Nneka Ogwumike Wins a Record Fifth Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award
Nneka Ogwumike won the 2026 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award with 38 of 74 votes, her second straight and a league-record fifth, 19 days after her final game.
Photo: WNBA.com. Official Nneka Ogwumike headshot, Los Angeles Sparks.
Nneka Ogwumike won the 2026 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award on Tuesday, the WNBA announced, 19 days after she played the last game of her 15-year career. She took 38 of 74 media votes for her second straight win and fifth overall, two more than any other player in the award's 30 seasons.
The ballot
Rebecca Allen of the Liberty finished second with 7 votes. Kelsey Mitchell of the Fever had 6, and Golden State's Veronica Burton and Washington's Michaela Onyenwere had 4 each. Thirteen players got at least one vote.
The 38 is a majority by two. The other 36 ballots spread across 12 players, and nobody else reached double figures.
Five in eight years
Ogwumike won it three straight times from 2019 to 2021 with Los Angeles, again in 2025 during her second season in Seattle, and now back with the Sparks. That is five of the last eight awards. Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird stopped at three apiece. Dawn Staley, Kara Lawson and Suzie McConnell Serio each won it twice.
Sparks players have now won it six times. Haixia Zheng took the first one in 1997, Dearica Hamby won in 2024, and Ogwumike owns the other four.
What the last season looked like
At 36, Ogwumike averaged 17.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and a career-high 3.1 assists in 43 games, started every one of them, and led Los Angeles in total points and rebounds. Her 19 double-doubles set a Sparks single-season record.
She is the only player in league history with at least 7,000 career points and a career field goal percentage of 50 percent or better.
The last night
Her final game was Sept. 24 at Crypto.com Arena against Golden State. She had 17 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, her 134th career double-double, sixth in league history. The Sparks led by 10 with a little over three minutes left. The Valkyries closed on a 17-4 run and won 76-75 to lock the No. 2 seed.
She missed a free throw late, and the first thing she brought up in the postgame retirement ceremony was that miss. The Sparks then named their new El Segundo practice facility the Nneka Ogwumike Player Sanctuary.
Golden State is now in the WNBA Finals against Atlanta. Burton, fourth in this vote, plays for the team that ended Ogwumike's career. Atlanta's Naz Hillmon got one vote.
The career it closes
Ogwumike retires fourth in WNBA history in points (8,047) and steals (718) and third in rebounds (3,657). She was the No. 1 pick in 2012 and Rookie of the Year that season. In 2016 she won MVP and a championship. She made 11 All-Star teams, eight All-WNBA teams and seven All-Defensive teams, and the league named her to The W25. She is the Sparks' all-time leader in points, field goals, steals and double-doubles.
She has also been president of the WNBPA since 2016. The award is named for Kim Perrot, the Houston Comets guard who won the league's first two titles in 1997 and 1998 and died of cancer in August 1999. The criteria are ethical behavior, fair play and integrity on the court. Ogwumike announced her retirement on Aug. 19, and the Sparks' release that day noted that players secured the largest salary increase from one CBA to the next in pro sports history during her WNBPA tenure.
Sources
- WNBA.com: Los Angeles Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike Wins 2026 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award. Oct. 13, 2026. 38 of 74 votes, full voting results, winners list 1997-2026, 2026 stats, career ranks, WNBPA president since 2016.
- WNBA on X. Oct. 13, 2026.
- WNBA.com / Los Angeles Sparks: Nneka Ogwumike Announces Retirement from the WNBA. Aug. 19, 2026. Career honors, Sparks franchise records.
- ESPN: Sparks' Ogwumike tears up in postgame retirement ceremony. Sept. 24, 2026. 17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 134th career double-double, 17-4 closing run, missed free throw.
- Los Angeles Times: Nneka Ogwumike records double-double in final game as Sparks lose. Sept. 24, 2026. 19 double-doubles Sparks single-season record, 10-point lead with 3:06 left, Nneka Ogwumike Player Sanctuary.
- Yahoo Sports: Nneka Ogwumike wins 2026 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship award in final WNBA season. Chris Cwik. Oct. 13, 2026.
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