Women\u2019s Leadership Summit at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions<\/a>, where she was a featured speaker. \u201cI don\u2019t think that anything we do ever feels casual, but we feel like the moment is there \u2014 we feel like we\u2019re in that historical moment. And this is certainly one of those situations. I\u2019m very grateful to even be a part of the league and the growth that we\u2019re experiencing today. And to be able to negotiate my value in something that is increasing in valuation is phenomenal, especially being a small part of the framework and the foundation that makes it what it is today \u2014 and what it can be beyond.\u201d<\/p>\nHow Nneka Ogwumike balances life with union leadership<\/p>\n
Through the CBA negotiations, Ogwumike hasn\u2019t lost sight of the main thing: her playing career. While she is currently deep in the WNBA offseason, she works out for three to four hours every morning, and subsequently dives into her wide-ranging responsibilities as WNBPA President.<\/p>\n
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\u201cEvery day isn\u2019t the same, but there\u2019s communication about CBA negotiations, at least for me, every single day \u2014whether it\u2019s our staff, our council, our executive committee, our player leadership board, or even individual players,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It helps that Ogwumike is not leading negotiations alone; different players play different roles, and the union\u2019s leadership includes players like Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark, Napheesa Collier, and Breanna Stewart.<\/p>\n
That \u2014 coupled with her previous experience successfully negotiating the 2020 CBA \u2014 certainly helps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not doing any of this by myself,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd, now being in a second negotiation as president, it\u2019s not anything that you ever truly figure out, but I do think that you\u2019re able to field more support in different ways. You\u2019re able to understand that there\u2019s purpose in what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Juggling her daily workouts and WNBPA responsibilities has been something she\u2019s long been doing: \u201cIt\u2019s still an ongoing process,\u201d Ogwumike said with a smile. \u201cI don\u2019t ever really figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has learned, however, to set boundaries. Only a few select \u2018favorited\u2019 contacts can contact her directly: \u201cOne thing that I learned from the past was I don\u2019t just necessarily make myself available 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s a priority for Ogwumike to ensure that she has a direct line of communication with all of the league\u2019s 140+ players. That\u2019s also the most challenging part of the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part for me is ensuring that every player feels like they have a relationship with me,\u201d she said. \u201cNow, granted, it\u2019s not necessarily a reality that I\u2019m going to be close with everyone, but I do want to make sure that every player feels like they can approach me, even if I\u2019m not able to get to them. So it\u2019s not necessarily hard, but it definitely takes more time and effort to ensure that that\u2019s how players feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Nneka Ogwumike\u2019s perspective on how CBA negotiations have gone<\/p>\n
Ogwumike smiled when asked how CBA negotiations have gone between WNBA leadership and the players\u2019 union.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we are exercising some amazing patience, and I feel like we\u2019re unified in that, and we\u2019re unified in our messaging and our priorities and what we want to be able to negotiate,\u201d she said. \u201cComing out of this, there are things that we are not compromising on, but we still also understand the aspect of negotiating in good faith. And so, that\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to continue to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, she made clear that though an imminent deal is a priority, what\u2019s most important is the deal\u2019s substance.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIdeally, this would have gotten done a little bit earlier, but we want a good deal, rather than one that\u2019s done in a fashion that suits a schedule,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so we\u2019re looking forward to being able to come out of this proud of what we\u2019ve negotiated, proud of the process, while also looking forward to having a season. Our players want to play, we want to play, but we also want to be valued on the court \u2014 and that\u2019s something that we\u2019re negotiating for today.\u201d<\/p>\n
You might think Ogwumike feels like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.<\/p>\n
But the reality is that she\u2019s mostly filled with gratitude for the fact that she and her fellow players are in this position.<\/p>\n
And, she\u2019s optimistic that a resolution is coming.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re playing in a league that people dreamed of, and we want to continue to create a league that we are dreaming of today,\u201d Ogwumike said. \u201cAnd so, I\u2019m just very grateful. I don\u2019t think that it ever really feels like stress. I think it feels like motivation, inspiration, and a lot of dedication, especially when you\u2019re in it every day with these phenomenal women. And I\u2019m looking forward to seeing another historical moment for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nneka Ogwumike is a 10-time WNBA All-Star and one of women\u2019s basketball\u2019s most talented players. But these days,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[12190,4657,20692,49,48,4233,727,3484,631,3460,729,3425,4653,14116,12249,1611,82,630],"class_list":["post-446163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-alysha-clark","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-brianna-turner","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cba","tag-elizabeth-williams","tag-getty-images","tag-kelsey-plum","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-negotiations","tag-nneka-ogwumike","tag-players","tag-players-union","tag-seattle-storm","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}