Four-time WNBA All-Star Arike Ogunbowale announced on Instagram on Monday that she tied the knot with LaLa Ronay. According to Ogunbowale’s post, the wedding ceremony took place on Feb. 24.
Fans and her WNBA peers celebrated the announcement. Meanwhile, analysts Jason Whitlock and Jon Root criticized the union. Whitlock implied that Ogunbowale and Ronay’s marriage was a “delusion.” Root implied that the league’s embrace of LGBTQ causes hurts its appeal to mainstream sports fans.
“Not everything is for everybody,” Whitlock wrote. “This is the equivalent of me posting a pic in Speedo swim trunks and pretending I’m just like Michael Phelps. Peak delusion. We affirm this delusion. Sad.”
“This is just another reason why most sports fans don’t care about the WNBA, or any pro women’s sports league,” Root wrote. “Other than the play being wildly inferior and less entertaining than their male counterparts, the leagues are full of lesbians and radical LGBTQ promotion, including teams like the Dallas Wings unapologetically celebrating gay marriage. Go to any WNBA, NWSL, or PWHL game. It feels like you’re at a gay bar/Pride parade.”
Root and Whitlock’s commentary on the situation drew significant criticism from fans, who slammed the analysts, citing what they described as homophobic views.
Arike Ogunbowale Faces a Major Free Agency Decision Ahead of 2026 WNBA Season
Arike Ogunbowale will have to make a major decision this summer, entering the market as an unrestricted free agent. Ogunbowale was on a three-year, $725,000 deal with the Dallas Wings, which expired at the end of 2025.
She has been with the Wings since being drafted there with the No. 5 pick in 2019. Entering the 2025 season, Ogunbowale was viewed as the Wings’ offensive leader. But it did not take long for the 2025 No. 1 pick, Paige Bueckers, to take over.
Bueckers’ arrival has seen Ogunbowale’s numbers dip from 22.2 points per game in 2024 to 15.5 ppg in 2025. Meanwhile, the UConn alum averaged 19.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg and 5.4 apg in her rookie season.
With the Wings’ priorities shifting toward a future around their No. 1 pick, Arike Ogunbowale could seek a new team this summer.
Read More: Did Arike Ogunbowale Punch a Man in the Face? Assault Case Against WNBA Star Explored After Arrest
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