Ionescu, in the midst of her third full season, will rep the New York Liberty at the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
Hey now, she’s (finally) an All-Star.
Sabrina Ionescu is headed to her first WNBA All-Star Game, as the New York Liberty’s third-year guard was revealed to be one of ten players that will feature in the starting lineup in the exhibition showcase on July 10 in Chicago. New York has now had at least one representative in three consecutive All-Star Games: Kia Nurse and Tina Charles (both of the Phoenix Mercury nowadays) went in 2019 while Betnijah Laney played in last year’s edition (the game was not held in 2020).
“She means a lot to this organization, not just as a player but as a person. She’s high character, she works extremely hard,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said of Ionescu prior to the Liberty’s Wednesday night showdown against the Connecticut Sun. “She deserves all this because if you work hard the rewards will come.”
Ionescu’s first All-Star bid is the latest gem in what’s been a stellar third season: through 16 games, Ionescu leads the Liberty in scoring (16.7) and assist (6.1) averages, which both rank in the WNBA’s top ten. The lauded Oregon alumna made WNBA history earlier this month, when she became just the fourth player (and youngest overall) in league history to earn multiple career triple-doubles, doing do with a 27-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist outing in a loss to the defending champion Chicago Sky.
The efforts of Ionescu (with assistance from Natasha Howard and in-season additions like Crystal Dangerfield and Marine Johannes) have kept the Liberty (6-10) in early WNBA playoff hunt despite injury reports that often resemble starting fives: Laney, Bec Allen, DiDi Richards, Han Xu, and Jocelyn Willoughby are among those who have missed significant time due to injuries and illnesses this season (not counting the season-long loss of first-round pick and Ionescu collegiate teammate Nyara Sabally).
Ionescu herself has dealt with injuries since the Liberty named her the top pick of the 2020 draft. An ankle injury, for example, cost her all but three games of her rookie year while smaller ailments caused her to struggle to find a groove in both last season and the early stages of the ongoing campaign. Now at full strength, Ionescu has fueled the ongoing New York recovery from a 1-7 start, which Brondello believes will pay off not only in the Liberty’s incoming second half slate but in the franchise and player’s future as well.
“She’s proven to herself that she is really a special player, one of the best players in this league and she’s only going to get better,” Brondello said. “It’s been a great joy for me to be able to coach her, to get to know her, and help her along this journey. But a lot of credit goes to her. she puts the work in on the court, but she’s also really mentally tough and has brought a lot of great skills to our team to help us. We’re building up the ladder, but, a lot of our wins, she’s been a key part of that.”
“She’s rebounding and she’s facilitating and she’s handling a lot of pressure there,” Brondello continued. “She had that really serious injury and battled that for the last two years. Everyone knows that she’s a great player but was never healthy. So now she’s had the opportunity to get healthy and see what she’s capable of and she (still) works hard. We’re just really really proud of her with her persistence and resiliency just to get back playing really really good basketball.”
The Western Conference dominated Wednesday’s All-Star announcement, with Ionescu being one of only three Eastern Conference players selected to the starting ten (joined by Jonquel Jones and Candace Parker of Connecticut and Chicago respectively). The league-leading Las Vegas Aces account for three of the ten, with Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, and Jackie Young repping the team coached by Liberty legend Becky Hammon in her first season at the helm.
Las Vegas’ trio is joined by a Pacific Northwest duo in Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm, while Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota) and Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles) round out the ten. Fan voting accounted for half of the determining tally while a media panel and active players had a quarter each. As the leading vote earners, Bird, Fowles, Stewart, and Wilson will get to serve as captains who will choose their respective teams in a draft setting on July 2. That pool will also include a dozen reserves, who will be chosen by the league’s dozen head coaches. Seattle teammates Bird and Stewart will captain one team while Fowles and Wilson will arrange the other.
The Chicago showcase will be the final All-Star stand for Bird and Fowles, who have a combined 21 appearances between them. Each is in the midst of her final WNBA season.
Additionally, Phoenix Mercury forward Brittney Griner was name an honorary All-Star start. Griner, who has reached the All-Star Game in every season it was held since she entered the league in 2013, is currently being detained in Russia after allegedly trying to carry hashish oil cartridges through airport security.
“It is not difficult to imagine that if BG were here with us this season, she would once again be selected and would, no doubt, show off her incredible talents,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said of the honor to Griner. “So, it is only fitting that she be named as an honorary starter today and we continue to work on her safe return to the U.S.”
Top Photo: AP Photo/Adam Hunger
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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