nneka just took care of her [while at Stanford].”
If she had a frustration or something she wanted to discuss, Chiney could no longer leave her dorm to quickly find her trusty older sister. At the same time, Nneka’s departure forced Chiney to take responsibility for herself, both on the off the court.
“Her not being around has helped me mature and that helps me mature on the court as a player,” said Chiney. “I would always think to myself, What would Nneka do? What would Nneka do in this situation?”
In Chiney’s first season without Nneka, her junior year, she averaged 22.4 points and 12.9 rebounds per game, ranking her in the top seven nationwide in each category. She also managed to record 1.7 blocks per contest. Despite her phenomenal individual contributions, Georgia upset Stanford in the 2013 Sweet 16.
A year later, Chiney looks forward to her senior season, where she hopes to bring the Cardinal a National Championship, something her older sister couldn’t accomplish. She says she’s getting stronger and has been working on her perimeter skills, such as ball handling and developing her outside shot.
Read more >>
Fallen Soldier
Jacki Gemelos Keeps Fighting Despite Five ACL Surgeries
This motivational William Quigley painting hangs in Gautier’s office; Gemelos keeps getting up. (Aaron Fischman/Slam Online)
At halftime of a Sacramento Monarchs game, 11-year-old Jacki Gemelos was asked to make six free throws in less than a minute. She missed her first shot, but calmly proceeded to swish the next six.
By the time she was 15, Gemelos had already committed to the University of Connecticut, the powerhouse school for which her favorite player, Diana Taurasi, played at the time.
As she prepared to enter college in 2006, Gemelos was nationally ranked as the No. 1 women’s basketball player in her class.
But ever since the final game of her McDonald’s All-American senior year at St. Mary’s (CA)—a season in which she averaged 39.2 points and 8.9 assists per game—her once-expectedly smooth path to the WNBA has become riddled with obstacles.
Seven years and five ACL surgeries later, including three surgeries to her left knee, she still hasn’t played a single WNBA game. Read more >>
Cassie Harberts Emerges Stronger Than Ever Despite USC's Miserable Season
Two seasons ago, Southern California’s women’s basketball team came within one win from claiming a WNIT championship.
Only two players remain from that team: Cassie Harberts and Christina Marinacci.
Fast forward more than three years later, and the Women of Troy are struggling mightily. Harberts is far and away the team’s best player, but USC cannot buy a win.
Despite the massive frustrations of a 9-19 season, the long, difficult journey has enabled Harberts to take immense strides in her development as a player and person. The team has relied upon the 6-foot-2 junior much more heavily than anticipated, and the experience has made her stronger than ever.
When Michael Cooper was named USC’s head basketball coach on May 1, 2009, he quickly set his sights on securing Harberts’ presence on his new team. As a high school junior, Harberts had originally committed to USC earlier that spring, but decided to re-open her commitment after Mark Trakh, USC’s former coach, resigned. Read more >>
Milton-Jones and Ross Reunited by Basketball
On a hot Sunday afternoon in July, Los Angeles Sparks forward DeLisha Milton-Jones relished in shooting around with her teammates. The one they call “Sunshine” was about to make her 400th career WNBA start, but it was business as usual for the 37-year-old forward, who smiled before every one of her previous 399 starts.
Since Milton-Jones played her first professional game more than 15 years ago, she’s built an impressive resume: Two WNBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, three WNBA All-Star selections, two FIBA gold medals and the list goes on.
But long before any of these accolades, current Sparks head coach Carol Ross recognized something special in young Delisha Milton (before she got married and added “Jones” to her name) more than 20 years ago.
Ross, who was then the head women’s coach at the University of Florida, had already developed a relationship with the lanky 17-year-old over the phone, but the two had never met.
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