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Since Sabrina Ionescu was drafted first overall by the New York Liberty, she has been considered the future face of the WNBA. We’ve seen her in plenty of commercials and magazine covers giving her high praise, but we haven’t quite seen her live up to the hype yet.
Ionescu played only two games in her first season, suffering an ankle injury in her second game that would cause her to miss the rest of her rookie season. Ionescu returned fully healthy for year two but struggled and played inconsistently as she adjusted to the WNBA’s play style.
And that brings us to this season. After a statement victory over the Connecticut Sun, the Liberty would lose seven straight. But something suddenly clicked, and Ionescu went on to play the best stretch of basketball in her young career.
Sabrina Ionescu is finally tapping into her potential after a rollercoaster first two seasons.
The Liberty have won four of their last six games, and Sabrina has been impressive as ever. Ionescu is averaging 24 points over her last six games, and it looks like she could continue performing at this level.
In the win against the Minnesota Lynx, Ionescu lit it up as she shot 10/11 from the field, including a perfect 4/4 from deep. And the shots she took from behind the arc were well behind the line. She was recently named Eastern Conference Player of the week for her play during this stretch.
Sabrina Ionescu really did all of this in the SAME GAME 😱
She went 10-11 FG with this level of shot difficulty. pic.twitter.com/PN5BVgV9Y7
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2022
Sabrina recently made history by becoming the fourth WNBA player ever to have multiple triple-doubles in their career. In her last game against the Chicago Sky, Ionescu had a stat line of 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. This was the first triple-double with at least 12 in each stat category, as well as the first triple-double done in three quarters.
Ionescu set the record for triple-doubles in college, and it looks like she could also be setting triple-double records in the WNBA. One more triple-double, and she can pass Courtney Vandersloot, Candace Parker, and Sheryl Swoopes as well as have the most all-time.
With a rough start to the 2022 WNBA season, it is good to see Ionescu play at a high level. Especially after dealing with inconsistency throughout her career to this point. It looks as if Ionescu is playing with some more confidence. She’s taking more shots, and her playmaking has improved. Safe to say that we are finally seeing the player that she was projected to be.
Can Sabrina Ionescu become an All-Star this season?
The first returns of the 2022 All-Star votes came in, and Ionescu is currently 19th overall, ninth amongst guards, with 5,710 votes. With the way she has been performing recently, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she makes her way up in the standings when the second returns come around.
If selected, this would be the first All-Star appearance in the young point guard’s career. It’ll start to solidify the fact that she is here for the long run and not just an overhyped player that didn’t live up to expectations.
We all know that Ionescu has what it takes to be what the Liberty needs in a franchise cornerstone; it just took her some time to really show us. She has the popularity and the skill to be one of the faces of the league in the future, but now it looks like her game as a whole is getting there as well.
There is still plenty of basketball to be played this season, and New York will need Ionescu to continue her high level of play. Especially with All-Star forward Betnijah Laney being out for a good part of the season with a knee injury.
But with a team consisting of Natasha Howard, Rebecca Allen, Stefanie Dolson, and now Marine Johannes, the Liberty have what it takes to make it back to the playoffs. But it will be mostly up to the play of their budding star to get them there.
An avid sports fan and journalist who’s main focus is the lovely game of basketball. If I’m not covering the game, I’m either playing ball or watching it.
