DALLAS, TX – The Los Angeles Sparks (8-11) gained their 500th win by defeating the Dallas Wings (9-12) on Friday night 97-89. It was a win on the road in Nneka Ogwumike’s hometown where she put up 21 points. With a crowd that absolutely hates Liz Cambage, but had no choice but to watch her put up a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. What more could interim head coach Fred Williams ask for. Oh yeah, a team that follows directions.
If you listen closely you can hear the team staying in constant communication with each other on the floor. That is by design.
Williams says, “If you’re not talking, you’re not playing defense.” Something he picked up from Doc Rivers.
Not only did the team follow the vocal directive they followed the assisting directive as well. Coach Fred wanted the team to have at least 23 assists per game. They did him one better and put up 24, seven of which came from veteran guard Kristi Toliver.
It was a fantastic game to watch. Thankfully, because the game was shown on CBS, it was easy to watch. That is not always the case. Fans across the league have complained at length about the difficulties of watching WNBA games, and the limited number of games that are available after you pay for League Pass.
Yet during every commercial break, ads encouraged fans to watch all women’s sports. Aside from the ads having a “preaching to the choir” feel, they hit home on a reoccurring theme. The WNBA and all women’s sports need more attention. So why not take the opportunity to ask Ogwumike how we as media can be advocates for shining a light on the women in the WNBA. Her answer was detailed and well thought out.
She stressed the importance of beat reporters saying, “I’ve been on this team when no one was coming. Then we won and all of a sudden we had people that were covering us that knew nothing about the players on our team.”
“It shouldn’t be so damn hard to find our games,” she continued. That is an ongoing problem even for media as we do not travel with the team. What really stood out is Ogwumike’s understanding that Black Media matters yet is often overlooked.
“Having people who look like the majority of this league telling the stories of the women of this league is very important,” Ogwumike said.
It’s an important point and is a point that we as journalists have questioned time and time again. For example, we have a league where Sue Bird, who has won four WNBA titles, but never an MVP is getting all the shine on her retirement tour. However, Sylvia Fowles, who has won two championships, the 2017 league MVP, and a two-time finals MVP, has only received praise from a few teams, but nothing close to what the WNBA is giving Bird.
Why is that? Could it be that not enough people who look like Fowles are telling the stories of the WNBA? Or perhaps not enough in the WNBA head office?
It’s a problem every professional league faces. However, it is rare that you hear one of the faces of the league address such an issue publicly.
This is what makes Ogwumike a total package star and an asset for the Sparks, the team she plans on staying with for the duration of her WNBA career.
