Nigeria’s female basketball national team, D’Tigress’ captain, Amy Okonkwo has been granted permission to temporarily leave the squad’s camp at their ongoing playing tour of China in order to sign her transfer papers at Portland Fire of USA.
Sports247 gathered that Okonkwo was granted permission to seal the deal, after news emerged that the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise had signed her from Dallas Wings on a replacement player’s standard contract.
Okonkwo was cleared to join The Fire under the WNBA’s Season-Ending Injury Exception clause, as a replacement for Sarah Ashlee Barker, who has been ruled out with a season-ending injury, thereby making way for the Nigerian star, who has appeared in nine games with one start over the last two seasons.
Incidentally, Okonkwo, who played for University of Southern California (2014-2015) before transferring to Texas Christian University (2016-2019), played the past two seasons with deals at Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream.
The new deal comes for Okonkwo just two weeks before her 30th birthday on August 26th and the star forward, who was born in Fontana, California, USA, admitted it is a great opportunity for her in the twilight of her illustrious career.
Okonkwo, who had to temporarily leave the Nigerian camp, but will return in time for their outing at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany later this month, said: “It’s a great opportunity. I’d love to come in and help however I can.”
The deal also marks an extension of a long line of switches for Okonkwo, who spent three seasons in Spain before moving to France in 2022, following which she averaged 12 points and six rebounds per game, after which she played in Israel and then Mexico, before returnhing to the US.
Joining Fire is also seen as a revival of sort for the veteran forward, who got All-Big 12 Second Team honours in 2018 and 2019 while at TCU, then gained her biggest international spotlight when she represented Nigeria at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A report by Yahoo Sports revealed, “Portland Fire have signed Amy Nnenna Okonkwo to a standard WNBA contract as an injury replacement, in the wake of Sarah Ashlee Barker missing the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
“Okonkwo, a two-time Women’s AfroBasket MVP, previously played for the Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream. (She) has played in 9 WNBA regular-season games over the past two seasons, averaging 11 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the Wings.
“She returned to the Wings this season on a training-camp deal but was waived before the season began. She then signed a developmental contract with the Atlanta Dream on May 13th, but was released on July 8th.
“The 29-year-old has spent much of her professional career overseas, playing in Spain, France, Israel and Mexico. She’s most known for her play with the Nigerian team, averaging 17.4 points and 8.2 rebounds at the 2023 AfroBasket.
“She then led Nigeria to its fifth consecutive African title in 2025, with 14 points per game and was an integral part of the 2020 and 2024 Olympic teams, averaging 11 points and 4.8 rebounds in Paris as the Nigerian women became the first African team (of any gender) to reach the quarter-finals.”
