Nneka Ogwumike has been a revelation for the Seattle Storm this year. Playing some impressive basketball, Ogwumike claimed a fourth WNBA Kim Perrot Sportsmanship award. Following a complete shakeup of the coaching staff following Storm’s first-round playoff exit, the Storm star has been the only athlete to provide some stability to the team. Unfortunately, despite her fine showing for her club, the 35-year-old’s dream to play for her country has suffered a huge setback.
Ogwumike has been trying to play for Nigeria for a long time now. And while her previous two petitions were denied, the WNBA star expected that the third time she might get lucky. But alas! It was not to be.
Nneka Ogwumike Will Not Play For Nigeria In LA 2028
Ogwumike has long wanted to don the jersey of Nigeria, the country from which her parents belong. Unfortunately, while she submitted her petition for the third time this year, the WNBA star has been rejected once again. In a recent update, the International Basketball Federation has turned down her plea to represent Nigeria not only in the World Cup next year, but also at the African Nations, and at the Los Angeles Olympics 2028.
Reacting to the sad reality, Ogwumike told The Associated Press, “After the second time trying to appeal I made my peace with it. The third time, I was like, let me say I gave it my all. I’m kind of at the point where I’m very much over it. It’s unfortunate but there’s just certain things you can’t control.”
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— WomenInPlay (@wmninplay) October 17, 2025
FIBA Rejects Nneka Ogwumike's Bid Once Again #FIBA has rejected Nneka Ogwumike’s third appeal to play for Nigeria at the 2027 FIBA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
After attempting to switch allegiances since Tokyo 2021, Ogwumike stated she’s done everything… pic.twitter.com/pBRLsgzY5n
Looking back at how she has been denied thrice, Ogwumike submitted her first petition before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. As per FIBA, the first time she was a bit late to apply for the switch, as the Olympics were close. Next, officials rejected her subsequent applications because of her major contributions to the USA’s 2014 and 2018 World Cup victories. As per FIBA, they discourage an athlete from playing for more than one nation in their professional career. Meanwhile, focusing back on the WNBA, Ogwumike recently voiced her frustration against Cathy Engelbert.
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Nneka Ogwumike Voices Support For Napheesa Collier
Napheesa Collier took the entire WNBA realm by storm. Her fiery speech against Engelbert completely opened up a new chapter in the CBA discussions. After her exit interview, it was clear that the players did not have trust in the league leadership. Following the Lynx’s stars’ statements, names like Breanna Stewart showed support for Collier. And now, Ogwumike too, stood beside the Minnesota veteran.
“I think what Napheesa did was an exceptional display of that leadership of speaking truth to power in a way that she can be heard. You know, we’ve had players do it in the past. I agreed with what Napheesa said. I think everybody has a way of communicating, and I think she really spoke a lot of the sentiments that the players had been expressing. She took it upon herself to use her platform in a way that was monumental and is going to contribute to the transformational change that we’re going to see. I think that there was still much to be wanted from Cathy’s comments,” Ogwumike stated.
Surely, even though officials dismissed Ogwumike’s recent plea, she will continue playing for the U.S. And as far as her WNBA stint is concerned, the Seattle Storm star will look to up her game further in the upcoming year.