1 week ago
9
Standing at 5-foot-11, the pride of Walnut Creek, California, is a guard playing for the defending WNBA champions New York Liberty.
The 27-year-old is an achiever from college as a standout for the Oregon Ducks to the pros.
She set the record for the most career triple-doubles in the NCAA with 26. She had four in her freshman year, six in her sophomore year, eight in her junior season and eight in her final year.
Next on the triple-double list? Kyle Collinsworth with 12.
Ionescu is also the only player in NCAA history to amass more than 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists — finishing her 2,562 points, 1,040 rebounds and 1,091 assists in her collegiate career.
She was only the second player in history to earn a unanimous AP National Player of the Year award, while also being the first Naismith Trophy winner in University of Oregon history.
While she was unable to lead the Ducks to the promised land, she left Oregon as the all-time leader in points, assists, double-digit scoring games and 3-pointers.
With the way the guard has been playing in the collegiate ranks, Ionescu grew her fanbase, which includes the late great Kobe Bryant.
An article by the University of Oregon, quoted Bryant saying Ionescu’s game is "refreshing… who just thought the game at a different level.”
WNBA great Diana Taurasi also lauded her future rival’s game, saying Ionescu “wants to compete, play hard and she does not care who she plays against.”
With the way she performed at the collegiate level, it was unsurprising that Ionescu was picked first in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the Liberty.
While she had a severe ankle injury in just her third game in the pros that forced her to sit out the rest of her rookie season, she bounced back with a stellar second year, and her numbers just continued to grow as seasons went by.
In her third season, she was named in her first All-Star team and has been a part of the festivities for the past three seasons.
Sabrina Ionescu of Phantom shoots the ball against Rose during the second quarter of the game at Wayfair Arena on January 31, 2025 in Medley, Florida.
Megan Briggs/Getty Images/AFP
Bazooka mode
Ionescu also broke the all-time 3-point challenge record in the WNBA All-Star weekend in 2023.
After scoring 26 points in the first round, the guard missed her first shot of the final round and then went on to make 20 consecutive 3-pointers – including both Starry balls — until she missed the money ball of her fourth rack.
These were the only two misses of her final round, as she finished with 37 points.
It not only broke the WNBA record of 30 points set by Chicago’s Allie Quigley the year prior, but also shattered the 31 points in the NBA edition of the competition set by Steph Curry in 2021 and Tyrese Haliburton in 2023.
This, then, led to an exciting head-to-head 3-point challenge between Ionescu and Curry in the 2024 All-Star weekend in Indianapolis.
With both players shooting from the NBA range — Ionescu though used a WNBA ball while Curry had the standard NBA ball — Ionescu started off making her first seven shots en route to a final score of 26.
Curry, on the other hand, missed just one shot through the three middle racks as well as both Starry balls.
Entering the final rack — his money ball rack — Curry had 21 points, and made four of his five shots to finish with 29 points.
“That was amazing, just have this be the first of its kind event and come out here and put on a show. But understanding what this means and excited to change the narrative and be able to do it alongside the greatest to ever do it,” Ionescu said after the contest.
Curry, after winning, was all praises for the sharpshooter, saying “I knew I had to get hot” after her performance.
"This couldn't have gone any better in the sense of us two taking the challenge in front of this stage. To deliver like that, like she said, the ball was unbelievable to watch," Curry said.
"I don't know if anybody can fill these shoes but this might need to be something we do more often."
Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty celebrates after Game 5 of the WNBA Finals at the Barclays Center on October 20, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in overtime to win the championship.
Elsa/Getty Images/AFP
Champion
In June last year, Ionescu was part of the US women’s basketball team that competed in the Paris Olympics.
She was one of the key cogs of the team that went all the way to the gold medal match, where they defeated France, 67-66, adding another feather on her cap.
Previously, she won gold medals in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, the FIBA U-17 World Cup in 2014 and the FIBA Americas U-16 Championship.
A few months later, she also helped the Liberty win its breakthrough WNBA championship.
With a stacked roster spearheaded by two-time Most Valuable Player Breanna Stewart, multi-time All-Star and one-time All-WNBA First Team Jonquel Jones and Ionescu, the New York Liberty reached the WNBA Finals in 2023 and 2024.
In the 2023 season, New York faced the repeat-seeking Las Vegas Aces led by A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. The Liberty lost in the Finals in three games, with Wilson leading the way.
And in the 2024 season, with vengeance in the team’s mind, New York finished on top of the standings with a 32-8 win-loss record. She averaged 18.2 points, 6.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per contest.
After helping sweep the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the playoffs, the Liberty thwarted the Aces in four semifinal games. They, then, faced the Minnesota Lynx in the Finals.
With the series tied at 1-all, Game 3 was too close to call. The game was deadlocked at 77-all, and New York, hungry for its first championship in its franchise history, opted to go to their star guard.
With 10.9 seconds to go, Ionescu inbounded the ball and got the rock back. She then danced with her defender Kayla McBride and with about four seconds remaining in the game, Ionescu attacked and stepped back from deep, sinking the 3-pointer to help New York grab the 2-1 series lead.
Minnesota tied the series up in Game 4, 82-80, leading to a winner-take-all Game 5. And here, the game went to overtime, with the Liberty grabbing a 67-62 win.
In Game 5, she had five points on a dismal 1-of-19 shooting from the field, but she had a game-high eight assists and seven assists.
But more than her accomplishments inside the court, Ionescu is also using her platform to break down barriers and empower young athletes.
In 2020, she also signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Nike. And in September 2023, she became the first women’s basketball player to release a unisex signature shoe, the Sabrina 1, and complementary apparel collection.
Last year, she launched the Sabrina 2.
After her matchup with Curry, she stressed that “if you can shoot, you can shoot.”
“Just continuing to use my platform, and I think a night like tonight shows a lot of young girls and young boys that if you can shoot, you can shoot. And it does not matter if you’re a girl or a boy, I think it just matters the heart that you have and wanting the best you can be,” the spitfire guard said.
She also has a foundation — the SI20 Foundation — whose mission is “to equip youth from all backgrounds and skill levels with equitable access to sport.”
With basketball still wildly popular in the Philippines, and with more and more Filipino girls showing interest in the sport, her visit will surely inspire young athletes.
Next week, Ionescu will kick off her Asia Tour in Manila. She will have a panel talk with Nike athletes and coaches on March 10, followed by a basketball clinic the same day. She will also take part in an exhibition game and do a 3-point shootout challenge at the Big Dome the next day, and will cap her three-day visit at a local basketball community in Santa Maria, Bulacan.
