ARLINGTON, TX — Satou Sabally's injury absence before the Olympic break impacted the Dallas Wings without question. Sabally is fortunately expected to return soon. Nevertheless, her absence added even more leadership responsibility for Arike Ogunbowale.
Ogunbowale was already a capable leader. However, playing on a young team without one of your co-stars makes your leadership even that much more impactful. Wings head coach Latricia Trammell recently took some time to speak with ClutchPoints and explained how Ogunbowale has continued to develop as a leader in 2024 amid Sabally's absence.
“One thing about Arike, she is a true professional,” Trammell said. “I mean, she takes care of business on the court and also off the court. One of the things, you know, with Arike, is she knows this is her team. Every season she wants to accomplish something statistically… But also always utilizing her voice, breathing life into her teammates. Wouldn't want to do it without her, how's that?”
Ogunbowale and Sabally feature the potential to be one of the best duos in the WNBA. Sabally, despite not playing during the first portion of the season, impressed in Paris at the Olympics. Ogunbowale and the Wings will benefit from her return.
However, Ogunbowale has enjoyed a strong season up to this point. As mentioned, her ability to lead the team has been crucial. Ogunbowale's performance has also been of the utmost importance. She is currently averaging 22.3 points, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.
Wings players respect Arike Ogunbowale
Part of becoming a true leader means earning the respect of your peers. In this scenario, Ogunbowale has indeed earned the respect of her teammates.
“Just a leadership aspect for her, she's such a great leader,” Wings forward Maddy Siegrist said of Ogunbowale. “She's really just taken me under her wing. You know, not only last year but this year as well. She's been one of my biggest supporters and encouragers throughout the season.”
Players seem to enjoy playing alongside Ogunbowale. She is a talented scorer, but Ogunbowale is also more than willing to get her teammates involved. Her 5.2 assists per outing help to display her passing ability on the floor.
It is not just Wings players who have taken notice of Ogunbowale's impressive all-around effort. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark made an attention-catching claim about the Wings star during the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.
“She is probably the best one-on-one player in our league,” Clark said on the ABC broadcast during the game in July, via ClutchPoints.
Ogunbowale, Sabally looking to lead Dallas back into playoff contention
The Wings will begin their post-Olympic journey with a lackluster 6-19 record. Dallas is currently in last place in the Western Conference and they are tied with the Washington Mystics for the worst record in the WNBA.
With all of that being said, the playoffs are not out of the question. In addition to Sabally returning, Siegrist and Jaelyn Brown are also expected to re-join the Wings' rotation early in the second half following their injury absences. Trammell believes that the returns of Sabally, Siegrist and Brown will be especially “beneficial” for the Wings.
“I think, one, is just our rotations now,” Trammell said of how the Wings can get back into the postseason conversation. “Knowing who we have back is going to be beneficial. But also, just playing to win… We need to improve and enhance our defense, defensive transition and then our turnovers. Taking care of the basketball. Those are three things that we have really focused on during this Olympic break.”
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