Earlier this year, the WNBA and its players agreed to a historic collective-bargaining agreement: a 364% raise for the league’s athletes, the largest in the history of pro sports. One key figure in that deal was Nneka Ogwumike, who has served as president of the players’ union (the WNBPA) for the past 10 years.
Yesterday, Ogwumike announced that she is retiring from the WNBA after 15 seasons. I was honored to chat with her on Monday afternoon, as she was preparing for one of the most monumental days in her career. “I feel good,” she told me. “I don’t know if excited is the right word, but I feel good.”
Ogwumike is a prime example of how sports can prepare players for other leadership roles. In 2024, when I was reporting an in-depth feature on the WNBA, she told me that she might want to work in the league office one day. Today, she’s not quite certain what will come next—and she’s humble about embarking on a completely new career. “I’m not assuming that it’s just going to be a role that is made available or that is given,” she says. “I don’t feel as though today I am completely qualified for any type of executive role.”
But anyone who watched the WNBA’s tense negotiations can easily see the skills the leader of its players’ union must have gained. Complex stakeholder management, maintaining a united front among players ranging from vets who had spent years earning five-figure salaries to 22-year-old NIL millionaires. Communication, high-stakes negotiation, and knowledge of the business of basketball. Ogwumike says she learned that one way to succeed as a leader is just to “provide an environment for everyone to share their thoughts.” “Everyone just has different lived experiences,” she says. And she became more adaptable, and slightly less type A.
My full story on Ogwumike and her retirement is here. Over 15 seasons, she transformed women’s basketball–and left a legacy far beyond it.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
Meghan and Harry are headed back to the U.K. In a shock announcement, the (formerly?) royal couple are planning to leave Montecito and enroll their two kids in British schools in September. They will still be private citizens, not working royals.
Women's sports fans are here for the merch. 70% of fans say they've bought merch—while only 51% have actually bought a ticket to a game.
A record number of women are running for House seats in 2026. Five hundred and ninety women have filed to run this year passing the high of 583 set in 2020 and 2022 (2024 dipped). This record is mostly driven by Democrats, with 402 Democratic women running.
Women at L3Harris raised concerns about their CEO. Chris Kubasik was accused of sexual harassment in a formal complaint in 2023, and women warned each other to avoid being alone with him and be careful on the company's private jet. It was only after another complaint this year that Kubasik was investigated and forced out for violating the company's code of conduct. He has denied having a relationship with a subordinate, the subject of the more recent claim.
ON MY RADAR
LinkedIn has accidentally become a dating site—despite its no-romance rules WSJ
The single-mom stigma The Cut
The Lakers heiress at the center of the NBA's nastiest succession drama WSJ
PARTING WORDS
"I felt like I was betraying my 16-year-old self’s decision to quit. I was like, ‘Girl, you built up so much courage to quit.' And now I’m kind of just throwing it aside and coming back. But it was honestly quite easy after that."
— Alysa Liu on coming back to figure skating (and then winning gold)