On Friday Night, the New York Liberty selected Oregon Ducks point guard Sabrina Ionescu No. 1 overall in the 2020 WNBA draft. Ionescu had a legendary career at Oregon, most notably known for registering the most triple doubles in NCAA history, finishing with a ridiculous 26. She also had an incredibly close relationship with the late great Kobe Bryant. Bryant admired Ionescu’s competitive drive and the two shared many conversations about life and basketball together. Ionescu spoke at Kobe’s public memorial in February.
As the New York Liberty plan to play in Brooklyn for the full 2020 season, a move that has been heavily backed by Liberty and Nets owner Joe Tsai, Nets players have gone out of their way to welcome Ionescu to Brooklyn. Kevin Durant started the welcome wagon shortly after Ionescu was drafted.
Welcome to Brooklyn @sabrina_i20!! https://t.co/MbMRJp6fPV
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 17, 2020
The Brooklyn Nets also congratulated Ionescu on their own Twitter page last night with several tweets including a video featuring Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, and Garrett Temple, all crafting Sabrina a personalized message about their excitement for her to play in Brooklyn.
The borough gets a phenom.
Welcome to BK, @sabrina_i20! The W ain’t ready 😤 pic.twitter.com/J0BugT44yn
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 17, 2020
.@KyrieIrving, @Gtemp17 and Joe Harris wanted to give a warm welcome to the newest member of the Brooklyn family, @sabrina_i20 🙌 pic.twitter.com/2iEyVRQD3U
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) April 17, 2020
Along with Sabrina Ionescu, the New York Liberty also selected Megan Walker (UConn), Kylee Shook (Louisville), Jazmine Jones (Louisville) and Leaonna Odom (Duke).