Chris Paul has been given a lot of credit for helping the NBA devise its plan to resume the 2019-20 season, but Nneka Ogwumike — the President of the WNBA Players Association — doesn’t seem to be too happy with him.
Aside from being Paul’s counterpart, Ogwumike is one of basketball’s most decorated superstars. A six-time All-Star, Ogwumike won the WNBA MVP Award in 2016 before leading the Sparks to their third league title that season. She would become elected as the President of the WNBA Players Association in 2016 before being reelected in 2019.
According to her, though, not even that type of clout gets Paul to respond to her text messages.
Like the NBA, the WNBA has resolved to contest its 2020 season in a “bubble” in Florida. More specifically, the league has agreed to run its competition at IMG Academy, which is about 100 miles from Walt Disney World.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Kayla Johnson tweeted out photos and videos of some of the WNBA’s accommodations. One tweet, in particular, received widespread attention, as Johnson tweeted a video of a laundry room that, aside from being in poor condition, had a rat trap that had been sprung.
Johnson shared other photos that showed what appeared to some rather poor accommodations, and the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson confirmed that the video was authentic.
just got this video from one of the laundry rooms inside the WNBA “bubble” and couldn’t be more disturbed. this is not ok. pic.twitter.com/6FC10jlcql
— Kayla Johnson (@klajohnson) July 7, 2020
Damian Lillard was among those who commented on the information, offering that he hoped that the video of the laundry room was fake.
That’s when Ogwumike seemed to air her grievance with Paul.
“It could be, but your Prez keeps me on “read”…,” Ogwumike tweeted in response to Lillard.
It could be, but your Prez keeps me on “read”…
— Nneka Ogwumike (@Nnemkadi30) July 7, 2020
Among the younger generation that relies on text messaging as a primary form of communication, being left “on read” essentially means that one’s text message is received, but not responded to.
While it is possible that Ogwumike could be referring to Portland Trail Blazers President Chris McGowan, it’s not likely that the President of the WNBA Players Association would be directing any sort of public commentary toward the President of a team that she doesn’t play for.
So while Ogwumike didn’t call Paul by name, the evidence suggests that she’s unhappy with him.