WNBA season preview: Why Nneka Ogwumike is the key to the Los Angeles Sparks’ success in 2026

The Sparks must optimize the Ogwumike-Hamby pairing

For the Sparks to maximize their year, they have to solidify the bond between Hamby and Ogwumike. They aren’t exactly starting from scratch, as the two played together in LA during the 2023 season. Back then, Ogwumike and Hamby shared the floor for 557 minutes, and as a duo, they had an offensive rating of 98.6 and a net rating of +3.5. Those numbers aren’t exactly gaudy, but they do show that the two can find success on the court.

How Nneka can help Cameron Brink reach her potential

While Ogwumike was brought back to and win, she also needs to lead. This is something that suits her well, doing so as a veteran mentor, through her play and as president of the WNBPA. A player who could learn and absorb information from Ogwumike like a sponge is Cameron Brink. Brink has shown promise in her short time in the WNBA, but has not played much since suffering an injury during her rookie campaign in 2024. Now, she is healthy and has begun to turn promise into production. Brink has elite defensive tools, but her offense is still a bit raw. She is shooting 41.1 percent from the field throughout her career and needs to raise her efficiency if she wants to be a starting big in the WNBA. Ogwumike is the kind of versatile three-level scorer every WNBA team desires. Can Brink can take some pages from her game and apply it to her own book? If so, then a great career is in store for the three-year player. Leadership in this department will take many forms for Ogwumike. There’ll be a ton of work done at practice, in the film room, in games, on the sidelines and whenever they share the floor. If Ogwumike excels at this, her arrival won’t mean Brink is relegated to the bench. Instead, it’ll elevate her game, help her grow as a player—and raise LA’s ceiling to win now. The time is fast approaching for the Sparks organization—from the players to coaches to Nneka herself—to prove that circling back and reinvesting in this relationship was the right choice, not just a nostalgia pull or a desire to return to what’s familiar, rather than trying the unknown with younger, less proven players. So far, betting on Nneka has proven to be as safe as investing in the S&P 500. So, expect the Sparks to do more winning than losing and be one the teams that decide who will win it all in the WNBA, with Ogwumike at the forefront of a revitalization in Los Angeles. Sparks fan, let us know how you’re feeling about Nneka’s return, the team’s forecast and anything else that might determine LA’s upside (or downside) during the 2026 season.