New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu understands her platform. It’s been that way since her Oregon days, when she became one of the biggest stars college basketball has seen this century. Her surroundings are a little different now as a former No. 1 WNBA Draft pick, starter on the best team in the WNBA, member of the USA Olympic team, and owner of her own signature shoe.
She released the Nike Sabrina 1 in September 2023 and the Nike Sabrina 2 in June 2024. Ionescu became the first WNBA player to ever release a unisex shoe and the 12th WNBA player with her own shoe.
She has also been a 2K cover athlete and has endorsement deals with giants like Body Armor and State Farm.
“I never take these moments for granted,” Ionescu said at a recent Liberty practice. “Knowing what I'm doing for the next generation of athletes and knowing how important that is and to be able to provide this for young kids growing up is the biggest blessing.”
Ionescu is averaging her highest scoring output (19.4 ppg) and the second-most assists of her career (6.2). Her three-point shooting has dropped 10 points from last season (34.5%), but the Liberty are still fourth in the league in three-point shooting and tops in overall field goal percentage.
She plays for more than just Liberty fans. She knows the world is watching her, particularly those in Romania, where her parents are from.
“My family in Romania went online to try to order them and everything is sold out in Europe,” she said. “So, it's something a lot bigger than just where I'm at right now and playing here. But just understanding that young girls and young boys that lives I’m touching in places that I don't even know? That, to me, is why I created this line and why it means so much to me.”
Sabrina Ionescu played an integral role in her Nike Sabrina 2 design
If Ionescu is going to put her name on something, it’s going to be something she’s satisfied with. She says she worked closely with Nike on the design and specs for the 1s and 2s, using her learnings and feedback from the first to refine the details in the second.
“I am very hands-on, from the color to every little detail and technology in the shoe,” Ionescu said. “We should try high risk, high reward with things, and obviously I listen to the experts on what they think, but I'm as involved as can be.”
She knows her talking points, seeming to rattle off Nike’s spec sheet off the top of her head. They matter, though. Ionescu, naturally, plays in her own shoes and is having another elite season.
“It’s 28 grams lighter, [there’s] Cushlon 3.0 is in the midsole of the shoe, which has never been in a basketball shoe before,” she said. “So that's something that we've tried out in this and really have nailed it in terms of how you're able to go out and perform, but also feel very comfortable doing it. So, there's a few technological differences, but I'm excited to hear what people have to say.”
One of the immediate pieces of feedback wasn’t regarding the functionality of the shoe, but the color. The Nike Sabrina 2 was released right around the time the Golden State Valkyries unveiled their brand identity. The two looked strikingly similar.
To further juice the conspiracy theories, Ionescu grew up in Orinda, California, just 10 miles from where the Valkyries will practice.
Ionescu assuaged Liberty fans’ fears however, saying the similarities were coincidental.
“No,” she said on any relationship to her shoe and the Valkyries. “You have to pick color and design about a year out.”
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