seattle

Nneka Ogwumike answered the same question she’s been facing for almost two months.

Why now? Why leave the WNBA when she still leads the Sparks in scoring and rebounding, has played a central role in helping the league negotiate a transformative new collective bargaining agreement and returned to the city where her pro career began?

Ogwumike is at peace with her decision. And when she steps onto the court in a Sparks jersey for the last time Thursday, she will do it without regrets.

“I’m mostly grateful,” Ogwumike said. “I haven’t really been thinking much else besides just being grateful for the opportunity to have had a 15-year career in the WNBA and also to finish in a Sparks jersey.”

There is a lot for which to be grateful.

Ogwumike entered the WNBA as the No. 1 overall pick of the Sparks in 2012. Now, 15 seasons later, she is leaving the league as one of its most accomplished players — and as the most prolific scorer in Sparks history.

Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, left, tries to drive past Lynx forward Napheesa Collier during a game in Minneapolis.

(Matt Krohn / Getty Images)

“It feels freeing,” Ogwumike said of her decision to retire. “It feels like there’s a level of autonomy that I’m able to have, and I’m very happy about that.”

The numbers only begin to tell the story.

Ogwumike was rookie of the year after averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Four years later, she produced the best season of her career, averaging 19.7 points per game, winning MVP and leading the Sparks to their third WNBA championship.

She spent 12 seasons with the Sparks before leaving for Seattle, then returned to Los Angeles this season to finish her career.

Along the way, she established herself among the most productive players in league history. Ogwumike will finish her career fourth all-time in scoring with 8,013 points, behind Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and DeWanna Bonner. She is third all-time in rebounds with 3,571 and third in steals with 716.

And on July 17, she added one more piece of history to the résumé, passing Lisa Leslie to become the Sparks’ all-time leading scorer.

Sisters Chiney, left, and Nneka Ogwumike pose for a photo at the Bird’s Eye View After Party during WNBA All-Star weekend.

(Daniel Boczarski / Getty Images for Vox Media)

“This is where it all started [for me],” Ogwumike said. “So very happy to be able to share this time, both the beginning and the end of my career in L.A., and I had a majority of my career playing for this organization, so it really does mean a lot to be able to finish in it as well.”

The return, however, did not unfold quite the way Ogwumike or the Sparks had envisioned.

Los Angeles entered the season with playoff expectations after bringing Ogwumike back, signing Erica Wheeler and trading for Ariel Atkins. The Sparks had not made the postseason since 2020, and the hope was that Ogwumike’s return could help change that.

Instead, the season became a struggle. The Sparks will finish 10 games out of a playoff spot, leaving Ogwumike’s final games less about a postseason push and more about what she could leave behind.

“The season is not at all what I expected, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t come out here to do my job and try and be great, and be great as a result,” Ogwumike said. “And as always, playing with my teammates as well.”

That has meant spending time with the young players who will carry the Sparks forward after she is gone.

Sparks coach Lynne Roberts and Nneka Ogwumike talk on the sideline during a win over the Indiana Fever in July.

(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

Ogwumike has particularly focused on Cameron Brink, the young forward who represents a significant part of the organization’s future.

“I think right now I’m really spending a lot of my time trying to pour into Cam as well,” Ogwumike told reporters this week. “I really do think that she’s the future of the league. … I’m happy to be able to leave whatever I can before I throw my feet up.”

It is a fitting final role for a player whose career has stretched across generations of the WNBA.

“She’s poured into me since I got into the league,” Dream forward Angel Reese said in August. “Kind of like one of my first vets, always being there for me, always texting me, and also really like educating me on the things that were going on, knowing that it was a big CBA coming up.”

Her final contribution might not be something that appears in a box score. It might be what she passes on.

“She’ll be missed,” said Valkyries forward Gabby Williams, who played with Ogwumike in Seattle the previous two seasons. “As a friend, but also as a fan. I’ll miss watching her in the W.”

Williams knows what Ogwumike’s career has meant to the league, but she also understands what comes next.

“I’m really happy for her,” Williams said. “Happy she gets to take that next step. I know what it means to her. I’m glad her last year was pivotal for the CBA and she’ll always have her name written on that.”

Ogwumike, though, isn’t spending much time looking backward.

She hasn’t thought about what her final moments in the WNBA will feel like, only the gratefulness she feels to have had her 15-year career.

“I haven’t,” Ogwumike said when asked if she has thought about her last moments in the league. “Still just focused on playing.”

Ally Sentnor, Ary Borges and Taylor Suarez scored in Angel City’s 3-1 victory over the Seattle Reign on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium.

In the 18th minute, Angel City midfielder Maiara Niehue’s volley attempt drew a handball on Seattle Reign midfielder Angharad James-Turner. Sentnor converted her second penalty kick in consecutive weeks to open the scoring.

Off a corner kick from defender Evelyn Shores in the 40th minute, an unmarked Borges headed it home to double the lead. Within 30 seconds of subbing on, Suarez raced past multiple defenders and placed it in the side-netting for the 3-0 lead in the 81st minute.

