Sabrina Ionescu is having a down year, but she's making it work
Sabrina Ionescu hit one of the biggest shots in basketball history last October, a Game 3 game-winner in the WNBA Finals, en route to her first WNBA championship.
'It's a shot that I take often,' she said. 'I take it in practice, I take it before the games. It's not like a Hail Mary, hope-this-goes-in. Once I got it off, I was like, 'Yeah, this is it.''
She followed that massive moment up with another All-Star season, this time averaging a career-best points per game.
Ionescu is an All-Star for the fourth time in her career, adding another accolade to an accolade-filled resume.
The 5'11 guard is the NCAA's all-time leader in triple-doubles, was the Naismith College Player of the Year her senior year at Oregon, and has been a three-time member of the All-WNBA Second Team.
And, she famously holds the record for most threes made at an All-Star three-point contest at either the NBA or WNBA level — that record was set when she hit 25 of 27 attempts en route to 37 points in 2023.
This season, Sabrina Ionescu has struggled offensively
The Liberty's title defense season hasn't been all smooth sailing. While the team was dominant at full strength, things haven't been the same since last year's Finals MVP, Jonquel Jones, went down with injury.
They've dropped five of their last ten games, and Ionescu has been in a bit of a slump herself. On Saturday, in a narrow win over the Dream, Ionescu scored 9 points on just 3 of 20 shooting. On Wednesday, she followed that up with a 15-point, 5-14 shooting performance (albeit alongside 9 assists).
This season, the former Oregon star has averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game. She's shooting 38% from the field and 30.9% from three, both career lows.
Still, she'll partake in the WNBA All-Star three-point contest on Friday, where she'll instantly be one of the headliners, alongside Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and several others, including Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, and Washington Mystics rookie Sonia Citron.
And, almost inevitably, she'll soon find her rhythm. The Liberty guard holds the record for most threes made in a single WNBA season (128 in 2023). That season, she shot a ridiculous 44.8% from three. Since then, she's hit plenty of big ones.
Amid the shooting struggles, Ionescu is getting to the line more than ever before, attempting 4.9 free throws per night on a ridiculous 93.4% shooting. Her defense is better than ever, and she's averaging a career-best 1.6 steals.
Ionescu, despite some uncharacteristic shooting struggles, remains critical for the Liberty's repeat hopes.
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