Nneka Ogwumike added another feat to her lengthy WNBA resume Thursday, as she passed Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings for fifth all-time in points.
The veteran forward needed 10 points to move into fifth place and finished with 12 in the Los Angeles Sparks’ 97-88 road win over the Phoenix Mercury. The matchup between two of the league’s original franchises was already intended to celebrate the WNBA’s 30th year, with both teams in retro uniforms, and Ogwumike’s scoring exploits added to the historic nature of the evening.
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“(Nneka) amazes me every day,” Sparks teammate Cameron Brink said after the game. “It’s just her ability to lead and be a super caring human but also just a killer on the court. So, we’re super proud of her.”
Ogwumike passed Catchings on an elbow jumper in the second quarter to put Los Angeles up 13. She has 7,383 career points, 105 behind Tina Thompson for fourth place on the all-time list. Catchings, a Hall of Famer, had 7,380 points in her 15-year career.
It was fitting that the moment took place in Phoenix in front of the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, Diana Taurasi. Taurasi broke the record against the Sparks and scored the decisive bucket while being defended by Ogwumike in 2017. She finished her 20-year career with 10,646 points.
The last few months have shown all that Ogwumike is capable of on and off the court, as she helped negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement as president of the WNBA Players Association. It is the second CBA negotiation Ogwumike has helmed as president, and both have been transformative for the league and its players.
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She still wants more success in her basketball career. Ogwumike returned to Los Angeles — where she was drafted and spent the first 12 years of her career — during the 2026 offseason, completing what everyone around the organization has referred to as a full-circle moment. Ogwumike has emphasized that she didn’t return to the Sparks purely for sentimentality; she wants a chance to win with her original franchise.
“I didn’t actually want to leave (L.A.), but I felt like I needed to, considering the growth that we wanted to see further in the organization,” Ogwumike, who played the last two seasons with the Seattle Storm, said during the preseason. “Because of the amazing progress that I’ve seen in just the two years in my absence, it just made a lot of sense … to make the move to come on back home.”
L.A. is 2-3 to start the season after its victory over the Mercury and is chasing a playoff berth for the first time since 2020. Ogwumike, the No. 1 WNBA Draft pick in 2012, is averaging 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in her 15th season.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA
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