Arike Ogunbowale led Team WNBA to victory during the league’s all-star game on July 20. The Dallas Wings star was crowned MVP for her performance in Phoenix.
Team WNBA triumphed over Team USA with a score of 117-109. Team USA’s players will head to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Ogunbowale, who was notably absent from the Olympic roster, dazzled in the exhibition match by scoring 34 points, all in the second half. The 27-year-old record-breaking performance led to the decisive win, and she also grabbed 3 rebounds and delivered 6 assists.
MVP, MVP, MVP!
With 34 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST Arike Ogunbowale is named the @ATT #WNBAAllstar Game MVP for the 2nd time in her career!
pic.twitter.com/SfJrdzECFB
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 21, 2024
However, Ogunbowale has made all-star greatness in past years. In 2021, she took home the MVP honors in another match against Team USA. As for this year’s snub, the athlete revealed she withdrew herself from consideration due to “politics” choosing the players.
She shared her reasoning on the “Nightcap” podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson before the all-star game.
“I actually took my name out of the pool months ago,” she added. “When the list came out, I know everybody was like, ‘Arike should’ve been on it.’ I knew I wouldn’t be on it. That’s not saying I didn’t think maybe last year I would be on the team, that I was good enough to make the team.”
She added, “I pretty much had an idea that I wouldn’t be on it. I just felt the vibes. When it comes to that stuff, it really doesn’t have much to do with your game…When I think of women’s basketball and how many years I’ve been playing in college and pro, politics is always surrounding it. Whether that’s USA Basketball, All-Star teams, [All-WNBA] first-team, stuff like that — there’s politics. There’s politics in everything.”
Ogunbowale, the WNBA’s leading scorer with an average of 29.4 points per game, may not be joining Team USA in the quest for gold, but her standout performance proves she seems more than ready to shine on any stage.
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