Los Angeles Sparks of the USA women’s basketball club’s Nigerian-born star, Nneka Ogwumike, is bowing out of the game on a high, with another prestigious award now resting firmly in her grip, Sports247 reports.
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The latest individual laurel picked up by the lady of multiple honours in the USA’s Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has come just two months after she announced her impending retirement from the beautiful game
With her departure fixed for the end of the WNBA’s ongoing season, nothing much was expected from Ogwumike, but she has pulled off a stunning swansong in being named winner of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award.
En route to clinching the gong, Ogwumike got 38 votes, while the next closest to her was Rebecca Allen of the New York Liberty, who had seven votes, making it the fifth time the Nigerian-born former US international will win the award.
It also marks the second time during Ogwumike’s illustrious career that she has won the award in back-to-back seasons, with her previous three conquests having all come in consecutive years, from 2019 to 2021.
This time out, the 2026 award is a final splash of honour for the ever impressive Ogwumike, who has 11 WNBA All-Star appearances, eight All-WNBA appearances, seven All-Defensive selections, a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP award, one WNBA championship and epochal recognition on the W25.
The 36-year-old veteran also gained lots of respect as the president of USA’s Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) since 2016 and was in the midst of yet another All-Star year when she announced in August that the 2026 season would be her last.
Sparks responded to that news by naming a spot inside the team’s new practice facility after Ogwumike and, while they could not win the title in her last campaign, her latest award gives her a huge sendforth recognition, as she calls time of a very illustrious career.
