Sabrina Ionescu has made the “biggest throw of my career,” but the New York Liberty star isn’t done yet

MINNEAPOLIS — Sabrina Ionescu initially couldn't remember the details of the biggest shot of her career. She wasn't sure how far she was pulling up or which hand she was dribbling with.

But rest assured: Anyone who saw the New York Liberty Stars' game-winning 3-pointer with one second left in Game 3 of the 2024 WNBA Finals can provide all the missing details for Ionescu or anyone watching Wednesday night's thriller against the New York Liberty missed, add Minnesota Lynx.

Ionescu was the only player to put the basketball on the floor during the Liberty's final possession. He only needed nine dribbles to create enough space to break away from Minnesota's Kayla McBride and go up for a three-pointer. As Ionescu's 28-footer was in the air, Liberty teammate Jonquel Jones said she thought to herself, “Oh my God, she's about to go.”

When Ionescu's shot fell through the net, the roar of the 19,521 crowd at Target Center fell silent and Minnesota fans in white T-shirts hunched over in dismay. Ionescu turned to those in front of the Liberty bench, and Breanna Stewart was the first to greet Ionescu on the other side of the Lynx logo from where Ionescu had come.

Ionescu said after the Liberty's 80-77 win in Game 3, which gave the Liberty a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series of the WNBA Finals, that she had practiced that shot “a thousand times” – not only on the pitch, but also inside her head. She visualizes different moments in off-season training sessions and preparation for game days. But what happened on Wednesday is no longer part of her imagination or mere mental imagination.

“I had the space I needed to get my feet underneath me and felt comfortable doing this shot,” Ionescu said.

A shot that will go down in history.

Another look at Sabrina Ionescu's GAME WINNER 🎯 pic.twitter.com/b7xxf7AvkY

– WNBA (@WNBA) October 17, 2024

Comfort has created a classic. The shot is the largest in New York Liberty history – a dagger that moves the Liberty 40 minutes away from their first championship. And yet, somehow, someway, it's more than that. It's a testament to Ionescu's years of hard work and a testament to her self-confidence.

“What I love about her is that she stands behind herself,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Not everyone can take and make these big shots. She can.”

Ionescu can — and does — because she's made them before, in empty high school gymnasiums in California and on the campus of the University of Oregon. For the second year in a row, Ionescu wore green and yellow sneakers, reflecting the courage of her alma mater's football team. Her college coach, Kelly Graves, was there for Game 3.

She then went to him and Ducks assistant coach Jodie Berry and they told her they never doubted she would make her final 3-pointer. At Oregon, Graves said Ionescu was the only player he coached who was ever kicked out of the Ducks' practice facility. The Ducks' Monday practice was typically reserved for players who had played less than 15 minutes that weekend. But Ionescu still found himself in trouble despite being a three-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and winner of the Naismith Player of the Year award. “We couldn’t keep them away on Mondays,” Graves said. Her determination never wavered – to go to the gym, to get on the field or to succeed when the ball dropped.

Ionescu watched her winner for the first time in the Liberty locker room while waiting for Stewart. “It’s an injection I do often,” she said. “I train, I train before the game. It's not like, “Hail Mary, I hope this goes in.” Once I got it out, I was like, “Yeah, this is in there.”

What might get lost in Ionescu's late-game heroics is that Wednesday was far from her best game.

She didn't shoot a single shot, let alone a point, in the first ten minutes of the contest as McBride stifled her with physical defense that extended well beyond the 3-point arc. At halftime, Ionescu made as many field goals (one) as turnovers. And her final stats – 13 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds – were modest by her standards.

But the final possession was specifically designed to let Ionescu thrive. “We wanted her to make the last shot,” Brondello said. “She’s a great shooter and just needed a little bit of separation. Really proud of Sabrina and Stewie, but also how we stayed resilient.”

Without Stewart's 30 points, including 13 consecutive New York points between the third and fourth quarters, the Liberty would never have been able to overcome a deficit of 10 points in the first quarter or eight points at halftime. But it's also a sign of the Liberty's trust and chemistry that a two-time WNBA MVP didn't touch the ball during the game's biggest possession. And that she would agree with this decision. “It's a shared victory, even if some of us shine a little brighter,” Stewart said.

That Ionescu would one day shine like this didn't seem guaranteed in the early days of her WNBA career. The early stages of her New York tenure were marked by what she called “dark days.” She was the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, but suffered a severe ankle sprain in her third WNBA game and missed the remainder of her rookie season. The ankle pain continued throughout the 2021 season, and it wasn't until the 2022 season that she said she was fully healed.

But her persistence put her in a position to achieve something.

“I’m just so happy for her because I see how much she puts into it,” New York guard Courtney Vandersloot said.

A few hours before tipoff on Wednesday, the WNBA announced Ionescu as an All-WNBA second-team selection for the third consecutive year. After her game-winner, Ionescu said dryly: “That was just a great performance by the All-WNBA second team.”

It was a fitting answer. “She doesn’t care about individual awards,” said her high school coach Kelly Sopak. “She takes care of the lights on the scoreboard. No matter if she scores 30 points or 3 points, all she cares about is winning.”

The Liberty, an original WNBA franchise, is on the verge of their first title. Should they emerge victorious on Friday, Ionescu's shot will be completely etched in the league's history books.

“Definitely the biggest success of my career,” she said. “And hopefully not the last.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

New York Liberty, WNBA

2024 The Athletic Media Company