For Chiney Ogwumike, intention has always been at the forefront of her success. As the 1st overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft, she flourished immediately, winning Rookie of the Year, while being selected as an All-Star—an accolade she would achieve again in 2018. Although playing the game was something she dedicated her life to, her opinions, views, and opinions outside of it is what became her true calling.
During her time as a professional athlete, the Nigerian-American decided to pursue broadcasting on a more consistent basis. Ogwumike originally joined ESPN in 2017 to co-anchor SportsCenter across Africa, work as a WNBA and NBA analyst in-studio, and also lended her astute basketball knowledge to the Pac-12 Network. But it was amidst an unprecedented time in this country that put everything in a different perspective for the Stanford graduate. “Around 2020, my whole world reoriented as the rest of the world reoriented,” she tells ESSENCE. “The time that I had been playing professional basketball and broadcasting simultaneously put me in position to maximize my voice on behalf of the players of the league, women’s basketball, and just Black women in general.”
“That’s when my shift went from, ‘Okay, I’m a basketball player that has these goals and also was broadcasting,’ to, ‘Oh, what I’m doing matters, and it matters a lot,’” Ogwumike says. “With social injustice, all the things that we were fighting for, being able to have a mic, and a seat at the table to really shape conversation in an authentic way for my peers, literally for my sisters, that changed the game for me.”
From that moment on, Ogwumike realized the importance of transitioning her focus to a higher cause, and immerse herself in the complex world of broadcasting. Since realigning her goals, Chiney has shined on platforms such as NBA TV, First Take, SportsNation, and The Jump, among others. In August of 2020, she became the first Black woman to host a national, daily sports-talk radio show, and in the following year she became a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, along with producing the ESPN Films documentary 144, which chronicled the two-and-a-half month WNBA season, and the effects of a global pandemic.
The timing with Ogwumike’s career shift was serendipitous, because now is when the most eyes have been on the WNBA in the league’s history. Chiney recognizes the opportunity, and remains humble within her craft, while staying ready—and willing—to do the work that she was chosen for.
“Being able to exist in this moment has been so transformational,” the 2014 John R. Wooden Award winner states. “And I say this not just for women’s basketball, but for women’s sports in general. This is the moment where women’s sports is mainstream. This is the moment where people care. This is the moment that we never thought was possible.”
ESSENCE: You’ve been in front of the camera for quite some time, but I know within the last year or so you focused more on broadcasting. Can you speak to me more about this new transition?
Chiney Ogwumike: Absolutely. The way that I describe it, is that when I got drafted in 2014 as a player with big eyes, big dreams—typically you know exactly what your goals are. You want to be Rookie of the Year, you want to be a WNBA All-Star, you want to be a WNBA MVP, you want to be a champion. Those are the metrics that you really measure and indicate success. Now, I had some bumps and bruises along the way, getting a few of those accolades and had some injuries that sort of turned me towards finding broadcasting simultaneously.
I realized that my greatest impact sort of was transitioning to my voice, and that’s where I focused a lot of my intention, impact, not necessarily strictly basketball accolades, and that allowed me to expand my whole world of broadcasting. It’s said that luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
Yes, it is.
I really feel like I’m lucky to be living out my dreams, to have lived out my dreams in the W playing at the highest level, playing against the best players in the world. Honestly, we were just playing because we loved the game, and we played for the legacy of the game. So to be prepared from all those years that people not necessarily watched what I did, but also constantly creating new opportunities in collaboration with ESPN, it has allowed me to be in a place that I never expected, but be in a place where I can create tremendous impact. And yeah, as an athlete, you feel like you always have more gas in the tank, you still want to accomplish more in the field that you’re in. For me, it’s hoops, but I realized that my voice is powerful, and maybe I’m destined to do so much more than that, and that’s what I sort of leaned into.
You spoke about the W and how it’s a huge moment for the league right now. What are your thoughts about the heightened popularity of the W and the significance of the 2024 All-Star Game in Phoenix?
It feels like it’s about to be the most interesting, the most electric, the most fun All-Star Game ever, just because of the dynamics. It’s an intergenerational All-Star. It is an intersectional moment for the culture, and it’s a celebration of women. One thing I always tell people about the WNBA, is that the WNBA is like the song “I’m Every Woman,” right? You can find every kind of woman in the WNBA, but what makes the WNBA so unique is that we create space for everyone to feel safe, to coexist, to thrive, to be themselves, to be authentic. We may not all agree, but we all agree that we’re stronger together, you know?
So, to be at WNBA All-Star this year in this capacity, that is new for me as a broadcaster, but then also witnessing my sister as a player in her ninth All-Star Game as someone who has always had a chip on her shoulder. It’s a beautiful thing to see the GOAT celebrated in Diana Taurasi literally getting her name on the floor, but also we’re merging the two worlds of super fandoms of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. It just couldn’t be a better moment, better time, better players, better investment, better representation.
