Nneka Ogwumike’s petition to play for her native Nigeria in the Tokyo Olympics has been denied.

According to ESPN, sources have said that the denial is due to Ogwumike’s “substantial involvement” of more than 10 years with Team USA.

The Nigerian Basketball Federation filed an appeal to FIBA on behalf of Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams, who was also denied due to her previous involvement with Team USA.

Both Ogwumike and Williams were given consent by USA Basketball to play for Nigeria and paid an administrative fee of $10,000. Both hold Nigerian passports.

Ogwumike is also reportedly exploring her options, including a possible application to the Court of Arbitration in Sport. She originally pursued playing for Nigeria after being snubbed for Team USA and was hoping to play with sisters Chiney and Erica in Tokyo.

USA Basketball has released Nneka Ogwumike, marking the first step in a potential move to the Nigerian Olympic squad.

Nneka, Chiney and Erica Ogwumike have all been named to the 15-person provisional roster for Nigeria, The sisters, whose parents were both born in Nigeria before immigrating to the United States, have dual citizenship.

Nneka and Chiney previously played for the United States in international events, meaning USA Basketball had to approve their release for a switch in eligibility to be considered under FIBA rules.

“For it to happen would be such a blessing. To be able to do something big for a big part of our heritage would be fantastic. I’m hoping it will contribute to the growth we’re experiencing for Africa in basketball,” Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN.

Under FIBA’s current jurisdiction, the secretary general of the country the player wishes to represent may authorize the switch if there is an explicit interest in the growth of basketball in that country. This exception to FIBA’s naturalization rules could bode well for the Ogwumikes.

Nigeria’s 12-person Tokyo roster has yet to be announced.

Candace Parker offered her candid thoughts on USA Basketball following the Chicago Sky’s 92-72 win over the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.

When asked about Nneka Ogwumike being snubbed from Team USA’s Olympics roster, the star forward — who was infamously left off the 2016 team — did not hold back.

“I know there’s a lot of deserving women, but how many times are we going to say something is unfair, right?” Parker said on a media call. “How many times are we going to say that it’s not politics? Like I think we all know that.”

“I hit Nneka. I was like, listen it sucks, it’s unfair, all that blah, blah, blah,” she continued. “You’re one of the greatest. You’re the only MVP not to make an Olympic team, which is bulls***.”

The 12-player team was announced Monday and featured many multi-time Olympians, including Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi who will be playing in their fifth Games.

Ogwumike’s omission took many by surprise, especially considering she is expected to return from injury in early July. The 2016 WNBA MVP has been a member of the national team since 2014 and was their second-leading scorer in 2019-20.

The Nneka Ogwumike–Team USA backlash continues.

Los Angeles Sparks head coach Derek Fisher spoke to reporters on Tuesday, saying that the entire Sparks organization is “pissed” about Ogwumike being left off the Olympics roster.

“I think the thing about Nneka is that nothing has to be given to her,” he said. “She earned it and deserves it.”

The omission of Ogwumike from the 12-player roster has drawn serious criticism, as the star forward was once again left off the team despite becoming one of the best and most recognizable players in the WNBA.

Team USA head coach Dawn Staley mentioned a knee injury Ogwumike suffered earlier this month as part of the reason why Ogwumike was kept off the team.

“I’m calling BS on that too,” Fisher said. “The timeline doesn’t add up for her being unavailable to play in the Olympics. I don’t care what math you use old math, new math. We respect other players, happy for the ones that made it, but there’s no way you can tell me you put a team together and leave Nneka off of it and try to say that it makes sense and that it adds up because it doesn’t.”

He added that it would be “a freaking travesty” if Ogwumike never plays for Team USA in the Olympics.

“She’s always had to be the one to take it on the chin and take the high road… for then the reward to be getting looked over. Again. By the same group of people for the most part,” Fisher said. “I don’t know how you keep taking that on the chin.”

After the Team USA Olympic basketball roster was announced and Nneka Ogwunmike was left off of, people naturally took to Twitter to express their thoughts. 

Sister Chiney expressed her disbelief in a lengthy Twitter post, calling on the selection committee and others to “give her HER respect.”

But perhaps none went in more than Devereaux Peters. The WNBA Champion took to Twitter, calling out USA Basketball for being “fraudulent as hell for eternity” because of how they treat players throughout the process. 

“It’s politics,” she wrote. “It rarely has to do with basketball as much as they try and ‘say’.”

She also called attention to the 2012 team, when six UConn players were named to the roster and had separate team activities. Peters also points to the fact that at that Olympics head coach Geno Auriemma had Candace Parker playing “the bootiest of booty minutes.”