Defender Sofia Huerta’s long-range blast in stoppage time provided the Reign with their lone goal of the game.

Angel City (10-8-6) is unbeaten four matches unbeaten and now only trails the Reign by a point for the last spot in the playoffs. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Seattle (11-9-4).

Cal Raleigh had two hits and three RBIs, Josh Naylor had two hits and two RBIs and the Seattle Mariners kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 7-2 victory over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Randy Arozarena also walked, singled and scored three runs for Seattle, which is 5 1/2 games behind Texas and Houston in the American League West and 6 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild-card spot with nine games left.

It was 2-2 when Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (1-6) walked Arozarena and Dominic Canzone with one out in the fifth. Raleigh roped an RBI double to left for a 3-2 lead, and Julio Rodriguez was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Angels first baseman Vaughn Grissom made a sliding, backhand stop of Naylor’s potential double-play grounder, but his throw to second sailed into left field for an error, two runs scoring on the play for a 5-2 Seattle lead.

Mariners reliever Carlos Vargas (1-0) struck out Josh Lowe and Christian Moore — each on three pitches — with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the fifth, and Seattle pushed the lead to 7-2 on RBI singles by Canzone and Raleigh in the sixth.

Kikuchi threw 37 pitches during a two-run, three-hit first in which the Mariners scored on Raleigh’s sacrifice fly and Naylor’s RBI single.

Defending champions the Seattle Seahawks came from behind to beat the New England Patriots 13-10 in the opening game of the NFL season.

For the first time in 10 years the season began with a rematch of the Super Bowl, in which the Patriots were dominated by a Seahawks defence known as ‘the Dark Side’.

Again they stepped up after Seattle lost quarterback Sam Darnold to a hip injury in the game’s opening drive, claiming three interceptions in the final quarter at Lumen Field.

The Patriots went into a 10-0 lead, with rookie tight end Eli Raridon scoring the first touchdown of the season in the second quarter.

Back-up quarterback Drew Lock got the Seattle offence going late in the third quarter, with Jason Myers cutting the gap with a field goal.

Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett claimed his first career interception at the start of the fourth quarter, after a Drake Maye pass was deflected by rookie Rodney Thomas.

On the next possession Lock found wide reciever Jaxon Smith-Njigba in space and last season’s offensive player of the year charged through the Patriots defence for a 45-yard touchdown.

Julian Love then picked off Patriots quarterback Maye, giving Myers the chance to edge the Seahawks in front with a 26-yard field goal.

New England were well within field-goal range with 21 seconds remaining, but chose to go for the win rather than settle for overtime, and the move backfired as Maye’s hopeful pass towards Mack Hollins was intercepted by Josh Jobe in the end zone.

The only game in which Maye threw multiple interceptions last season was the Super Bowl, and he was picked off on the Patriots’ final three possessions in the season opener.

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said initial tests showed Darnold had not fractured a hip.

Week one continues with the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. The Los Angeles Rams meet the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne on Thursday (01:35 BST, Friday).

NFL owners have approved the $9.612bn record sale of the reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks to a group led by billionaire Vinod Khosla.

The deal, which required the support of at least 24 of 32 owners, is currently the second highest amount paid for a franchise in North American sports history.

The estate of Paul G. Allen, which inherited the NFL team after the death of the Microsoft co-founder in 2018, agreed to terms with the Khosla family on 11 July after a search for a new owner.

And now approved, the sale surpasses the $6.05bn the Washington Commanders fetched when they were sold in 2023, although the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were subsequently sold for $10bn in 2025 and are currently in the process of changing ownership again for a reported $12.5bn.

“We are honoured to be entrusted as the next stewards of the Seattle Seahawks. How often do you get to buy a franchise that just won the Super Bowl?” said Khosla.

“We are incredibly lucky and humbled by this gift, I would say, from the Allen trust.”

“We look forward to building on the winning legacy Paul Allen created and to earning the trust of the Seahawks organisation and fans everywhere.”

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Khosla, who will have to relinquish a minority stake in the San Francisco 49ers as part of his agreement to buy the Seahawks, added: “The task ahead is actually pretty simple – keep the winning streak alive, get another Super Bowl.

“Our approach is generally going to be long-term focused, that’s our inclination always. So, keep winning, take a long-term approach, and learn a lot. We don’t know enough, and the other owners have been incredibly welcoming and willing to teach us, so we’ll learn a lot.

“We’ll learn from management and see what they are recommending.”

Khosla, 71, was the co-founder of US technology company Sun Microsystems and the founder of the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and has a net worth of $13.2bn, according to Forbes. , external

Former owner Allen saved the Seahawks from relocating to Southern California when he bought the team from Ken Behring in 1997.

His sister, Jody Allen, took control of the Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers as chair of both teams upon her brother’s death with a directive to eventually sell both and donate the proceeds to charity.

In the 29 seasons in which Paul or Jody Allen were in charge, the Seahawks made the play-offs 17 times and won two of the four Super Bowls they contested.