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WNBA Seattle Storm

Storm off the Court: Nneka Ogwumike Is Staying Busy in the Offseason

October 14, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release


There's no doubt this season was monumental for Nneka Ogwumike. Signing in February to the Seattle Storm after twelve seasons in LA meant a new city and system for the nine-time WNBA All Star.

Ogwumike signing with Seattle during the 2023-2024 offseason was a huge move as the franchise looked to bounce back from an 11-win 2023 season. She averaged 16.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks while shooting 51.1% from the field. She ranked 3rd in the WNBA in steals, and tallied 69 steals in the 2024 season, the second-most by a Storm player in franchise history. Ogwumike hit 6,000 career points in June during a game against the Las Vegas Aces.

Off the court, Ogwumike is a natural-born leader. She was voted WNBPA President in 2016, and she still serves as president eight years later. This offseason, she's partnering with More Than a Vote, a non-profit organization fighting for African American's voting rights and advocating for criminal justice reform in the United States. More Than a Vote works with each state to spread information about voter ID requirements. That's her focus for the next month leading up to the general election.

After that, she's cashing in on some well-deserved vacation. The first stop is back home to Houston, then she's headed down under to visit fellow teammate, Ezi Magbegor, in Australia before her season starts in Prague.

But this is Nneka Ogwumike, so even on "vacation", she's training and staying in shape. She's a key motivator when the team is together, and this season she helped coin a team mantra, "Dangerously Disciplined."

"I am very much internally motivated, I'm quite disciplined," says Ogwumike. "A regular day is me waking up at 5 a.m. and going to the gym from 6-7:30 for court stuff, then after that I have about an hour to 90 minutes in the weight room."

She's spent so much of her life focused on staying active and fit, that this offseason she's focused on putting relaxation blocks in her calendar, to make sure she doesn't take that recovery time away from herself.

"Making sure that I put vacation time on my calendar, I'm not good at doing that," says Ogwumike. "Something might pop up, an event or something, and I'll push that [vacation time] away to do that other thing."

Structured PTO, as she put it, is a must-have for her busy schedule.

Ogwumike is an Adidas athlete, attending various brand events throughout the year. She's also involved in the WNBA's partnership with Delta, among many other endorsements. As for her personal branding, she has some goals for the next few months.

"We can look forward to me collaborating with different fashion brands, specifically Black and women-owned, and minority owned. I'm going to do better at hopefully creating my own personal content around brands that support me. I really am a fan of dressing in the brands that I am a consumer of."

Follow along with Nneka's vacations and brand events via her socials.

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