TORRANCE — After 15 seasons, Sparks all-time leading scorer Nneka Ogwumike is three games away from retiring from the WNBA.
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Ogwumike is also less than 24 hours from celebrating franchise legend Lisa Leslie, a three-time league MVP who played for Los Angeles from 1997-2009 and won consecutive WNBA championships in 2001 and 2002, who is honored with a statue outside Crypto.com Arena Sunday afternoon.
Ogwumike said, “it just makes sense” that Leslie will be the first Spark to be memorialized outside of what was previously known as Staples Center.
“Lisa, she came in early in my career and provided me mentorship,” Ogwumike said at the team’s practice facility in Torrance Saturday afternoon. “Being able to have that Sparks family connection and understand what she was able to do with her time with the Sparks and doing my best to uphold that has given us an opportunity to also develop an almost like a family relationship, a very surprising sisterhood being able to be close with Lisa in that way so I’m happy to be here for that moment for her.”
For Sparks second-year coach Lynne Roberts, Leslie is the original Spark.
“She is one of the original ones that put professional women’s basketball on the map,” Roberts said.
Ogwumike, an 11-time All-Star and 2016 WNBA MVP, is averaging 17.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists this season and ranks fourth on the league’s all-time points list.
Ogwumike is also seven points away from scoring 8,000 career points in the WNBA. She will likely pass that mark in her penultimate home against on Sunday against the Portland Fire.
“I just come in every day and do my job,” Ogwumike continued. “I’ve been playing a long time, so I feel like that’s what 8,000 points means. I’m just glad that I’m healthy in this season of my life and I want to finish strong.”
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Rae Burrell for Most Improved Player?
Meanwhile, Sparks fifth-year guard Rae Burrell, who is averaging a career-high 14.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 45.9% shooting from the field and 37.3% from beyond the arc, is being pitched by the team as a candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player award.
“I think it means a lot,” Burrell said. “It’s good to get that recognition of the work that you put in. I’m happy that they’re showcasing that. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially, I feel like, in my position, amongst the conversations that have been had with the most improved players, I think that I was kind of put in one of the harder positions of being like a fifth option or what it is and just working my way to be in those conversations, so I’m proud of myself. I’m happy the team is showcasing that and giving me my flowers with that as well. I’m just happy to be in the conversations.”
Burrell, a first-year starter, had a career-high of 7.5 points last season.
Ogwumike believes Burrell has a strong case for MIP.
“She’s come in and had to occupy a lot of different spaces and hold a lot of different responsibilities, and she’s worn them well,” Ogwumike explained. “We’ve seen that her game has improved with her stepping up to the plate.”
“If you just look at it on paper,” Roberts added, “you can’t deny it. Every aspect of her game is improved. The role that she has taken on for our team, particularly after KP left, having to be that attacking player that can get to the hoop, her shooting is really good. She’s had a tremendous year.”
The Sparks (15-26) are 2-0 against Portland (16-26) this season, including an 89-72 home win on June 7 and a 106-101 road victory on Aug. 2, which was the same day the team traded away then-leading scorer Kelsey Plum to the Phoenix Mercury before the league’s trade deadline.
Forward Dearica Hamby led the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds in that victory over the Fire.
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PORTLAND (16-26) AT SPARKS (15-26)
When: Sunday, 4 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
TV: USA, Spectrum SportsNet