Sabrina Ionescu will test her injured thumb in Unrivaled unveiling
MIAMI — Sabrina Ionescu had a wrap snugged tightly on her right hand at practice Thursday. Underneath the garment was a black splint to help support the Liberty star guard’s surgically repaired thumb.
Ionescu may not be feeling 100 percent just yet, but she was eager to get back on the court this week and join her Unrivaled teammates in preparing for the league’s opening weekend.
“My first time going live was this week actually, so that felt really good,” Ionescu said after practice. “Little rusty but knocking the rust off a little bit and excited to just get live reps and knowing that’ll take care of itself as I play through this season.”
Ionescu underwent a procedure last month to repair a ligament in her right thumb that she injured during the WNBA Finals.
She said her recovery timeline was “a little sped up” because of Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 basketball league debuting Friday in Miami.
“If there wasn’t this going on, I probably could have taken a little bit more time of just rehabbing, letting it heal,” the reigning WNBA champion said.
Ionescu was fully cleared by her LA-based doctor Jan. 8 and plans to continue her rehab work while at Unrivaled. She also expects to play in the Phantoms’ season opener Saturday against the Laces.
“I’m out here and getting live reps,” she said. “So everything’s going really well so far.”
Ionescu and Natasha Cloud were among the last people on Unrivaled’s practice court Thursday afternoon.
Some of their Phantom teammates had already headed to the hallway and wrapped up their media obligations before Ionescu and Cloud were finished putting in extra work with coach Adam Harrington.
Up until two weeks ago, Ionescu and Cloud had never been teammates. But at Unrivaled, the once WNBA foes have joined forces for two common goals: to win and improve.
“For me, this offseason is really important because it’s when I get better,” Ionescu said as she sat in Unrivaled’s club lounge between Cloud and Harrington. “So understanding you kind of surround yourself with great teammates that are going to push you to get better but also a great coach, a player development coach that understands the way you play but ways that you can continue to improve on and that’s the most important for me, every year I’ve gotten better.
“This is kind of that opportunity for me to enjoy playing 3-on-3, but also work on my player development and be able to understand this is the time to do so,” Ionescu said. “Because by the time we’re done here [on March 17], we start up [WNBA training camp] really soon [on April 27].”
Ionescu was the last player to officially sign on with Unrivaled. Part of that was because she needed the surgery.
The other delay to her joining was because Ionescu, a Bay Area native, had already made commitments to other things during this offseason, including making an appearance at NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco.
But Unrivaled officials made it clear to Ionescu that they wanted her here in Miami.
“Knowing I’m not going to be able to be here the full time and [Unrivaled has] been really accommodating, knowing that I’ve had obligations that I have to be at, and kind of being able to work through that with them,” Ionescu said. “I want to be here fully committed to my teammates and this team and just getting better as individuals, as a team, and that’s kind of the part that’s really exciting.”
Another added bonus to being here for Ionescu is that she has ample time to catch up and hang out with her former Oregon teammate Satou Sabally, who’s also suiting up for the Phantom.
“It’s been some time since I’ve been able to play with her again,” Ionescu said of Sabally, who asked the Dallas Wings to trade her this offseason. “Obviously, three great years in college and now kind of being able to play together professionally is really exciting, being able to see her growth in this league … and now being able to join forces and being able to pick up where we left off in college is really exciting.
“Obviously, the on-court stuff is cool but I’d say off the court as well, we’ve spent a lot of time together so it’s kind of nice to be reunited with someone you’ve kind of been through a lot with.”
