Twice in the past four years, the U.S. women’s basketball team faced a group of non-Olympic WNBA All-Stars in an exhibition tune-up before heading to the Summer Games.
Each time, Team USA was unable to stop Arike Ogunbowale.
In the 2021 victory for Team WNBA, Ogunbowale scored 26 points. On Saturday night, she poured in a WNBA All-Star Game record 34 points as the group of WNBA players handed the Olympians a 117-109 defeat in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I think it’s just a testimony to you know, my hard work,” Ogunbowale said. “Regardless, you know, win, lose or draw, I’m going to play my game and that’s what I’ve been doing for Dallas.”
Related: WNBA games today, WNBA schedule
The Dallas Wings guard was particularly awesome in the third quarter, scoring 21 points. In total, she shot 8-of-13 from 3-point land and also collected three rebounds and six assists. And just like she did in 2021, Ogunbowale won the game’s MVP award.
All of this begs two questions: Why isn’t Ogunbowale on the U.S. team heading to Paris, France? Wouldn’t she help the American win what would be their eighth consecutive gold medal?
The answer to the second question is yes, of course. The answer to the first question is a bit more complicated.
Related: Olympic events today, 2024 Paris Olympics schedule
In June, while being interviewed by former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco, Ogunbowale revealed that she removed herself from Olympic consideration, saying, “I just felt the vibes… When it comes to that stuff, it really doesn’t have much to do with your game… Politics has always surrounded it.”
Ogunbowale has piled up accolades dating back to her time at Notre Dame where she hit a pair of buzzer beaters in the 2018 NCAA Tournament to help the Irish win a national championship. Since joining the WNBA in 2019 as the fifth overall pick by the Wings, she’s made four all-star teams and captured a scoring title. She’s third in the WNBA in scoring this season with 22.3 points per game and is now just the fourth player in the league’s history to win the All-Star Game MVP award twice, joining Swin Cash, Lisa Leslie and Maya Moore.
All three of those players played in multiple Olympics for Team USA. Why Ogunbowale – undoubtedly one of the best scorers in the WNBA right now – didn’t this year makes little sense. She’s 27 now and will be 31 when the Summer Games come to Los Angeles in 2028. If fans of women’s basketball never get to see Ogunbowale play on an international stage, that would be a real shame.
What was true on Saturday night is this: Team USA couldn’t stop her, and they didn’t have a player that could go basket-for-basket with her either.
Another player left off Team USA, rookie and fellow All-Star Caitlin Clark, called Ogunbowale “the best one-on-one player” in the WNBA after her all-star performance.
“She just has that skill. She can get whatever shot, whenever she wants it,” Clark said. “That’s how good she is with the ball. It was fun to watch. That was exciting for me.”
It probably wasn’t so fun for Team USA, who just got exposed by one of the best guards in the game.
More games next season
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Saturday that the league plans to expand its regular season to 44 games in 2025. Currently, each WNBA team plays 40 games per regular season. 44 is the most allowed in the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement.
“We’re looking at the footprint for next year,” Engelbert told reporters at a press conference before the All-Star Game. “We don’t have an international competition like the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics next year, so we’ll be able to look at our footprint without any interruption or break, like we’re breaking this year.”
Engelbert added that the WNBA hopes to hold more games internationally in the future. The commissioner mentioned Europe, Asia, Mexico City and the Middle East as possibilities.
Also Read: Highest-paid WNBA players
Dream release Henderson
The Atlanta Dream released guard Destanni Henderson, making the third-year pro a free agent. Henderson, who helped guide South Carolina to a national championship in 2022, featured in six games for the Dream this season, averaging four points, two rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She last played on July 17, scoring five points and dishing out four assists against the Minnesota Lynx. In three seasons, Henderson has spent time with four teams now, playing last year for the Phoenix Mercury and LA Sparks, and in 2022 for the Indiana Fever, who drafted her with the 20th overall pick in 2020.
