This story seems in SLAM KICKS 27. Get your copy right here.
There’s an elite group of present NBA gamers who’re Nike athletes with signature sneaker strains: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker and Ja Morant. An argument could be made that none of these future Corridor of Famers has the perfect Nike sig in the marketplace at this precise second. There’s a powerful case that Sabrina Ionescu, the New York Liberty sharpshooter, presently holds the heavyweight belt.
Ionescu took the hoops world by storm in faculty and put collectively among the best newbie careers ever. She was the primary participant in NCAA historical past with 2,000+ profession factors, 1,000+ profession rebounds and 1,000+ profession assists; she shattered the NCAA triple-double file; she broke the Pac-12 (RIP) all-time help file…and people are merely a handful of her many accomplishments whereas starring for Phil Knight’s delight and pleasure, the College of Oregon.
Sabrina’s been killing shit for thus lengthy, and it’s scary to suppose she’s simply now coming into her prime. She’s proved that she belongs in any dialog by which the greats, males or girls, are being mentioned. She additional solidified that when, after setting the all-time WNBA All-Star Weekend Three-Level Contest file in 2023, she went toe-to-toe with Stephen Curry at this yr’s NBA All-Star Weekend.
Ionescu fell simply 3 factors shy of Curry in what was the first-ever NBA vs WNBA Three-Level Contest, however even a blind man might see that Ionescu was proper the place she belonged—below the brightest lights, entrance and heart on a basketball court docket, representing each a bunch of girls who’ve arrived and a bunch of younger women who’re on the best way.
“Simply to have the ability to have this be the primary of this type of occasion and are available out right here and placed on a present however understanding what this implies,” stated Ionescu. “I’m excited to vary the narrative and have the ability to do it alongside the best to ever do it.”
It wasn’t simply Ionescu’s candy stroke that captivated the eyes of viewers; her kicks did, too. She was sporting her Nike Sabrina 1s in a clear colorway of Liberty hues.
On a couple of events, Ionescu spoke to the thought of the Sabrina 1s embodying a narrative about defying those that doubted her means to play basketball, not to mention with boys, when she was rising up.
Nicely, defy she did. With the Sabrina 1s, Nike and Ionescu laid the muse of a gold mine for her signature line, as they rapidly turned one of many extra well-liked on-court picks among the many basketball group.
“Not a girls’s basketball shoe or a males’s basketball shoe, however simply basketball,” Ionescu stated to ESPN this yr, when describing the Sabrina 1s. “Having the ability to inform that story and have folks authentically purchase in and respect that, I feel the time is now when it comes to wanting that to be pushed.”
In every single place you look(ed)—highschool, faculty, the WNBA, the NBA, your native basketball fitness center—you might be/had been positive to see a justifiable share of ft in numerous colorways of the Sabrina 1. The mannequin was the fifth-most performed in sneaker within the 2023-24 NBA season, with gamers clocking a complete of 17,209 minutes performed within the silhouette.
And if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it. Ionescu and Nike are working it again and working it up.
Sabrina and the Swoosh launched Ionescu’s second sneaker, the Nike Sabrina 2, together with an attire assortment this previous June. As an alternative of a whole design overhaul, they constructed upon the primary silhouette, sustaining an identical form, reduce and cushion.
“On the heart of the gathering is the Sabrina 2 signature sneaker, constructed for gamers who wish to speed up and reduce with quickness,” the model stated. “Nike design groups partnered carefully with Sabrina to mix the perfect of the Sabrina 1 with recent upgrades that create a sneaker that’s 28 grams lighter and doesn’t sacrifice assist, stability or consolation.”
A few of these “recent upgrades” embody a Cushlon 3.0 foam midsole (the primary ever in a Nike Basketball sneaker), a Nike Zoom Air Unit within the forefoot, an up to date band system across the midfoot and a brand new “S”-inspired sample that gives multidirectional traction for fast cuts. Moreover, choose colorways will showcase mirror-finished Swooshes, which Nike explains are “an affirmation from Sabrina to the subsequent technology to see themselves within the shoe.”
