Nneka Ogwumike is a 10-time WNBA All-Star and one among ladies’s basketball’s most gifted gamers.
However nowadays, the veteran’s identify has grow to be nearly as synonymous along with her work off the ground as her success on it. Ogwumike, who has been the president of the WNBA gamers’ union since 2016, has spent the offseason spearheading negotiations for a brand new collective bargaining settlement — negotiations that threaten to bleed into the start of the WNBA season, which is presently set to start on Might eighth.
Because it presently stands, the gamers and possession haven’t seen eye to eye on a slew of points, together with income sharing and housing, and either side stay at a standstill. And with the WNBA on the heels of a number of of its most extremely rated seasons, and two new skilled groups set to hitch this Spring, Ogwumnike mirrored on the simple enormity of the second.
“It positively doesn’t really feel informal,” Ogwumike instructed SB Nation in a telephone interview from the Ladies’s Management Summit on the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions, the place she was a featured speaker. “I don’t suppose that something we do ever feels informal, however we really feel just like the second is there — we really feel like we’re in that historic second. And that is actually a kind of conditions. I’m very grateful to even be part of the league and the expansion that we’re experiencing right now. And to have the ability to negotiate my worth in one thing that’s rising in valuation is phenomenal, particularly being a small a part of the framework and the muse that makes it what it’s right now — and what it may be past.”
How Nneka Ogwumike balances life with union management
Via the CBA negotiations, Ogwumike hasn’t overlooked the principle factor: her taking part in profession. Whereas she is presently deep within the WNBA offseason, she works out for 3 to 4 hours each morning, and subsequently dives into her wide-ranging duties as WNBPA President.
“Every single day isn’t the identical, however there’s communication about CBA negotiations, not less than for me, each single day —whether or not it’s our employees, our council, our govt committee, our participant management board, and even particular person gamers,” she stated.
It helps that Ogwumike just isn’t main negotiations alone; totally different gamers play totally different roles, and the union’s management contains gamers like Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark, Napheesa Collier, and Breanna Stewart.
That — coupled along with her earlier expertise efficiently negotiating the 2020 CBA — actually helps.
“I’m not doing any of this on my own,” she stated. “And, now being in a second negotiation as president, it’s not something that you simply ever really determine, however I do suppose that you simply’re in a position to discipline extra help in several methods. You’re in a position to perceive that there’s function in what you do.”
Juggling her every day exercises and WNBPA duties has been one thing she’s lengthy been doing: “It’s nonetheless an ongoing course of,” Ogwumike stated with a smile. “I don’t ever actually determine it out.”
She has discovered, nonetheless, to set boundaries. Only some choose ‘favorited’ contacts can contact her instantly: “One factor that I discovered from the previous was I don’t simply essentially make myself obtainable 24/7.”
Nonetheless, it’s a precedence for Ogwumike to make sure that she has a direct line of communication with all the league’s 140+ gamers. That’s additionally probably the most difficult a part of the job.
“The toughest half for me is guaranteeing that each participant appears like they’ve a relationship with me,” she stated. “Now, granted, it’s not essentially a actuality that I’m going to be shut with everybody, however I do wish to be sure that each participant appears like they’ll method me, even when I’m not in a position to get to them. So it’s not essentially laborious, however it positively takes extra effort and time to make sure that that’s how gamers really feel.”
Nneka Ogwumike’s perspective on how CBA negotiations have gone
Ogwumike smiled when requested how CBA negotiations have gone between WNBA management and the gamers’ union.
“I really feel like we’re exercising some superb endurance, and I really feel like we’re unified in that, and we’re unified in our messaging and our priorities and what we would like to have the ability to negotiate,” she stated. “Popping out of this, there are issues that we’re not compromising on, however we nonetheless additionally perceive the facet of negotiating in good religion. And so, that’s one thing that we’re going to proceed to do.”
And, she made clear that although an imminent deal is a precedence, what’s most vital is the deal’s substance.
“Ideally, this could have gotten finished somewhat bit earlier, however we would like a very good deal, relatively than one which’s finished in a trend that fits a schedule,” she stated. “And so we’re trying ahead to with the ability to come out of this pleased with what we’ve negotiated, pleased with the method, whereas additionally trying ahead to having a season. Our gamers wish to play, we wish to play, however we additionally wish to be valued on the court docket — and that’s one thing that we’re negotiating for right now.”
You may suppose Ogwumike appears like the load of the world is on her shoulders.
However the actuality is that she’s principally full of gratitude for the truth that she and her fellow gamers are on this place.
And, she’s optimistic {that a} decision is coming.
“We’re taking part in in a league that individuals dreamed of, and we wish to proceed to create a league that we’re dreaming of right now,” Ogwumike stated. “And so, I’m simply very grateful. I don’t suppose that it ever actually appears like stress. I feel it appears like motivation, inspiration, and quite a lot of dedication, particularly if you’re in it day-after-day with these phenomenal ladies. And I’m trying ahead to seeing one other historic second for us.”
