CELEBRITY
Patrick Mahomes leads the praise for Arike Ogunbowale after her sensational display as WNBA All-Star MVP, where she broke the points record. His admiration underscores the captivating performance that has captivated fans and athletes alike.
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Patrick Mahomes led the praise for WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale following her record performance in Saturday’s All-Star game
The Dallas Wings guard stole the show Saturday night as she led the charge for the WNBA All-Stars, including Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, in a 117-109 victory over the US Women’s Olympic Team at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Ogunbowale was snubbed for the USA’s last Olympics squad, for the pandemic-delayed games Tokyo in 2021, before going on to win the All-Star MVP that year.
And history repeated itself this week, as Ogunbowale, who withdrew her name from contention for the Olympic roster this year, sealed MVP once again with a record performance.
Ogunbowale finished with 34 points, all coming in the second half, including 21 in the third quarter alone, to break the WNBA All-Star points record.
As she set the court alight in Phoenix, social media went wild for her performance, earning her recognition from three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes.
‘Yo! @Arike_O is hoopin hooping,’ the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a fire emoji.
Meanwhile, Jemele Hill, a prominent US sports writer, shared a GIF of a person on fire, captioning it: ‘Arike right now.
However, it took a while for Ogunbowale to catch fire. She deferred to her All-Star teammates throughout the first half, missing the two shots she took.
It wasn’t until coach Cheryl Miller gave her a halftime wake-up call that Ogunbowale really began to wow.
After the halftime talking to by her Hall of Fame coach, the 5-foot-8 guard turned into the biggest player on the court, scoring on step-back 3-pointers and runners in the lane.
Ogunbowale hit 6 of 10 shots in the third quarter, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. She kept scoring and Team WNBA turned Team USA’s last domestic warm-up before the Paris Olympics into a 117-109 loss. She hit eight 3-pointers and finished 10 for 20 from the floor with six assists to become the third two-time MVP in WNBA All-Star Game history.
She was just in the zone and they played really good defense multiple times,’ said Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, a player known for going on heaters during her career at Iowa.
ThereĀ“s just nothing you can do in those situations where she’s making step back 3s, one-legged floaters, things like that. You, you literally can’t guard her.’
Ogunbowale has shown a knack for scoring in bunches throughout her career, starting with her college days, when she hit game-winning shots in the Final Four and national championship game during Notre Dame’s 2018 title run.