At first look of the Sabrina 2, and even the Sabrina 1, it’s apparent the place Ionescu’s inspiration comes from. Two sneakers in, and her signature line has drawn early comparisons to Kobe Bryant’s.
All through her storied faculty profession and early years with the Liberty, Kobes had been Ionescu’s go-to sneaker. The truth that Ionescu’s line is talked about in the identical breath as Bean’s says lots concerning the WNBA All-Star’s cultural attraction, however extra importantly, her means and dedication to main the push to raise the ladies’s recreation to nationwide, and in the end international, mainstream relevance. It’s a imaginative and prescient she and Kobe shared.
Ionescu first met Kobe in 2019 when he and his daughter Gigi pulled as much as watch her Geese dismantle the USC Trojans. Ionescu developed a detailed relationship with the Bryant household shortly thereafter. Kobe stored tabs on her all through the season, typically sending phrases of encouragement as she continued to etch her title within the historical past books. That summer season, Ionescu skilled with Gigi and even helped Kobe coach his women’ workforce, of which Gigi was a member.
“If I represented the current of the ladies’s recreation, Gigi was the long run, and Kobe knew it,” Ionescu stated throughout her tribute at Kobe and Gigi’s Celebration of Life service in 2020.
It’s over 4 years later, and Ionescu nonetheless “represents the current.” And at solely 26 years outdated, she represents the long run, too. Suppose Kobe rocking No. 8 for the purple and gold.
“I grew up watching Kobe Bryant recreation after recreation, ring after ring, dwelling his greatness with out apology,” she recalled. “I needed to be identical to him, to like each a part of the competitors, to be the primary to point out up and the final to go away, to like the grind, to be your finest whenever you don’t really feel your finest and make different folks round you the perfect model of themselves. And to get up and do it once more the subsequent day. In order that’s what I did: Get up, grind and get higher. Get up, grind and get higher.”
For those who see Ionescu strolling by the tunnel earlier than a recreation, scroll by her Instagram feed or observe her demeanor throughout interviews, you’ll see an enthralling character that everybody likes being round. However beneath that may be a fierce competitor who approaches her craft with utmost seriousness and focus, with a protracted listing of outcomes to point out for it.
As we go to press in the course of the Olympic break, the New York Liberty are hitting on all cylinders and have the perfect file within the W by a snug margin. Ionescu is averaging 19.8 factors, 6.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1 steal enjoying a career-high 33.7 minutes per recreation.
Ionescu’s affect on the court docket is simple, and her affect off the court docket is simply as highly effective. On the heels of the Sabrina 1 and with the most recent launch of the Sabrina 2, she continues to push the boundaries and create waves for these coming after her, like fellow Nike signature athletes A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark—every reported to have their first signature sneaker coming quickly.
Ionescu is programmed for greatness—all she has to do is proceed being assured and unapologetic about who she is and what she brings to the desk, identical to Kobe.
Ionescu is a blessing to the sport of basketball, and her presence will transcend properly past her enjoying days, identical to Kobe.
As soon as, whereas in faculty, she stated Kobe texted her. “Be you, it’s been ok, and that may proceed to be ok.” He wasn’t mendacity.
“I needed to be part of the technology that modified basketball for Gigi and her teammates,” stated Ionescu in her tribute, “the place being born feminine didn’t imply being born behind, the place greatness wasn’t divided by gender.”
From her persistently dominant play to the massive success of the Sabrina 1 and now the two, there doesn’t appear to be a top that Ionescu can’t attain. For the youthful technology who wasn’t fortunate sufficient to observe Kobe in actual time, simply watch how Ionescu, considered one of his closest mentees, dissects her opponents with a relentless will to excel.
And in her new Sabrina 2s, she’s gonna look magnificent doing it.
Photographs through Getty Pictures and Nike.
