Arike Ogunbowale’s message to outrage over WNBA’s physical play: ‘Go watch golf’

Wings star Arike Ogunbowale has heard the complaints about physicality in the WNBA and thinks watching golf might be a better option for anyone offended.

Ogunbowale was fouled hard by Aces forward Alysha Clark on Wednesday, and both players were on the ground for a couple of minutes.

After the game, Ogunbowale was asked about if physicality in the game has ratcheted up lately, with the unspoken subtext of the question referring to how the public has reacted to a series of hard fouls on star Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.

“I don’t know how long you’ve been around the WNBA but this has been like this since my rookie year,” Ogunbowale answered, as covered by Dallas sportswriter Isaac Appelt.

“I mean, obviously that’s what I’ve been able to go against but I’ve seen it since I’ve been watching the WNBA since I was young, literally nothing new. Like you get fouled, that’s what it is. The men get fouled, I don’t see people saying ‘oh, why did he do this?’ It’s basketball, it’s gonna be physical. We’re gonna compete, some people might get knocked down, some people bleed and that’s basketball.”

Ogunbowale has been in the WNBA since 2019 and is a three-time All-Star.

She continued to assert that there was a double standard between how fans react to hard fouls in the men’s game as compared to women.

“It’s no different, man or woman, so nothing’s a surprise. I fall on the floor, Glory to God I get back up, sometimes you don’t, sometimes you do, and that’s just basketball,” Ogunbowale said.

“I don’t really talk about media, but it just kind of annoys me how they make such a big deal about the physicality because I mean, obviously the new people, they might be like, ‘Oh, this is tough,’ but this is just what it’s been. It’s basketball. Like I said it’s basketball. It’s not women being catty, it’s not this, it’s basketball.

“So the narrative has to stop of people doing this or doing that. Like it’s gonna be physical so if you don’t want to go watch this go watch golf or something.”