A new film created by a WNBA star reveals the emotional toll of fighting for social justice while competing at the highest level

• Chiney Ogwumike created a documentary about the 2020 WNBA season that airs on ESPN Thursday night.
• "144" captured players' commitment to both athletic brilliance and social justice initiatives.
• The WNBA and ESPN star told Insider about her work "amplifying the amazing work of women, period."

Between her WNBA career and her work at ESPN, Chiney Ogwumike knows what it's like to be in front of the cameras.

But in her latest project, she's taking up a perch behind the lens.

The 29-year-old Los Angeles Sparks star and sports television commentator is the executive producer of "144," an upcoming documentary that captures the successes and struggles that WNBA players encountered throughout the 2020 season, on and off the court.

"I feel personally responsible making sure these women - the players - are seen as they deserve to be seen," Ogwumike told Insider. "Because I know exactly what they experienced and go through in the fight for respect."

The film - which premieres on ESPN Thursday - offers viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the bubble

Last summer, 144 WNBA players made their way to Bradenton, Florida for a WNBA season unlike any other. And amidst the heated battle for the 2020 WNBA title came a slew of challenges when they stepped off the hardwood.

Players devoted their season to Breonna Taylor and the Say Her Name campaign while continuously "moving the needle forward" on various social justice and political efforts. Those included spearheading a voting campaign and endorsing the opponent of one of their team owners in a decisive US Senate race.

They spoke to political leaders and the families of police brutality victims to inform their next moves. Some of them were parenting their children - either in-person or long-distance - throughout the months-long season. And they did it all from inside a bubble as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on those who were outside.

"We knew this moment was unparalleled in our country - pandemic and social justice movement," Ogwumike said. "You may not know every WNBA player, but look what they did together through adversity every day. Since we got the green light [to make the film], my goal has been to make sure that when the women watch this film, they feel like they're as important as every other person that has had this platform."

It wasn't easy physically, but it was even harder mentally. And "144" showcased the significant emotional toll it took on players as they navigated it all.

"I would hope that whoever watches it does not think that athletes are just invincible; they're human beings first and foremost," Ogwumike said. "And especially as women, our challenges are different - and nonetheless we overcome."

"My goal is to help amplify everything that women are doing because, in our business, representation really matters," she added. "Once you're in the room, you can share a perspective that normally does not get prioritized. Every time I step to a mic, it's about amplifying the amazing work of women, period, because I know that it's not the norm."

'144' offers insight into the players' decision to boycott after the police shooting of Jacob Blake

One of the most poignant moments in the documentary came after the police shooting of Blake, which took place midway through the season. Blake - a 29-year-old Black man - was left paralyzed after a white officer shot him seven times in the back outside a Kenosha, Wisconsin, apartment complex.

The incident came just three months and a few hundred miles removed from the murder of George Floyd who died after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Floyd's death sparked a nationwide reckoning with race relations and police brutality, and Blake's death rekindled the fire.

The NBA's Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court in protest following a video of Blake's shooting going viral. Four other NBA teams followed suit, and much of the American sports world joined in on boycotts from there.

Despite earning far less money and shouldering far more risk than their male counterparts, WNBA players showed "solidarity with our brothers in the NBA" by forcing the cancellation of games. But by nature of being women in sports, additional considerations and complications involving money and exposure came into play.

"144" features never-before-seen footage of a players-only meeting that underscored these undue burdens placed on WNBA players in that decisive moment.

"Not only are we athletes and activists, but also Black women in our communities that have to hold our families together," Ogwumike said. "And so it's ingrained within our DNA as women. And I think that's heightened, especially in the WNBA."

Although most felt compelled to act in the wake of yet another instance of police brutality, money was necessarily a factor weighing on many. Washington Mystics guard Leilani Mitchell questioned whether players would "be fine to pay your mortgage" if ESPN pulled WNBA games off the network and left the league without a platform. Dallas Wings sophomore Satou Sabally questioned whether or not players would be prepared to cancel their entire season if the NBA did it first. Atlanta Dream star Courtney Williams spoke of her need to provide financial support to loved ones back home because "people eat off me."

Even still, the 144 players competing in the WNBA's bubble showed universal solidarity with the boycott and subsequent collective action.

"The solidarity we have is because we know that there's too much at stake - that's inherent in the nature of who the WNBA player is," Ogwumike said. "You can isolate one or two people for their own individual opinions, but if we stand together, we're moving the needle forward. Even though it may not be what everyone individually agrees with, we're still moving forward, you know?"

"And that's what the film shows in real-time," she added.

Ogwumike says the WNBA's on and off-court momentum will carry over into 2021 - even without a bubble keeping players together

Though Ogwumike wasn't in Bradenton and didn't play during the WNBA's 2020 campaign, she is intimately familiar with everything inside the bubble.

"I was connecting with players on the ground each and every day so that our camera crew would have access," Ogwumike said. "Like calling [Aces star] Dearica Hamby and saying 'Hey girl, can our camera crew follow you and Amaya [Hamby's daughter] after practice as you hang out?' That's what I was doing on a day to day."

Ogwumike acknowledges that having 144 athletes in one place helped push forward the players' collective efforts, but she still has confidence in her and her colleagues' ability to coordinate. Though there will be miles of separation between teams and players throughout the 2021 season, Ogwumike noted that the league's athletes are constantly engaging from a distance while playing abroad during the WNBA offseason.

"While that moment of solidarity [in the bubble] was so special, this is a league that is, has understood how to stay together while its players are all over the world," she said. "We did the CBA negotiation with one of our executive committee members in Turkey, another one did China, another one in Europe, and I'm in the U.S. We were all over the world, but we stay on the same page through communication and activation and mobilization."

"That's one thing about the W, and that's why [the documentary is] called '144,'" Ogwumike added. "It's a small number, but a very powerful group that everyone engages at a high level... even though we may not be together, you'll see us on our home courts, all pushing the same message in our own communities. And so the energy will be continued."

"144" premieres at 9 p.m. ET Thursday night on ESPN. Just one day later, the 2021 WNBA season tips off with a game between the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever airing on NBA TV at 7 p.m.