Peters then moved on to the Ogwumike snub, shooting down the arguments USA Basketball has made to defend their roster selections.

“Nneka has been preparing for this for years,” Peters continued. “She is ready. BEEN READY and Y’ALL STEADY PLAYING WITH HER.”

She then calls out the coaching and front office staff on the selection committee, questioning how it’s possible that Ogwumike has not been picked up for the Olympics for the third time in a row.

“It ain’t got s— to do with basketball,” she wrote. “It ain’t got s— to do with waiting you turn, it don’t got s— to do with what’s the right move cuz the reality is 9 times out of 10 whoever you put on that team winning gold.”

With the announcement of the Team USA basketball roster Monday, it was inevitable that somebody great would get left off of the roster. But nobody could quite believe it when none other than Nneka Ogwumike was left off of the Olympic team — again.

Tuesday saw Los Angeles Sparks head coach Derek Fisher speak out in earnest, stating that the Sparks organization is “p—d” about Ogwumike’s omission from the U.S. Olympic Team. He added that it is a “freaking travesty” that she may go her entire career without playing for Team USA in the Olympics.

We’ve seen big players be inexplicably left off the Olympics squad before, most notably Candace Parker in 2016. The difference between CP3 and Nneka? Parker had at least been named to an Olympic team before. On the flip side, Ogwumike has had three different opportunities now to be named to the team and has still yet to receive an Olympics invitation. 

Let’s face it: Ogwumike isn’t just the biggest snub this year. She may be the biggest snub in Team USA basketball history. Here’s why:

1. She’s the only WNBA MVP to have never made an Olympic roster

The former No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year, Ogwumike won MVP in 2016 — another year in which she didn’t make the Olympic roster. The six-time WNBA All-Star was also named to the All-WNBA First Team that year en route to becoming a WNBA Champion with the Los Angeles Sparks. 

Her banner year in 2016 also saw her set several WNBA records, including making 23 straight field goals without a miss through three games. She also set the record for most field goals in a single game without a miss with 12 made field goals against Dallas. 

Ogwumike’s scoring efficiency that year was literally unprecedented — she set the record for highest true shooting percentage (73.7%) for both the WNBA and NBA.

How the forward didn’t make the Olympic team that year is a mystery, and she’s only gotten better since, making this cycle’s snub even more apparent. 

2. She makes an impact every time she plays with Team USA 

It’s not like Ogwumike has never played for Team USA, having been a member of the senior National Team since 2014.

She started off her Team USA career in Argentina in 2008 as a member of the U-18 FIBA America team in Argentina, helping to lead the team to a 5-0 record while leading the squad in scoring and rebounding. There, Ogwumike was named MVP of the tournament. 

The same story unfolded at the U19 World Championship in 2009, where Ogwumike led Team USA in scoring and rebounding and was named tournament MVP. The star has also been part of two World Cup winning teams, in 2014 and 2018. 

More recently, Ogwumike was one of eight players who participated in USA Basketball’s expanded Pre-Olympic Training Program. She is also one of a few players who has attended every Team USA camp in the past five years, which had paid off up until this point: she was second in scoring for Team USA in 2019-20 and was named the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament MVP.

Despite Ogwumike helping Team USA qualify for the Olympics, she still wasn’t included on the final roster. 

3. She’s a leader on and off the court

The leadership that Ogwumike brings cannot be understated. As WNBPA president, Ogwumike has made an outsized impact on the WNBA. During the league’s latest CBA negotiations, Ogwumike helped to negotiate arguably the most impactful CBA in league history. 

As Devereaux Peters put it, Ogwumike “has quite literally changed the face of the league as president of the WNBPA.”

Two months later, Ogwumike and the player’s association helped negotiate the 2020 “wubble” season, making sure that players received their full contracts for the shortened season and playoffs. 

“I have watched Nneka put 144 players first each & every day for YEARS,” sister Chiney wrote on Twitter. “No one practices harder. Plays harder. Cares more. No one is a better teammate or leader.”

“Representation matters and there is no better representative or ambassador for the game THAT HAS GAME than Nnemkadi Ogwumike.”

She’s also brought that leadership with her to Team USA, as coach Dawn Staley told reporters that Ogwumike has been a “great voice” during training camp and practices. 

4. And let’s be honest: Her injury doesn’t seem to be a factor

In talks with reporters, Staley alluded to the notion that Ogwumike’s knee injury was a factor in the decision to keep her off the Olympic team.

“Having to make a decision today,” she said. “If we had to make a decision a month from now, I’m sure she’d be healthy.”

Ogwumike is set to return in early July, more than two weeks before the Olympic basketball tournament begins. Diana Taurasi is also presently injured with a fractured sternum, and yet she was named to the team.

