Sabrina Ionescu promised to live the legacy of Kobe Bryant and found inspiration in the life of her daughter, Gianna, and her teammates, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester.
A year after their death, she reflected on the loss and how she honors their legacies.
Ionescu honors legacies of Kobe, Gigi
Ionescu, 23, featured Bryant as a mentor and close friend. While working with Bryant in Los Angeles before her senior season in Oregon, she twice helped train the Mamba Ballers, the 13-year-old team Gianna played with Alyssa and Payton.
The New York Liberty owner remains close to the Bryant family: Kobe’s wife, Vanessa, and daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri. She shared how she honors her legacy in a statement to Yahoo Sports:
I carry Kobe and Gigi with me every day and honor their legacy through my dedication to the game. I wake up every day grateful for the platform I receive and strive to set an example and serve as a model for young people and especially girls to play sports – a platform that Kobe and Gigi were passionate about. I saw the way he supported his family and his constant defense of women’s basketball. His encouragement and promotion of equality in sport along with his Mamba mentality is what motivates me today.
Ionescu was just minutes away from playing for a rivalry game against Oregon State when he heard about the helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. All nine who were on board en route to a Mamba Academy basketball game died in the accident. Ionescu wore “Forever 24 <3" in his sneakers for Bryant's shirt number with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ionescu says he will live up to Bryant’s legacy
Ionescu paid tribute to Bryant and the teenagers on Instagram in the days after the accident, calling Bryant “mentor, idol inspiration and close friend”.
“You put me under your protection and you believed in me more than I did,” she wrote. “I only have a choice. To live your legacy. You will live forever through me and take care of me every step of the way, because you have the best place in the house. “
On the same day that she honored her mentor at a celebration of life at the Staples Center, she became the first player in Division I college basketball history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in her career.
Weeks later, Ionescu’s final year and the chance to play in the NCAA national championship were interrupted when the NCAA tournament was canceled because of COVID-19. In May, she was the No. 1 overall choice for Liberty, but had her debut season interrupted with a grade 3 ankle sprain in her third professional game.
The triple-double queen looks set to return to the court even stronger in 2021 and has considered playing abroad during the WNBA off-season. Liberty has choice # 1 in the WNBA 2021 draft in May. Its status alone brought new fans to the league.
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