How to watch Storm at Sparks: Nneka Ogwumike faces former team in WNBA Commissioner's Cup
One day, Nneka Ogwumike will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as a Los Angeles Sparks luminary. This is not that day, though. Ogwumike returns to LA as the leader of the rising Seattle Storm, trying to will her group to a Commissioner's Cup conference win. Seattle announced itself in tournament play with a momentous defeat of the then-unbeaten Minnesota Lynx last week. Let's see what the forecast calls for on Tuesday night.
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Ogwumike had a red-carpet run in downtown Los Angeles, winning Rookie of the Year and MVP in purple and gold. She also earned six All-Defensive Team nods and two Community Assist awards … and, yeah, this:
Her 2016 game-winner in the Finals is remembered and revered across Southern California. Lisa Leslie may have molded the platonic ideal of a Sparks superstar, and Candace Parker was a generational presence from her very first game, but Ogwumike has a real claim as the historic face of the franchise.
She's still balling out, but now up north and in emerald green. Ogwumike went 9-for-14 against the elite Lynx defense last Wednesday, and she enters Tuesday's tip-off at a respectable 49.7 field goal percentage. She's not the only 34-year-old star fixture in Seattle, either. Skylar Diggins is enjoying her best shooting splits since the 2021 season, when she was with the Phoenix Mercury. She's made multiple 3s in three consecutive outings and had her best performance of 2025 in a road revenge game out in the desert on June 7. Granted, Ogwumike's split with her old team wasn't nearly as acrimonious, but she can still try to channel her decorated teammate for this Figueroa Street showdown.
Seattle has a chance to reach the July 1 Cup finale if Minnesota falls short against Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Even if they can't get to the in-season hardware, the Storm have shown some encouraging signs early. Gabby Williams has upped her scoring and efficiency marks in each of her four Storm seasons, and she's chasing a clean 50/40/90 line with career-best numbers in assists and steals. Veteran addition Erica Wheeler has also shown punch as a recent addition to the starting five.
To pull the upset here, Los Angeles needs everything it can get from its heliocentric creator. Kelsey Plum has the highest usage rate of her eight WNBA seasons, and she's dropped 24 or more points in five of her 12 Sparks starts. Second-year shooter Rickea Jackson has an inspired 48 points across her last two contests, after time away from the team in early June. The Sparks are fifth in offensive rating but 10th on the other end, struggling to edge out their rebounding and turnover differentials.
Best player to wear both jerseys: Nneka Ogwumike. We all saw that one coming.
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(Photo of Nneka Ogwumike: Jane Gershovich / Getty Images)
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