It’s hard to say who should have been left off in Ogwumike’s place. But she’s also too good of a player, both on and off the court, to have been left on the outside looking in (again).

Team USA revealed its 12-player women’s basketball roster for the Tokyo Olympics on Monday morning, and notably absent was Nneka Ogwumike.

Ogwumike went down in early June with a left knee sprain and was expected to return in four to six weeks. The women’s basketball tournament in Tokyo begins July 26, weeks after Ogwumike is expected to return to the WNBA court.

Chiney Ogwumike, who has missed time with an injury of her own, questioned her sister’s snub in a lengthy Twitter post. The Ogwumikes play together for the Los Angeles Sparks.

“I have watched Nneka put 144 players first each & every day for YEARS,” Chiney wrote about her sister, who is the president of the WNBA Players Association. “No one practices harder. Plays harder. Cares more. No one is a better teammate or leader.

“At the end of the day, her timeline worked PERFECTLY to return to play for the Olympics. Just wish that the process operated with the same grade that it has delivered OTHER stars.”

Notably, Diana Taurasi was named to the Olympic team is currently also sidelined with an injury.

Team USA coach Dawn Staley said it “breaks her heart” that Ogwumike was not included on the final Olympic team roster.

Ogwumike is the only season MVP in WNBA history who has not yet been named to an Olympic team. A member of the national team, she was second in scoring for Team USA in 2019-20 and was the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament MVP.

Nneka Ogwuimke has always put in the work. Anyone who has followed the career of the six-time WNBA All Star, 2016 MVP and WNBA Champion knows that Nneka’s game is the epitome of hustle and technique. But in the past couple of years, it’s been her off-court work that has been the most impactful.

As President of the WNBA Players Association, Nneka helped the players sign a historic Collective Bargaining Agreement in early 2020. With a 53% increase in total cash compensation, upgrades to travel and living accommodations, and new maternity/family planning benefits, the deal has been touted as symbolizing “a radical shift” in how our country values women’s sports. For Nneka (aka “Madame President”) the experience of leading the league’s players to this historic agreement was invaluable practice for guiding them through the rest of what 2020 had in store.

As WNBPA President, Nneka’s top objective is player engagement.

“Up until the last CBA, the [player] participation was abysmal,” she laments to Kelley O’Hara on the JWS podcast, “That was something I knew as President that I wanted to change.”

Luckily her relentlessness on the court translated well as she and her executive committee hounded players to participate in Zoom calls and reply to emails throughout the year of negotiations. They wanted to hear from every player about their individual experience and needs. This “badgering” approach led to widespread buy-in and a sense of cohesion among the player group, which Nneka believes is even more important than the relationship between the league and players.

“One thing that can’t happen is disjointedness among the players,” she tells O’Hara, “When you link up, they don’t have an option.”

Playing the 2020 season against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic and the George Floyd protests, the now-unified players gave Nneka two clear objectives in negotiating a bubble (“Wubble”) season with the league: they wanted to earn 100% of their salaries and they wanted to amplify their voices on social justice. The league agreed to meet them on both fronts.

The WNBA Wubble season was historic for many reasons. The league played a 22-game season and a full post-season over 14 weeks with zero positive Covid-19 cases. Fans witnessed a new league record of 83.1 average points per game, a new single game assist record (Courtney Vandersloot’s 18), a new playoff game assist record (Sue Bird’s 16), and a new all-time rebound record (Sylvia Fowles’ 3,360). In other words, players showed up, and their audience did as well, with television viewership up 68% from the year before.

But what Nneka is most proud of is how the players used their platform to advocate for social justice. Several initiatives, including messaging around #SayHerName and Black Lives Matter, were incorporated right from the start. Other decisions had to be made in real time as events unfolded outside the Wubble, such as wearing pre-game “Vote Warnock” shirts to support Reverend Raphael Warnock in his campaign against sitting Georgia Senator and WNBA team co-owner Kelly Loeffler, who publicly critiqued the league’s support of Black Lives Matter. (Note: Warnock and Loeffler will be heading to a run-off election in January.)

Most poignantly, the league had to decide whether they would join their fellow athletes in boycotting a night of games after Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer.  Fortunately, the league had a leader who had spent the last year and a half establishing a culture of listening to all voices and then acting in unity. After sorting through a sea of emotions about what they should do, the players opted not to play. They also postponed all games the following day, declaring it a “Day of Reflection.” The image from that afternoon of every single player gathered in the gym, standing shoulder to shoulder with arms linked, is an undeniable statement of their solidarity.

For Nneka, the WNBA’s long track record of progressive political activism is easy to explain.