You, and your contemporaries such as Andraya Carter and Monica McNutt, I look at you all as the faces of women’s basketball. Do you feel any pressure or an increased responsibility since a lot of people look to you for your assessment of the game?
Not at all, and I think we take a cue from the players. A lot of people that are new fans to the W are like, “Oh my gosh, this game is so great. Everyone takes the game so seriously. All these match-ups, they live up to expectations.” That’s because our purpose has been aligned with legacy for a very long time. We haven’t been able to play for just the paycheck, because the pay wasn’t right, right? We were playing to make the game better for the next generation and to strive for greatness. And so, that’s a mentality that we have because we were existing in a space that was not necessarily designed for us to succeed, but nonetheless, success is the only option. And so, that means we had to be so much better than what people expected as athletes, as ambassadors, as representatives of the game, not only to change perceptions, but to also grow the game at the same time, and then also find ways to be ourselves.
And that is not an easy thing to do, but that’s what the WNBA has been for 28 years. So as broadcasters, we have the same approach. Oftentimes, the way that we get into these moments of being “some of the faces of the women’s game right now,” we’ve had a winding road that led us there.
If you ask every female broadcaster how they got to sit at the table where people actually now know our names in a real way, it’s funny that it’s bringing us back to our authentic selves, but to get to that place, it was not easy. I started off in SportsCenter International. The first real gig I had with the broadcasting network was the Pac-12 Network. My first appearance was interviewing mascots. I worked for every network. I did shows that were not broadcasted in the US. I broadcasted throughout the continent of Africa. I woke up and did the 7:00 AMs in Bristol, Connecticut, which was an hour-and-15-minute drive for me each way, while also training as a member of the Connecticut Sun, and staying on campus from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and still fitting in my workout and then watching the games into 1:00 AM and working four or five days a week in my off-season.
Wow. That is a rigorous schedule to say the least.
Yes, and then I get other opportunities hosting ESPN Radio, being a part of NBA Today, NBA Countdown, and just continuing to expand my role to bring me back, to have the opportunity to do what I’ve always loved to do, women’s basketball, because the tide has shifted, and some of the voices have emerged authentically, and then all of a sudden it’s meeting the moment and it’s creating magic.
I think it’s amazing that the WNBA and its players are finally getting recognition from the masses.
I mean, we all believe it should have happened a while ago, but sometimes there’s a reason why the timing all collides right now. I’m a religious person. I think God’s hand has been a big part of it, but also it’s the relentless pursuit of being ourselves in spaces no matter what that space is, to create a platform where we can all be together, and everyone can see what that actually looks like in sport, and actually people resonate with that so much more. I don’t know if that’s the right answer, but that is kind of where my brain is at.
What are your thoughts on the broadcasting space currently?
I think there’s been a reckoning, right? And everyone has their part to play, because we all have different styles. For me, I’m someone that bases on facts and figures and tries to pierce through to educate. I was born from an educator. My mom is an educator. She started off as a special ed teacher, then went to teacher, and then went to assistant principal. She was my assistant principal, she was my little sister’s principal, and now she’s an assistant superintendent of our school district with a PhD in education. That’s what I grew up in.
So, I always like to educate—that’s my style. Draya likes to fight. She literally is a boxer. She likes to debate. Monica is our sister on the street. Respectfully, she will read you. You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
Elle keeps us laughing. We all have our own different lanes. Like I say on the court, we’re stronger together, and I think people see it, witness it, and love it. I always tell people this everywhere I go—they see you before they hear you. They judge you before they know you. That’s what it’s like. But nonetheless, they demand perfection, and we deliver it to the best of our ability.
We have to create space for those whose lived experiences, those whose expertise should be leading conversations, and that doesn’t mean you’re less smart than someone else. That means that you are collaborating, you are learning, you are embracing. I think what happened with women’s basketball, it’s a reckoning, because now it was a realignment in which we were forced to create space with those who know, those whose lived experiences show, and then also those who have gained respect by building these tiny bricks of credibility, and now can showcase their authenticity. That’s what it was like for me on First Take, on SportsCenter, on March Madness. People were like, “Oh, Chiney, she’s been consistently someone with facts and figures, watches the game, breaks down the game, is true to the game, respects the game, and now she’s in her bag.”
With women’s hoops, there were people that did not know the dynamics, but have these perceptions, because they’re attached to bigger sports or bigger entities, that they know more. That is what it feels like to be marginalized in some ways, and I think that’s a relevant thing, even outside of sports. But now I say it’s a reckoning, because now it’s forced those with expertise, who in this case are particularly Black women who hoop, and follow hoop, and cover hoop to lead the conversation, a conversation that people wanted to hear. There’s a lot of growth in women’s basketball, but that was the growing pain, and I’m glad we’ve passed that, at least I hope we did for the most part.
