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Arike Ogunbowale is lighting up Dallas

Dallas Has Wiiings: WNBA superstar Arike Ogunbowale lights up Dallas skyline for basketball court community project.

By Jonny Auping

6 min readPublished on 05/17/2022 · 1:48 AM UTC

December 2023 Update

Arike shooting around under the newly installed lights at Crawford Park.
© Eli Harris

Arike isn’t finished lighting up Dallas.

Perhaps Ogunbowale had extra motivation after promising that she, with the support of Red Bull, would be partnering to donate funds to the city of Dallas and its youth for every three-pointer she made for the 2023 season.

The 26-year-old guard went on to make 117 three-pointers – the second-most of any player in the WNBA – while becoming a three-time WNBA All-Star. Ogunbowale also helped to lead the Dallas Wings to its most successful season since the franchise moved to Texas, advancing in the playoffs for the first time.

This offseason, Ogunbowale followed up on her promise with Red Bull, and made recreational basketball more accessible in Dallas. The two provided $50,000 to the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department for the refurbishment of a public basketball court at Crawford Park in the Cedar Hills area of South Dallas.

Arike with Dallas Parks & Rec and Fonroche Solar Lighting.
© Eli Harris

“It means so much to me that I was able to work on this project with the Red Bull Team,” Ogunbowale says. “I know how important access to safe places to play is for communities, so it means a lot to me that I could help light up this court so kids have a space to play basketball and can play later into the evening. I love the Dallas community and I’m happy I can help continue to grow the game of basketball here and increase access to facilities like these for the next generation of players.”

With this donation, the Crawford Park court will have solar panel lights installed, keeping the court bright for the Dallas community, getting up shots and imitating the playground-style of hoops that Ogunbowale grew up playing.

May 2022 Kickoff

“I don’t know how much more Dallas it gets than this,” DJ Poizon Ivy yelled to the crowd gathered around an outdoor basketball court in the middle of the city, “she’s shooting on the side of I-35.”

Sure enough, if drivers zooming across the treacherous Interstate 35, which, for a stretch, wraps itself around the edges of the Dallas skyline before shooting its riders into the various surrounding cities, were brave enough to look down below them while navigating the freeway, they would see WNBA star and Dallas Wings franchise player Arike Ogunbowale shooting baskets underneath the Texas sky.

But perhaps the most recognizable part of that Dallas skyline was missing, at least for the moment. Reunion Tower, the iconic building with a revolving ball at its highest point, was shrouded in darkness, still unlit in the night sky.

That would be Ogunbowale’s job.

With Poizon Ivy emceeing, Ogunbowale shot three-pointers. Every made shot powered another sphere of lights. Ten made three-pointers would light the Reunion Tower up, making it visible from miles outside of Dallas, like a giant, shining basketball.

The event was the launch of the Dallas Has Wiiings program in which Red Bull and Ogunbowale, 25, are teaming up to donate up to $50,000 the Dallas Park and Recreation Department to go toward solar-powered lighting systems in Dallas, starting with a key community court in need of upgrades.

The cause means something special to Ogunbowale, as it likely would to many professional basketball players. Before she became arguably the WNBA’s most prolific scorer and before she hit a buzzer-beater to win the NCAA National Championship game for Notre Dame, Ogunbowale was a kid in Milwaukee, playing in outdoor courts like McGovern (or “McGov”) Park or at the courts on James Madison Academic Campus near her home.

Now we’ll be able to put lights up so kids at night can come and have a safe place to play basketball.
Arike Ogunbowale

Arike Ogunbowale thanks the crowd at Dallas has Wiiings in Dallas, TX
© Photo courtesy: Cooper Neill

“Parks like that, they would have lights go out too,” says Ogunbowale. “But now we’ll be able to put lights up so kids at night can come and have a safe place to play basketball.”

The initiative comes on the heels of the Dallas Wings making their own investment in Ogunbowale, signing her to an extension a few months prior that will make her the face of the franchise until at least 2025.

“Dallas is my community now,” she stated at the event. “So every three-pointer I make we’re donating $800 to the city of Dallas and the youth.”

FACT

Proceeds will benefit Dallas Park & Recreation:

$800 for every three-pointer Arike makes will go toward the rehabilitation of community courts around the city.

“More families are playing together for fun and fitness on park courts,” said Arun Agarwal, the President of Dallas Park and Recreation Board. “Adding solar lighting will extend their time outdoors, letting them play well into the evenings. Dallas Park and Recreation applauds Red Bull and Ms. Ogunbowale for their commitment to enhancing recreational experiences for Dallas families.”

Despite having made nearly 200 three-pointers in just 88 WNBA games over her career, the Dallas Has Wiiings launch event wasn’t exactly a simple task. The young star truly had to contend with the elements. The wind from the freeway blowing onto the court. The visual distractions. The tricks the outdoors can play with a shooter’s eyes. She admitted afterwards that it had been some time since she’d shot high pressure baskets outdoors.

“Not in a long time,” Ogunbowale laughed. “I don’t even know how we were playing full-blown games out there [as kids]. This is really hard.”

In her initial warm-up stage, it showed.

“I’m looking at the freeway, I’m dealing with depth perception, everything,” the Wings guard recalled. “It just makes the game more fun. I love it. I was excited to be able to do this.”

But any worries that warmups might have planted in the surrounding crowd were put to rest shortly. This is one of the most clutch basketball players alive, after all. Ogunbowale was All-Rookie First Team the year she joined the Wings. She led the WNBA in scoring in her second season. Last season she was selected to the All-WNBA Second Team. Warmups are not where she is meant to thrive.

Arike had already completed an on-court interview with DJ Poizon Ivy in which she thanked Red Bull for supporting women athletes at a time when they are having to overcome systemic inequality. Her trainer Durrell Johnson and current Baylor Lady Bears basketball star Jaden Owens were on the court ready to rebound for her. It was time.

Pictured from left: Flau'jae Johnson, Arike Ogunbowale, Jaden Owens
© Photo courtesy: Cooper Neill

You know what happened next. In matter of mere minutes Reunion Tower was lit brightly, visible to thousands in Dallas. Ogunbowale was responsible for lighting it up, just like she will be responsible for lighting up the hoop community.

The more three pointers she hits, the more money is put towards that goal. After the event, she said she might have to shoot even more three-pointers this season as a result.

“Hopefully my coach doesn’t get mad,” Ogunbowale joked. “I’m going to say it’s for a good cause, literally.”

Jonny Auping is a freelance writer based in Dallas.

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