Derek Fisher blasts Team USA for snubbing Nneka Ogwumike
Los Angeles Sparks coach Derek Fisher blasted Team USA’s decision to leave forward Nneka Ogwumike off of the Olympic roster, saying he and others were in disbelief that the former Stanford star had been omitted a third time.
“We’re pissed, honestly,” Fisher said Tuesday, a day after the 12-player roster was announced.
Ogwumike, in her 10th season with the Sparks, attended every Team USA minicamp prior to the selection of the team. In Feb. 2020, Ogwumike led the American team in scoring and captured MVP honors at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade, Serbia. She’s also won FIBA gold medals for Team USA in 2014 and 2018.
Ogwumike was also passed over for a spot on the Olympic team in 2012 after she was taken No. 1 overall by the Sparks in the WNBA Draft and was named the league’s rookie of the year. Four years later, she was snubbed after she was named the WNBA’s MVP and led the Sparks to the league title.
Fisher said Ogwumike was promoted as one of eight core players for Team USA during qualifiers leading up to the announcement.
“I think that’s the most frustrating and disappointing part, that’s the part that makes you angry the most,” Fisher said. “I don’t know what else a player has to do.”
Oguwmike, the WNBPA president and a six-time All-Star, is recovering from a sprained left knee that took place in a June 1 game. At the time of the injury, she was projected to miss four to six weeks. Team USA coach Dawn Staley on Monday intimated that Oguwmike’s injury played a role in the organization’s decision to leave her off the team.
As it is, the Americans frontcourt includes Sylvia Fowles, Tina Charles, and Brittney Griner, and forward Breanna Stewart — all of whom have competed in at least one previous Olympic games.
“Breaks my heart that Nneka isn’t on this team,” Staley said. “Having to make a decision today, if we had to make a decision a month from now I’m sure she’d be healthy. This was one of the things she wanted to do.”
However, the Americans play their first game in Tokyo on July 27. From Fisher’s perspective, that would seemingly give Oguwmike enough time to heal, work off any rust and become game-ready.
“No way you can tell me you can put a team together and leave Nneka off, and then try to say that (the timeline) makes sense, that it adds up – because it doesn’t,” he said.
Fisher said the training staff for the Sparks kept in communication with Team USA representatives about Ogwumike’s health, adding that it was made clear she would be able to play in Tokyo without restrictions.
Ogwumike hasn’t yet spoken publicly about the decision.
“I don’t know how you keep taking it on the chin, I don’t know how you keep taking the high road,” Fisher said of Ogwumike. “That’s what makes her unique and really special because she does have that inner strength and fortitude.”
This could have been Ogwumike’s last chance to play in the Olympics, as she will be 34 when the 2024 summer games begin in Paris.
“To think that she might go through her career and never play for Team USA and the Olympics is a freaking travesty,” Fisher said.
Information from the Southern California Newspaper Group contributed to this story.