Chiney Ogwumike

Chinenye "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

She participated in the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 24 points, and earned MVP honors for the White team.

Ogwumike chose Stanford over Connecticut and Notre Dame, joining her sister Nneka Ogwumike.

She played in three Final Fours and finished as the conference leader in scoring and rebounding as of January 3, 2014.

Ogwumike ended her Stanford career in 2014 as the all-time career scoring leader for either sex in Pac-12 Conference history, a record that fell in 2016 to Kelsey Plum of Washington.

Ogwumike was drafted first overall in the 2014 WNBA draft by the Connecticut Sun.

In her rookie season, Ogwumike became a starter, averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.

She was named a WNBA All-Star along with her sister Nneka Ogwumike, becoming the first pair of sisters to be selected into a WNBA All-Star game.

Ogwumike would also win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2014.

After the WNBA season ended, Ogwumike signed with Italian club Famila Schio.

During the season, she suffered a knee injury that required a microfracture surgery.

In seven games for Famila Schio, she averaged 25.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.

Due to the injury, she sat out the entire 2015 WNBA season while recovering from a micro-fracture on her right knee that she sustained months before the season.

As of 2016, Ogwumike was elected Vice-President of the WNBA Players Association, and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas.

Ogwumike came back healthy for the 2016 season, playing 33 games with 18 starts while averaging 12.6 points per game.

She had scored a career-high 26 points along with 15 rebounds in a regular season game win against the Dallas Wings.

During the 2016 WNBA season, Ogwumike had signed with Henan Phoenix of the WCBA for the 2016–17 Chinese season.

In her fifth game with the team, Ogwumike scored 56 points (on 23 of 24 field goal shooting) along with 12 rebounds She would end up winning first round MVP, averaging 33.6 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game, prior to her achilles injury.

In December 2016, it was announced that Ogwumike had undergone surgery after injuring her achilles.

She was ruled out with an estimated recovery period of 6–9 months, which caused her to miss the 2017 WNBA season.

In April 2017, Ogwumike was suspended by the Sun for the entire 2017 season to free up a roster spot due to her injury and that same month she also signed a contract extension.

In May 2018, Ogwumike signed a multi-year contract with ESPN to become a full-time basketball analyst.

Born in Tomball, Texas, Ogwumike attended Cypress Fairbanks High School in nearby Cypress, Texas, winning the 5A State Championship in her sophomore and senior seasons.

Ogwumike was named a WBCA and McDonald's All-American.

On May 20, 2018, Ogwumike made her return to the Sun in their season debut, playing her first WNBA game in two years.

In 17 minutes of play, she scored 9 points in the starting lineup in a 101–65 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.

On June 30, 2018, Ogwumike scored a new career-high of 30 points in a 103–92 loss to the Seattle Storm.

Later on in the 2018 season, it was announced that Ogwumike was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her second all-star appearance.

The Sun finished as the number 4 seed in the league with a 21–13 record, receiving a bye to the second round elimination game.

The Sun would lose 96–86 to the Phoenix Mercury.

On April 28, 2019, Ogwumike was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks for a 2020 first-round pick, reuniting her with her sister Nneka.

The Sparks finished as the number 3 seed with a 22–12 record, receiving a bye to the second round.

In the second round elimination game, the Sparks defeated the defending champion Seattle Storm 92–69.

In the semi-finals, the Sparks were eliminated by her former team, the Connecticut Sun in a three-game sweep.

In 2020, she became the first Black woman and the first WNBA player to host a national radio show for ESPN.

She was one of the first and youngest commentators ever to be named an NBA analyst for the network covering the NBA, WNBA, and variety of sports, while simultaneously playing in the WNBA.

Chiney is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in International relations.

In June 2020, Ogwumike announced she would sit out the 2020 WNBA season due to health concerns of playing in the bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Without Ogwumike, the Sparks finished the season 15–7 as the number 3 seed with a bye to the second round but would get eliminated by the Connecticut Sun in the elimination game.

In February 2021, Ogwumike re-signed with the Sparks to a multi-year deal.