“We’re 70% Black women. It’s just that simple really,” she tells O’Hara on the podcast. “We are, unfortunately, inherently political. We don’t choose to be, it just is. That authenticity drives our action.”

As impressive as the on and off-court accomplishments of the 2020 Wubble season were, it also took a significant toll. Like many of her colleagues, Nneka was emotionally and physically depleted by the end.

“I wasn’t holding up,” she admits to O’Hara, “And I think it’s important for people to know that, because in a world where we’re looking for a release and an escape, people need to understand what these women and men did to put a game on your television. It was hard.”

But they made it through, thanks in large part to the highly-engaged and cohesive culture Nneka began building way before the craziness of 2020 hit. Her innate knack for leadership isn’t displayed in having the biggest voice or by bullishly standing her ground. It’s evidenced in her commitment to listening to ALL voices (even those sitting on the opposite side of the table), recognizing common goals, being comfortable with nuance, and finding creative solutions that serve all stakeholders.

Nneka Ogwumike’s newest nickname may have started in jest, but in a year when our nation is selecting its leaders, we think “Madame President” has a really nice ring to it.

Nneka Ogwumike’s 2016 WNBA season was one of the greatest individual performances in basketball history. Not only did she earn league MVP and hit the game winning shot in Game 5 to clinch the WNBA Championship for her Los Angeles Sparks, but she set an all-time record for true shooting percentage — a record that still stands for both the WNBA and the NBA. In an interview with Kelley O’Hara on the JWS podcast, Nneka reveals the secret to her 2016 success: “I just let go.”

 The oldest of four girls, Nneka grew up with Nigerian-American parents who highly valued education and versatility. The Ogwuimke sisters were encouraged to pursue a variety of extracurriculars to supplement their schooling, and at 11-years-old Nneka decided to give basketball a try. Luckily her embarrassment at showing up to her first practice in jean shorts didn’t prevent the determined youngster from displaying her non-stop hustle. While coaches quickly recognized her on-court potential, it wasn’t until later in her high school career that she realized just how many doors basketball could open, including a full-ride to Stanford University. As a young woman who dreamed of becoming a doctor, an invitation to one of the top academic institutions in the nation was an easy yes.

Nneka thrived at Stanford, embracing her identity as both a self-proclaimed “nerd” and an athlete. By the end of her freshman year she was starting every game, and by the end of her sophomore year she was recognized as one of the best college players in the U.S.

But strangely, even well into her senior year, as she led her team to a fourth consecutive Final Four, Nneka had no plans to go pro. Her plan had always been medical school, and a career in medicine made sense to her: challenging, rewarding, and lucrative. She couldn’t picture what a professional basketball career looked like, at least for a woman. All she’d heard about the WNBA was that they barely made a living. But after learning more about off-season, overseas opportunities and with much encouragement from her younger sister and Stanford teammate Chiney, Nneka entered the 2012 WNBA draft.

How long did she wait to hear her name? Not long at all. The once-reluctant draftee went number one overall to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Nneka quickly established herself in the league by earning 2012 Rookie of the Year honors. And after just a few more seasons of getting her footing against the big dogs, Nneka went off.

Nneka can point to the exact moment in her record-breaking 2016 season when she realized something special was brewing. In a mid-season game against Dallas, she went 12 for 12, scoring 32 points without missing a single shot (all while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing three assists).

When asked what changes she’d made in her training leading up to the 2016 season, Nneka tells O’Hara it was all mental. “I just let go,” she says, “That’s what I remember most about that year. Like, let me go out here and just have some fun.”

Her unencumbered mental state was on full display in the WNBA Finals. In what was arguably the most exciting Finals ever, the Sparks went toe-to-toe with a Minnesota Lynx squad in the midst of a dynasty, having won three of the last five titles, including the year before.

With her league MVP status painting the customary X on her back and leading to constant double teams, Nneka knew she had to go back to the basics.

“I was like alright, let’s take this back to 14-year-old Nneka,” she tells O’Hara, “I’m gonna be the garbage woman… If I can’t make a move I’m gonna get rebounds and I’m going to finish.”

With three seconds left in the winner-take-all Game 5, inside a packed Minnesota stadium, Nneka did exactly that. She grabbed an offensive rebound, got blocked on the putback but maintained possession, and nailed a second attempt while fading away to win the championship by one point.

The way she describes those final seconds to O’Hara encapsulates her entire approach to 2016: “That’s the quietest my mind has ever been.”

It’s one of many times the now WNBA Players Association President (aka “Madame President”) has tapped into a wisdom well beyond her years. This particular lesson: Once you’ve put in all the hard work, sometimes the best thing to do is quiet your mind, let go, and have some fun.