Nneka Ogwumike, 2016 WNBA MVP, to Retire After This Season

Nneka Ogwumike says she is retiring after this season, her 15th, closing out one of the most decorated careers in WNBA history.

The 36-year-old eight-time All-WNBA forward, back with the Los Angeles Sparks this season after two years in Seattle, announced her decision Wednesday in an interview with Boardroom Talks.

"I feel very fulfilled with the 15 years that I've been able to play and compete at such a high level," Ogwumike said. "Even though I didn't know what kind of player that I could be in this league, I never thought that I would play this long."

The No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft out of Stanford, Ogwumike won Rookie of the Year honors that season with Los Angeles. She was named league MVP in 2016 when she led the Sparks to the WNBA championship.

"Nneka has always led with a rare combination of strength, purpose and grace," former Sparks teammate Alana Beard said. "For 15 seasons, we've watched her give everything to this game, not only as an elite competitor but as a leader who has helped shape the league and lift up the people around her."

Ogwumike made the All-Star Game for the 11th time this year and is averaging nearly 17 points a game.

"It is a little bit my body: I still feel very good," Ogwumike said. "But I also feel the comfort of slowing down a little bit. I just feel content. I feel very content with where I've left my career."

She was named one of the 25 players in the first 25 years of the WNBA and was a seven-time All-Defensive Team selection. Ogwumike also served as president of the WNBPA, which earlier this year negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement.

"She has served this union with a level of commitment, courage, integrity and purpose that is truly unparalleled," WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said. "Nneka understood that leadership was not simply about having a seat at the table: It was about using that seat to move the game and the business of the game forward for every player — today and for generations to come."