Sabrina Ionescu relishes growth of WNBA, offers advice to 2024 rookies
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Sabrina Ionescu on the momentum Caitlin Clark is building around women’s basketball
Sabrina Ionescu explains why Caitlin Clark’s accomplishment’s in the women’s college basketball world will benefit the WNBA as well.
LOS ANGELES — As if there needed to be any more evidence of how women’s sports continue to grow, it was a raucous crowd full of children and teenagers when Sabrina Ionescu stepped foot inside the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club gym.
The gym was renovated in partnership with 2K Foundations, SLAM and her SI20 Foundation to bring an entirely new court, scoreboard, lighting and roof to the Boys and Girls Club. Ionescu was in attendance for the unveiling.
It was her appearance that set all of the youths into a frenzy. A pickup game was set to take place after Ionescu spoke to the crowd, but it was delayed after the players – mostly teenage boys – all huddled around the WNBA star in hopes of getting her autograph. Whenever she signed something, all the teens surrounding her screamed and cheered as they got a coveted signature.
Just another day in the life of a basketball megastar.
“It’s always kind of a humbling experience,” Ionescu told USA TODAY Sports. “I was once that kid not too long ago, and now being able to understand what it means to build relationships and to just show up, and how important that is to just show a lot of these young boys and girls that we’re all human, can put a smile on my face.”
Ionescu has had quite the early professional career as she enters her fifth season with the New York Liberty. She’s part of a stacked team that is expected to again challenge for a WNBA championship, competed in a 3-point contest against Stephen Curry at the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend and released her first signature shoe that has become one of the most popular kicks in all of basketball. It’s hard to argue she hasn’t lived up to the hype she had out of Oregon.
In that time, Ionescu has gone from the next big thing in basketball to one of the biggest faces of the sport. The way she sees it, partnering to help with underserved communities is a way of helping the possible next face of basketball.
“(It’s) wanting to give back to the next generation of athletes that are going to end up breaking your records and being better than you are, and kind of welcoming them with open arms and showing them the way,” she said.
Welcoming the next generation of basketball players has certainly been a hot topic in women’s basketball, particularly as superstar Caitlin Clark, the the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, and a rookie class that has entered the mainstream begin thier pro careers.
Ionescu didn’t address Clark directly, but noted how eager she is to see how a “really good” 2024 rookie class does in the WNBA. She believes the rookies will take the massive fan bases they had in college and bring them to the WNBA, which will continue to push the league toward new heights.
“I’m excited to see how teams do and…
Read More: Sabrina Ionescu relishes growth of WNBA, offers advice to 2024 rookies 2024-04-20 21:46:19