WNBPA brass embracing special time for the WNBA
Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3) and Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) serve as president and vice-president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, respectively. Ogwumike and Plum said it’s a special time to be a part of the WNBA right now, but added there’s plenty of work to be done.
PHOTO: Ethan Miller/Getty Images, via Las Vegas Aces
LAS VEGAS -- Just 25 days into the season, and narratives surrounding the WNBA continue to overflow.
The same energy many veterans have felt for years, long before a newfound fanbase began swelling to capacity crowds in sold-out arenas, is finally being matched.
"And it feels, for many, a long time coming," said Nneka Ogwumike, president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA). "But also, just so much gratitude and respect for those who have always been fans. And of course, the response on the business end, the investment side, and the resources available for us to be able to continue to build this league."
Before facing one another Friday night in a Commissioner's Cup showdown won by Ogwumike's Seattle Storm, 78-65 over the Las Vegas Aces, both she and WNBPA vice-president Kelsey Plum spoke to WGRamirez.com on how they've managed their roles in representing 144 women amidst the league's growth in popularity.
WHAT A TIME
If there is one area Ogwumike has been most proud of as the teams reach the quarter-pole of the season, it's been something players and powerful voices throughout the league have been fighting for the past several years.
"After a lot of discussions, conversations, work, collaboration, through our conversations around player health and safety, we were able to experience a 2024 season with charter flights," Ogwumike said.
Of the 120 flights that franchises will have to make in May and June, the league was able to get 116 of them at the team's preferred times to fly, per a report by The Associated Press. The charter flight program has allowed teams to practice at home, and avoid early-morning departures followed by all-day trips.
““As VP, just trying to do my due diligence, learning a lot, trying to understand the landscape of not just what’s happening, but what we want moving forward. I represent 144, I take that very seriously.””
For Plum, she said it's not only a great time to be a part of the league, but also important for her to fulfill her role as best she can during a critical time.
"As VP, just trying to do my due diligence, learning a lot, trying to understand the landscape of not just what's happening, but what we want moving forward," Plum said. "I represent 144, I take that very seriously."
Thus, as she manages her role on the Aces star-studded lineup in pursuit of a third-straight WNBA championship, she also does her best to gather "intel on teammates or players around the league."
"I have a lot of friends," Plum said. "I'm always talking to them, asking them their thoughts, their opinions, their values, what we're looking for in the future."
And with hopes of keeping tabs on the pulse of everything taking place away from the court, both Ogwumike and Plum have the unenviable task of gathering information about what members of the players association need with immediacy.
Ogwumike was emphatic that regardless of where it's at in the season, the welfare of her colleagues will always come first.
"Because none of this can happen if the players don't feel safe," she said. "We communicate via group chats, via phone calls, we have touchpoints. We try to make sure that we get ahead of those types of things. I think we just always try to come prepared, and then whatever comes, comes. Whether it's getting creative with resources or stepping into a season where there are more resources, I think we're just kind of always ready to face what's in front of us."
Like when members of the Chicago Sky began posting on "X" about harassment upon departing a team bus outside of a Washington D.C. hotel. Ogwumike said her focus immediately shifted toward the players with hopes no one was harmed and the situation was diffused quickly.
"When things pop up like that, we're always serving members of the player body, so we're made alert of that," Ogwumike said. "We try to figure out the facts and understanding of what happened, but then most importantly, protecting the players. There's no situation where players should feel as though their health and safety is a concern. And that was one of those moments where we have to figure out what we can do to make things better and hold ourselves accountable, and also the league accountable."
Ogwumike acknowledged there's no way to predict what's going to happen on any given night, but added as long as communication lines remain open, the league and WNBPA can problem-solve in real-time.
RIDING THE WAVE
While it's important to absorb the happy balance taking place among veterans and what's shaping up to be a historic rookie class, Plum said it's just as important to take advantage of the newfound notoriety and wants her colleagues to continue to push narratives and ride the waves of momentum, knowing there are even better things forthcoming.
And when some of those waves come crashing in like rip tides, drowning out positive storylines, Plum said it's merely additional coverage that comes with the territory.
"It's so interesting because at least people are talking," Plum said. "I think for me, I'm not necessarily bothered by it, because it's like, 'Hey, at least people are starting to have an opinion.' Whether that opinion is accurate based on real info, we'll get there.
"But I think that we have a lot more people talking than normal. And I think WNBA has become more than just sports - it's become more culture."
Culture, to the tune of national pundits suddenly chiming in when normally their conversations would be about the NFL's organized team activities (OTAs) and upcoming mandatory mini-camps, or why the Boston Celtics appear unbeatable in the NBA Finals, or if Connor McDavid will help bring a Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.
Culture, as in the teams with the worst record in the league played in front of the largest WNBA crowd in 17 years, as a sold-out gathering of 20,333 was brewing with electricity inside Capital One Arena to see Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever slip by the Washington Mystics, 85-83, on Friday.
Culture, whereas 25 days into her professional career, Clark has likely been in more media availabilities and done more interviews than many players will do the entire season, while fellow-rookie sensation Angel Reese has said publicly she'll embrace the villain role if that's what people want to label her and if it's going to get people talking.
““I think when you open the floodgates, you let in everybody. I think that’s very natural to our human experience with anything that becomes popular. And I think right now we’re experiencing what could be the growing pains of that exposure.”
"There's a lot more people in the conversation that maybe haven't been in the past, which is exciting, right?" Plum said. "And that's how you continue to move opinions, narratives, opportunities for women, visibility. So, to be honest, I'm not mad about it.
"Now are there a lot of fans that have no idea what they're talking about that are new? Sure. But they'll get there."
Plum also reiterated what ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt tried pointing out to Stephen A. Smith on an episode of First Take, but was also quick to point out the positive aspect of the highly outspoken and boisterous media personality.
"I do think that Stephen A. wasn't talking about us (as much) three years ago," Plum said. "But for him to start having opinions and conversations, it's important. Whether he has accurate opinions, that's a whole nother conversation, and he'll get there. But I do think that it's really cool to see people on national media starting to talk this year."
Adding to Plum's sentiments, Ogwumike said with positive narratives come negative ones, yet unless they're directly harmful and pose a threat to the members of the WNBPA, she's learned to block out the noise.
"I think when you open the floodgates, you let in everybody," Ogwumike said. "I think that's very natural to our human experience with anything that becomes popular. And I think right now we're experiencing what could be the growing pains of that exposure.
"But not getting wrapped up in it I think is really important. And I feel as though because of how our league has come to exist and sustain, we'll be able to handle it differently. I think maybe to combat the negativity, I think it's important for people to be just curious, don't be combative. Discover, don't divide. And I think that'll lead us to a more authentic and invigorated fan base that understands the history of where we're coming from."
